Senior Carbon Technical Manager – VCM Biomass Lead

About the role

BURN is seeking a Senior Carbon Technical Manager – VCM Biomass Lead who will take full technical ownership of BURN’s biomass carbon portfolio, ensuring projects are delivered on time, compliant with global standards, and optimized for credit issuance across multiple pathways. This role combines strategic leadership, technical expertise, and stakeholder management to drive high-quality MRV systems, verification processes, and continuous improvement across BURN’s carbon operations.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Ownership of BURN's carbon portfolio health — ensuring issuance volume delivery on time, on scope, and on budget.
• Assign projects to SCTEs and SCTOs; set reporting targets and reporting functions with junior technical teams, QA/QC, and other internal BURN customers.
• Working with the Carbon Policy and QA/QC teams — ensure that BURN's portfolio of projects is compliant with all methodological and industry-approved integrity benchmarks.
• Lead VVB contract management for the assigned project portfolio.
• Information management — working with the QA/QC officer to manage all carbon technical documentation and access, including certified documentation; craft and provide technical responses on new methodologies, ratings agencies, press, and investor updates.
• Review emergent trends in the ICVCM and forecast technical threats and opportunities in relation to BURN's corporate interests.
• Oversee implementation of BURN's capacity building and training programme.
• Provide quarterly SMT reports on BURN's portfolio health and inter-departmental initiative tracking.
• Lead or participate in technical workshops, methodology reviews, and industry seminars.
• Develop and update investor update decks and carbon portfolio briefing materials.
• Conduct onboarding programmes for senior BURN staff on carbon technical matters.
• Lead internal inter-departmental training.
• Manage inter-departmental Carbon Asset Development assignments, including but not limited to Supply deals.
• Resource management — provide monthly updates to the HOD / Director on technical staffing needs.
• Develop and maintain relationships with VVBs and GHG certification registries.
• Appraisals and check-ins for immediate direct reports; oversee the appraisal structure for junior talent under the SCTE.
• Carry out specific one-off special carbon assignments falling outside the scope of the existing JD, as directed by the HOD / Director.
• Biomass Portfolio Management

• Take full technical ownership of BURN's improved biomass cookstove carbon portfolio across all active project countries.
• Maintain a current project register covering project status, crediting period timelines, monitoring and verification calendars, registry account status, and credit issuance history across all crediting pathways.
• Lead Annual Plan preparation for the biomass portfolio — setting monitoring schedules, verification timelines, budget requirements, and resource allocation per project and per crediting pathway.
• Manage relationships with Gold Standard, Verra, the UNFCCC Article 6.4 Supervisory Body, and relevant Designated National Authorities and national standards bodies for biomass projects.
• Ensure all biomass projects maintain active registration and good standing on the Gold Standard Registry, Verra Registry, and UNFCCC Article 6.4 Registry — including timely upload of monitoring reports, payment of fees, and issuance requests.
• Ensure End-User Awareness (EUA) and Direct Customer Engagement (DCE) programme documentation is complete, archived, and compliant with Gold Standard CCP requirements. .
• Crediting Pathway Technical Management

• VCM — Gold Standard / Verra

• Own technical compliance with VCM registry methodological and procedural requirements for charcoal and firewood displacement projects.

• Manage the full monitoring, reporting, and verification cycle for all VCM-registered biomass projects.

• Maintain an updated tracker on all VCM registry requirements and working with the Carbon Policy Lead oversee implementation of approved VCM & A.6.4 registry updates

• CORSIA

• Manage BURN's CORSIA-eligible biomass project track — ensuring projects meet CORSIA eligibility criteria and vintage compliance windows.
• Coordinate with airlines, carbon traders, or CORSIA compliance buyers on technical requirements and supporting documentation.
• Article 6.4 — UNFCCC Supervisory Body

• Lead the technical adaptation of eligible biomass projects to the UNFCCC Article 6.4 Supervisory Body mechanism — including first issuance submissions and compliance with the A6.4 Methodology Framework.
• Engage with the A6.4 Supervisory Body on technical matters relating to biomass displacement projects.
• MRV Systems and Monitoring Reports

• Own the design and continuous improvement of MRV systems for biomass projects — including Kitchen Performance Test (KPT) protocols (KPT Protocol v4), KOBO survey instruments, and database quality standards.
• Ensure KOBO survey instruments are maintained to KPT Protocol v4 standards, localised for each project country, and updated ahead of every survey campaign.
• Oversee quarterly KPT and monitoring survey cycles: sample design, field quality control, statistical outlier analysis, plausibility benchmark checks (GS CCP / CLEAR thresholds for charcoal and firewood), and reliability assessments.
• Lead preparation and internal review of quarterly and annual monitoring reports — ensuring correct sourcing and calculation of all monitored parameters under the applicable methodology.
• Verification and Registry Operations
• Lead preparation of all VVB verification packages — monitoring reports, supporting evidence dossiers, audit trails, and structured responses to VVB queries across all crediting pathways.
• Act as primary technical contact during VVB audits; manage all VVB communications, Forward Action Requests (FARs), and Corrective Action Requests (CARs) through to closure.
• Manage BURN's registry accounts for biomass projects — project uploads, fee payments, issuance bookings, and all other registry obligations across Gold Standard, Verra, and Article 6.4 registries.
• Lead the credit issuance process following successful verification, including retirements and transfers required by CORSIA compliance buyers or bilateral counterparties.
• Data Quality and QA/QC
• Develop, maintain, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and QA/QC plans for all biomass MRV processes.
• Oversee data completeness checks on all KPT and household survey datasets before they are used in emission reduction calculations.
• Manage household ID linkage across all survey instruments to ensure same-household pairing is demonstrable to VVBs.

Skills and Experience

• Minimum 5 years' experience in voluntary or compliance carbon markets, with a strong track record in MRV, monitoring report preparation, and VVB verification management for biomass or clean cooking projects.
• Deep working knowledge of Gold Standard GS4GG Cookstove Requirements for charcoal and firewood displacement, CCP labelling conditions, and the Gold Standard Registry.
• End-to-end ownership of at least 3 projects certified within the last 36 months as lead carbon technical advisor or equivalent.
• At least 1 Programme of Activities (PoA) developed and certified within the last 36 months as lead technical advisor. • Demonstrable experience contracting and managing at least 2 VVB audit firms through a full validation or verification cycle, including FARs and CARs.
• Experience with Verra VCS and AMS-II.G methodology in addition to Gold Standard.
• Demonstrable working knowledge of fNRB determination methodologies (CDM AMS-II.G, UNFCCC, or country-specific published studies).
• Experience managing CORSIA-eligible projects — familiarity with CORSIA eligibility criteria, vintage rules, and compliance buyer requirements.          
• Working knowledge of the UNFCCC Article 6.4 Supervisory Body mechanism and its methodology framework for cookstove or biomass displacement projects.
• Proven experience designing and managing KPTs and household energy surveys at scale across multiple Sub-Saharan African project countries.
• Demonstrable experience managing lead technical resources — supervision, training, and appraisals of Carbon Technical Officers and junior teams.
• Minimum 2 years managing a team of 5–15 technical or project management professionals. Desirable
• Working knowledge of at least one programme country — Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, or Zimbabwe — including local regulatory context.
• Familiarity with EUA and DCE documentation requirements under Gold Standard CCP.
• Experience working with KOBO Toolbox or equivalent field data management platforms.
• Swahili or other relevant Sub-Saharan African language.
• ISO Lead Auditor training or equivalent QMS audit qualification preferred.                   

                                    Qualified Female Candidates encouraged to Apply

BURN does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).