Our mission
Carbon dioxide removal, alongside rapid emissions reductions, is essential to preserving a stable climate and safeguarding business cases, security, and prosperity. Carbon Gap exists to close the knowledge, policy, and ambition gaps that are holding back a carbon removal ecosystem that delivers real progress on climate change.
European leadership—including from Germany—is critical: both to ensure carbon dioxide removal can scale to meet climate goals and to foster a science-based, high-integrity vision of carbon dioxide removal.
Carbon Gap is Europe’s largest philanthropically funded non-profit focused on scaling just and effective carbon dioxide removal. We provide independent, science-based advice to decision-makers and work with partners across the ecosystem to translate policy into real-world deployment. Carbon Gap Alumni have progressed to exciting roles in Government, Industry and Academia.
The role
We are looking for a Germany-based Country Advocacy Lead who will (1) lead and execute Carbon Gap’s country-level policy work in Germany, (2) support CDR demand creation across Europe, and (3) ensure coordination of CDR policy between Berlin and Brussels.
This role is suited to someone who understands how decisions get made and implemented, whether from policy, business, consulting, or advisory environments, and who can translate between political intent, market realities, and execution constraints.
This is a delivery-oriented role at the interface of policy design, stakeholder engagement, and market development. You will help shape and advance policy pathways that can unlock durable, high-integrity CDR—while also supporting initiatives that translate policy into credible demand signals (e.g., public procurement, buyer coalitions, and other mechanisms aligned with quality and equity principles).
You will work closely with colleagues in our EU policy team and with partners across European capitals. The role can in principle be based anywhere in Germany, with regular presence in Berlin for meetings, convenings, and relationship-building. Being based in Berlin is a strong plus.
Responsibilities
1) Germany country policy leadership (primary)
- Own and drive German policy advocacy directly related or relevant to CDR, including strategy development, prioritisation, and execution.
- Monitor, analyse, and interpret German policy developments relevant to CDR (e.g., climate targets, carbon management, procurement, industrial policy, innovation funding, standards/MRV, infrastructure, and governance).
- Develop policy recommendations and advocacy plans, including clear rationales, stakeholder mapping, and sequencing-with explicit attention to feasibility, incentives, and implementation constraints.
- Engage decision-makers and influencers across ministries, agencies, Parliament,“Länder”-level actors where relevant, and adjacent institutions.
- Produce high-quality written outputs (briefings, memos, consultation responses, positions, and analysis) and support communications colleagues in translating insights for various audiences.
- Buildon our-and maintain a trusted network of experts and stakeholders (academia, NGOs, labour, industry, project developers, buyers, think tanks) to strengthen Carbon Gap’s country awareness and credibility.
- Represent Carbon Gap at relevant meetings, workshops, and events in Germany, and contribute to European convenings as needed.
2) European CDR demand creation support (secondary, cross-cutting)
- Support Carbon Gap’s efforts to stimulate and shape credible demand for high-integrity CDR across Europe, including:
- Public and private demand levers (e.g., procurement approaches, purchase programmes, advance market commitments,Contract for Difference-like instruments where applicable).
- Buyer engagement initiatives (e.g., coalitions, platforms, sectoral approaches) and alignment with quality criteria.
- Help design and deliver stakeholder workshops and consultations that connect policy design to demand-side realities (who buys, under what rules, with what safeguards).
- Contribute to cross-country learning and best practice sharing by identifying transferable policy and demand-design patterns from Germany and other European contexts.
3) Team and organisational contribution
- Contribute to internal planning, learning, and quality assurance across the policy team.
- Support shared products,including trackers, stakeholder databases, and internal briefings.
- Work in a way that reflects Carbon Gap’s commitment to integrity, transparency, equity, and environmental and social co-benefits in carbon removal policy.
Your profile
You do not need to be a long-time carbon removal or climate policy specialist.
We care more about how you think, how you prioritise, and whether you can turn strategy into real-world outcomes than about prior policy pedigree.
You need strong analytical judgement, comfort making decisions with imperfect information, and the ability to learn and apply policy frameworks quickly in a live political environment.
Essential experience and skills
- 3–5+ years of experience in roles involving complex decision-making, stakeholder management, and strategic execution,across public policy, government affairs, management consulting, corporate strategy, public affairs, or adjacent fields.
- Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes in complex systems (e.g. shifting decisions, aligning stakeholders, changing organisational or political trajectories), and to explain how you assess impact.
- Working familiarity with German policy-making processes and stakeholders, or the ability to build this quickly through structured engagement and learning.
- Ability to conduct high-level and deep-dive analysis under time pressure, with clear prioritisation and sound reasoning.
- Excellent writing and synthesis skills: you can turn complexity into decision-useful outputs for policymakers and stakeholders.
- Stakeholder management and relationship-building: you build trust,maintain momentum, and collaborate effectively across diverse groups.
- Professional fluency in English and German (written and spoken).
- Ability to reason about incentives, costs, risks, and scalability-and to test whether policy ideas are compatible with real-world implementation and market behaviour.
Strong Plus
- Comfort working with data in policy and market contexts, including structuring and cleaning datasets, conducting basic analysis, and using data to inform recommendations and decision-making.
- Strong visual and written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex analysis into clear, well-structured presentations, charts, and tables that support policy and stakeholder discussions.
- Experience in climate policy, carbon markets, industrial decarbonisation, innovation funding, procurement, standards/MRV, or infrastructure policy.
- Familiarity with EU policy processes, or experience working on issues spanning multiple European countries.
- Experience with convening and facilitation (multi-stakeholder workshops, panels, roundtables).
- STEM literacy or comfort engaging with scientific and technical material.
What we offer
- A mission-driven role with meaningful responsibility and visibility in a high-impact policy space.
- Competitive, market-aware compensation (details shared during the process).
- Flexible working arrangements within Germany, with structured collaboration and regular travel to Berlin (and occasional European travel as needed).
- Access to premium co-working spaces via Industrious, where available(e.g. Berlin).
- Strong professional development support, including opportunities to publish, lead projects, work with leading experts, and engage directly with policymakers and stakeholders.
- A values-driven team culture emphasising empowerment, accountability, and intellectual honesty.
Carbon Gap is committed to building an inclusive team. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who are underrepresented in the climate and carbon removal ecosystem. You do not need to meet every listed requirement to apply - if this role aligns with your skills and motivation, we would like to hear from you.
This role is availiable either as a permanent employment contract or under a freelance contract, depending on candidate preference.
Please submit:
- A CV
- A short cover note (why this role, why Carbon Gap, and what you would prioritise in the first 6 months)
- 1–2 writing samples (policy memo, briefing, op-ed, consultation response, or similar)