Reporting To: Founder & CEO

Environment: We’re hybrid (London)

Travel: Some travel is required (visiting customers/projects/conferences/team gatherings)

Opna’s Vision

Imagine a thriving, equitable planet where everyone actively participates and benefits from building projects that contribute to a low-carbon economy, safeguarding our environment, and combating climate change. At Opna, we are on a mission to make this vision a reality, becoming the world's most trusted platform for climate finance. Our goal is simple: to ensure that funding for essential initiatives, from preserving rainforests to extracting carbon, is accessible to all.

The Urgent Challenge

We stand at a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change. We must rapidly undo the centuries-long impact of fossil fuels. This demands an unprecedented infrastructure revolution - carbon projects that remove and reduce carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. High-quality carbon projects encounter formidable barriers in accessing necessary financing. Lengthy project realisation timelines, extractive finance terms, and a considerable share of funding being absorbed by intermediaries jeopardise the well-being of communities and biodiversity.

Opna's Solution

That's where Opna comes in. We exist to eliminate the obstacles that hinder high-quality carbon projects from receiving timely and fair financing. Our mission is to unlock capital for these crucial climate initiatives, driving impact at scale and with equity.

Building the Future of Climate Finance

Our platform directly connects corporates and financiers to high-quality, vetted carbon projects, driving them towards their net-zero goals. By closing the financing gap, we accelerate the deployment and supply of game-changing climate solutions. Carbon removal needs to scale to a $1 Trillion/year market, up from a few hundred million $/year today. We embark on an audacious journey to address climate change meaningfully and with unwavering trust from our project development partners, corporate customers, investors, and an exceptional team, success is within reach.

Join us in shaping a sustainable world for generations to come.

Your Role

As the Carbon Finance Lead at Opna, you will spearhead the evolution of credible carbon markets and drive strategic financial initiatives. You will shape market standards and establish Opna as a trusted advisor to corporate clients. Collaborating closely with Shilps, Opna's founder and CEO, you will lead business development and amplify our brand's influence, all while propelling positive transformation in our pursuit of a sustainable world. This dynamic role marries business development and brand elevation.

You’ll experience the profound impact and unparalleled reach of your work daily. You’ll be part of empowering FTSE 500 companies to reach their net-zero targets, unlocking timely and equitable financing for our project partners and their communities. Your contributions will ripple through the communities protecting our forests and biodiversity and will shape climate commitments in corporate boardrooms.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities include:

• Forge Deep Relationships: Cultivate robust connections with corporate and financing leaders within Voluntary Carbon markets.
• Transaction Expert: Lead a number of significant carbon market financing transactions.
• Ecosystem Proficiency: Master the value chain of voluntary carbon markets and financing contracts, including challenges and due diligence criteria.
• Project Insight: Grasp diverse carbon market project types, spanning removal to reduction, driving innovative solutions.
• Independent Innovator: Acquire customers autonomously, shaping Opna's strategies in response to shifts in the financial landscape.
• Learning Advocate: Stay ahead by continuously learning about evolving carbon markets, informing Opna's strategy and product direction.
• Impactful Communicator: Deliver compelling written and verbal communication with finesse.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To thrive in this role, you should have the following:

• Proven record of partnering with corporate/financing players within Voluntary Carbon markets.
• Previous participation in significant carbon market financing transactions.
• Strong grasp of carbon financing contracts, structures, and associated challenges.
• Excellent comprehension of de-risking and due diligence criterion for carbon projects.
• Good understanding of how corporates/financial investors would evaluate carbon financing transactions
• In-depth grasp of voluntary carbon markets and the intricacies of ecosystem value chains.
• Familiarity with diverse carbon market project types, covering removal and reduction initiatives.
• Agility to stay ahead through continuous learning about evolving carbon markets.
• Ability to independently acquire customers and align Opna's strategies with financial changes.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for engaging diverse stakeholders.

Nice-to-Have:

• Considerable engagement with key carbon market players (e.g., Verra, IETA, ICVCM).

Personal Traits

You will thrive in this role if you:

• Are self-motivated and can work closely with team members.
• Enjoy the dynamic nature of an early-stage startup, embracing a fast-learning and fast-moving environment.
• Are curious, open to differing opinions, and enjoy sharing your domain knowledge and perspective.
• Value working in diverse environments with people from different backgrounds and experiences.
• Find fulfilment in collaborating with and building relationships with peers.

Our Interview Process

We’re swift at moving things along for you. We need you to meet several people (onsite/virtually) because of the responsibility that comes with this role and ensure this is right for you.

• Quick video call with our Chief of Staff, Roxanne Pryor
• Video call with our CEO, Shilpika Gautam
• Carbon Markets Task (onsite in London, preferably) which is reviewed with our extended team of carbon experts
• Meet the team
• Call with a board member/investor
• Final meet with Shilpika
• Carbon Markets References

Competitive salary, generous options, 25 days holiday + bank holidays, pension, homeworking set-up allowance.

Our Team

Today, we’re a small and agile team across London, Berlin and Barcelona. Collectively we have deep experience and expertise across capital markets, carbon markets, climate finance and FinTech. We keep each other accountable. We rely on regular and open communication. We share our optimism for finding solutions to climate change. We’re gritty and actively practise empathy. We are serious about our work but don't take ourselves too seriously!

Diversity & Inclusion

We know that diversity is multifaceted and intersectional, and we want to build a company where different identities and perspectives can come together to deliver on our mission and vision. We are a venture-backed company founded and led by a woman of colour. 100% of our team today has their roots in the global south, and over half of our pre-seed investors identify as women. We speak English, Hindi, Spanish and French across our team.