Chief Scientist - Ecosystem Services

Position Location: Remote

Position Term: Annual Contract Basis

Required for Consideration: Interested applicants should send a tailored cover letter describing their interest and qualifications for the role, and annual compensation requirements, together with a resume and possible start date to info@ecosystemservicesmarket.org. We will only consider applicants who provide all requested information.

Position Posting Close Date: Position posting will remain open until filled. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis.

SUMMARY OF POSITION ROLES AND RESPONSBILITIES

The Chief Scientist is the senior leader of the Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium (ESMRC) Research and Development (R&D) department which is ESMC’s innovation program that serves to improve and expand our market program operations. The Chief Scientist guides the strategic development and growth of ESMRC’s science, innovation and R&D programs, projects, partnerships, and fundraising with the goal of providing the best available information to support scaled beneficial outcomes from agricultural operations, including improved ecosystems service outcomes that are quantified and verified. The incumbent will broker scientific partnerships, provide scientific leadership with and to our Network, and promote and support innovative approaches for the development and management of scientific information, including the advancement of tools that facilitate the use of this information in our ecosystem services market program and pilot projects in support of market program expansion and enhancements.
ESMC/ESMRC’s ecosystem services market program incentivizes, quantifies, tracks and delivers supply chain credits (aka impact units or emissions factors) for increased soil carbon, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhanced water quality and water use conservation, and biodiversity outcomes from US and North American farms and ranches. The credits help meet the commitments and annual reporting requirements of agricultural supply chain and value chain buyers and other actors seeking to increase regenerative, climate smart, and sustainable agricultural outcomes from within their supply chains.

• Provide strategic leadership for ESMRC Research directives
  • Provide strategic direction and guidance for all scientific and RDD&D aspects of ESMC/ESMRC programming
  • Lead identification of RDD&D needs and planning and execution of RDD&D projects that meet ESMRC goals and objectives as established by grant awards and ESMC market development priorities.
  • Develop three- and five-year research roadmaps in alignment with RDD&D needs.
• Provide thought leadership and serve as a spokesperson to elevate the role ESMRC in key scientific organizations and relevant fora
• Lead ESMRC research activities
• Plan, schedule, and lead bi-weekly ESMRC Research Team calls
  • Evaluate relevant literature to inform research priorities, activities and RDD&D project design
  • Coordinate RDD&D functions with other ESMC program elements, including business, product, and technical development; protocol and standards; communications; etc.
  • Spearhead collaborations with external RDD&D efforts, including other FFAR-funded initiatives
  • Develop requests for proposals and statements of work to reflect external contracting needs to accomplish ESMRC RDD&D priorities, and review proposals and lead contractor selection process. Work with ESMC Finance Team to develop contracts for RDD&D contract awards, and serve as ESMRC point of contact with technical contractors to provide RDD&D project oversite. Document, synthesize, and report ESMRC research project results for distribution to ESMC’s Team, technical partners, members, and funders.
• Provide technical support to ESMRC pilot projects
  • Ensure scientific and programmatic validity of pilot project development, planning, implementation and refinement in support of market program improvements and expansion
  • Coordinate incorporation of ESMRC Working Group activities and project findings into ESMC programming, including pilot projects, field demonstrations, protocol development, technical product development, and business development roadmap
• Personnel Management
  • Directly oversee and manage the work of the ESMRC Soil Research Scientist and ESMRC Research Program Manager
• Support the development of grant proposals for continued and future funding of ESMRC research and innovation projects
• Participate in grant planning, development, and submission

For awarded grants, oversee RDD&D aspects of grants and grant reporting processes, including compilation of research and technical project documentation, synthesis of project outcomes, learnings, application to grant objectives, and future research opportunities, and relevant impacts to ESMRC’s ongoing RDD&D, pilot projects, and ESMC’s market program

• Support ESMC Technical Team in the integration of RDD&D project, data and outcomes into ESMC programming as relevant.
• Draft peer-reviewed publications and/or white papers showcasing ESMRC research project outcomes
• Support ESMC Communications Team in branding and publication of research reports and white papers
• Represent ESMC at relevant scientific meetings and conferences
• Assume additional relevant roles and responsibilities as necessary to achieve the success of ESMC and ESMRC

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

• University degree and PhD (or equivalent diploma) in a relevant scientific discipline such as agronomy, soil science, animal science or environmental conservation
• 5+ years experience in a relevant field, including in a legislative or administrative role
• Experience in program development and leadership, priority setting, and the management of finances, people, and workloads of large programs with numerous contracts and deliverables.
• Proven success in fundraising for scientific programs, particularly around agriculture conservation efforts.
• Experience convening multidisciplinary and/or multi-sector organizations and representatives in support of solving common RDD&D and innovative challenges in the agricultural ecosystem services area (e.g. carbon and greenhouse gas quantification of agricultural activities and systems, water and/or biodiversity impacts of agricultural operations and systems, etc.)

REPORTING AND SUPERVISION:

• The contractor role will report to the ESMC/ESMRC Executive Director

ESMC/ESMRC Background Information: The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) is a member-driven consortium working with partners and collaborators across the agricultural supply chain and value chain. ESMC’s program serves as a collective enabling program to achieve quantified and verified scope 3 supply chain soil carbon removals and GHG reductions for corporates with agriculture in their supply chain. We also generate improved water quality, water use conservation, and biodiversity outcomes and claims for scope 3 reporting. ESMC’s technologically advanced, digitized end-to-end ecosystem services market program and MRV infrastructure rewards and incentivize farmers for beneficial impacts of sustainable agricultural systems, and sells outcomes to corporates with annual scope 3 accounting and reporting requirements to meet SBTi and Net Zero commitments. The research arm of the consortium – known as the Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium, or “ESMRC” – invests in critical R&D to further scale the beneficial impacts of sustainable practice adoption on working agricultural lands. ESMC meets corporate and societal needs by quantifying, monitoring, and verifying the carbon, GHG and other environmental benefits achieved in ESMC market projects. ESMRC supports ESMC via innovative research and development initiatives and pilot project support.

For More Information: www.ecosystemservicesmarket.org