Senior/Principal AFOLU Carbon Markets Specialist

Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world.

Ricardo plc is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and employing close to 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional levels of expertise in delivering leading-edge and innovative cross-sector sustainable products and solutions. Every day, we enable our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world.

The Senior AFOLU Carbon Markets Specialist will advance Ricardo s carbon market strategies, focusing on Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use (AFOLU) mitigation projects. Key responsibilities include designing results-based payments, preparing projects for certification, and ensuring alignment with market standards. This role involves project coordination, client engagement, and delivering technical insights, alongside supporting team growth through mentoring. you'll collaborate within Ricardo s consultancy, working with specialists in carbon markets, environmental policy, and climate finance. Ideal candidates bring commercial awareness, energy, and experience with major clients like development banks and multilateral organizations, aiding Ricardo s growth in AFOLU and carbon market services.

Key Responsibilities

• AFOLU Mitigation Strategy Development: Contribute to market ready AFOLU strategies, such as reforestation and soil carbon, ensuring biodiversity and ecosystem benefits where relevant. Support project feasibility assessments and certification processes (eg, REDD+, Verra) to meet high standards.
• Carbon Market Instruments: Design results-based payments and carbon credit schemes, ensuring policy compliance. Assist clients with regulatory navigation to make AFOLU projects investment ready.
• Technical Coordination: Collaborate with Ricardo s experts on essential elements like MRV, data integration, and forest carbon metrics.
• Project and Client Support: Coordinate project tasks, timelines, and budgets, while serving as a client liaison and supporting business development in AFOLU carbon markets.

Key Competencies and Experience

• Bachelor s degree in environmental science, agriculture, forestry, or related field.
• Experience in business development or bid writing in consultancy.
• Skilled in multidisciplinary teamwork, including large projects.
• Experience with government, development banks, or multilateral organizations on AFOLU projects.
• Strong AFOLU knowledge: MRV, carbon accounting, GHG mitigation strategies, and certification standards.
• Expertise in carbon markets, including results-based payments and crediting mechanisms.

Desirable Competencies and Experience

• Proven client engagement and communication skills, especially in carbon market integration projects.
• Strong project management experience with complex projects.
• Proficient in English; additional European languages (Spanish/French preferred) are a plus.
• Clear, concise report writing and analytical skills.
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks, REDD+, and land-use policy.

Working here

You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place.

We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.

Work life balance

We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential.

Benefits

We want you to know how much you are valued. Your remuneration and benefits package will reflect that. You will receive a range of benefits which include support for your physical and mental health.

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach as explained here. We value diversity; recognising that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment. Diversity also drives innovation, by allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service that we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees and to ensure an inclusive culture, we are a recognised as a 'disability confident' employer.

Next steps

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.

Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via recruit(at)if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.

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