Senior Research Lead, Carbon Removal

WHO WE ARE

We know that our climate goals can only be met by rapidly reducing emissions and removing the carbon that already exists in our atmosphere. Carbon180 is a climate NGO with a vision to remove legacy carbon emissions from the atmosphere and create a livable climate in which current and future generations can thrive. Based in Washington, DC, we design and champion equitable, science-based policies that bring carbon removal solutions to gigaton scale.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Here at Carbon180, we believe there is no “perfect” candidate and want to encourage applying even if all the requirements listed aren’t met. Our goal is to build an authentic workplace by valuing diversity in our candidates. We are always looking to expand our growing team with dynamic and enthusiastic individuals. We look forward to receiving your application! 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Overview

Carbon180 is seeking a Senior Research Lead, Carbon Removal to join our Science & Innovation (S&I) team — the organization’s engine for scientific rigor, strategic foresight, and field-wide leadership. S&I sits at the intersection of climate science, technology innovation, policy design, and industry practice, ensuring that carbon removal not only scales, but does so in ways that are just, equitable, and highly accountable (JEHA). 

In this role, you will serve as a senior individual contributor who brings deep technical fluency in carbon removal, strong systems thinking, and leadership across complex, cross-functional projects. You’ll own major Science and Innovation work-streams, and help move the field towards high–accountability carbon removal. You’ll be expected to stay up-to-date on carbon removal pathways, including promising frontier technologies, and share the most impactful learnings with the Carbon180 team. 

You’ll also work closely with the policy, federal affairs, external affairs, and communications teams to (1) proactively develop and communicate technical guidance to support the responsible growth of the carbon removal sector and (2) respond to time-sensitive opportunities from Congress, the White House, communications, funders, and federal agencies.

This role will report to the Director of Science and Innovation.

Major Roles + Responsibilities

• Lead complex, cross-functional projects that require scientific depth, strategic synthesis, and coordination across teams. In the first 6 months of this role, you will lead early work on financial mechanisms for carbon removal as a core initial project, applying systems thinking to assess barriers, incentives, and policy levers.
• Build and steward coalitions with technical experts, researchers, industry partners, community stakeholders, and standards bodies.
• Translate highly technical concepts into clear, compelling guidance for nontechnical audiences, including policymakers and external partners.
• Analyze system-level drivers (policy, markets, economics, technology maturity) that shape the trajectory of carbon removal. 
• Dissect complex CDR concepts, technologies, and scientific claims to surface risks, opportunities, and policy implications.
• Serve as a senior technical voice, providing leadership, clarity, and structure amid ambiguity. 
• Share critical scientific developments and field intelligence across Carbon180 to strengthen organization-wide decision-making.
• Support the creation of and advocacy around best practices for a just, equitable, and highly accountable carbon removal industry.
• Work closely with the communications team to support thought leadership on topics related to science and innovation through blogs, media engagement, white papers, and other products
• Represent Carbon180’s technical perspective in external engagements, working groups, and stakeholder convenings.

WHO YOU ARE

Our ideal candidate believes deeply in our mission. Beyond that:

• Science and innovation are your “things.” You have meaningful fluency across carbon removal pathways and genuinely enjoy digging into new technologies, scientific papers, and tricky system dynamics. Your friends expect you to know (or find!) the answer to random technical questions, and you can synthesize learnings across domains to spot what’s signal versus noise.
• You are an excellent and fluid communicator. People come to you to help translate complex scientific or technical ideas into clear, compelling narratives. You move comfortably between conversations with scientists, entrepreneurs, lawmakers, community partners, and corporate leaders – and help each understand what matters.
• You move fluidly from strategy to execution. You can toggle between big-picture systems thinking and detailed technical analysis without missing a beat. You juggle multiple projects, prioritize effectively, track timelines, and roll up your sleeves when the work needs it.
• You navigate complexity with steadiness and flexibility. You can move between projects without losing focus, shift priorities when needed, and stay grounded when the field or policy landscape changes. You are comfortable with ambiguity, quick to recover from setbacks, and able to bring clarity in dynamic situations.  
• You thrive on a collaborative team. You’re energized by working with others. You value a collaborative team culture where people take time to reflect, align, and build ideas together. You enjoy co-creating thoughtful, defensible work and contributing to a collective process that prioritizes clarity and intention. 
• You are high-impact, low ego, and values aligned. You care more about collective success than individual credit. You show up with humility, curiosity, and kindness. Carbon180’s core values – especially our commitment to justice, equity, and accountability – resonate with how you want to show up in this work. 

Beyond that, you have:

• 5 -10 years of scientific or technical experience, with at least some exposure to carbon removal or closely related fields (e.g., carbon management, energy systems, materials science, bioprocess engineering, Earth sciences).
• A multidisciplinary mindset and willingness to get up to speed quickly on a wide range of technical topics. 
• A track record of producing rigorous, high-quality work in environments that value depth, clarity, and thoughtful analysis.
• Either prior experience working on science policy or a strong belief that government can contribute to solving societal-scale problems like climate change. 
• A healthy dose of climate urgency – and the determination to channel it into meaningful, systems-level change.

WHAT WE OFFER

Carbon180 is deeply committed to providing market-leading compensation and robust benefits to our employees. Our salaries are in the 70th percentile of the Washington, DC market. We employ an external firm to conduct market analyses every three years, and we are committed to safeguarding internal salary equity. For those reasons, we have a non-negotiation policy on salaries.

The starting salary range for this position will be $141,080 to $162,242 with opportunities for growth up to $182,404

Carbon180 prides itself on offering benefits and perks to our employees that illustrate how we live our values, including:

• 36-hour workweeks (we close at 1 pm every Friday) and dedicated no-meeting time each week
• Flexible work culture
• 4 weeks of PTO, 2 weeks of sick leave, and 5 floating holidays/personal days 
• Paying 100% of medical/dental/vision insurance premiums for you and your dependents

TO APPLY

To apply for the role of Senior Research Lead, Carbon Removal please submit an application.

On the application, you’ll be asked to

• answer some basic questions about your background and experiences,
• in place of a cover letter, answer a few written reflection questions to help us learn more about your interest in joining our team and in this role specifically, and
• attach your resume in the application form.

Interview process and timeline

• Applications are being accepted and reviewed through January 8, 2026. 
• There will be three rounds of interviews in January and February.
• We anticipate extending an offer in late February.

If you have any questions or issues submitting your application, please email us at [email protected].

OUR VALUES

At C180, we believe in living by an internal set of core values, which we strive to embody and celebrate in moments big and small.

• One Boat. We work hard to ensure that we are rowing in one direction as a team, aligning our work and resources to shared goals..
• Pencil to Pen. We think critically, do our research, and weigh multiple options. Then, we commit to move to action.
• Win + Lose Together. When one of us succeeds, we all win. When we encounter challenges, we determine how best to redirect the energy and resources of the team to solve them.
• Person in the Professional. Our team is composed of real people with real passions, interests, and needs within and outside of work. We believe we need to care for ourselves and others to be our best and most productive selves at work. 
• Make Space, Share Space. We believe in making space for all voices to be heard, within our team and our broader work - particularly and especially voices historically disenfranchised and disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change.
• Be a Window, Not a Door. We’re committed to transparency, and to shining light on how and why decisions are made. We are honest with one another, ask for clarity, and operate with integrity to build a culture of trust.
• Grow the Braintrust. We are committed to constantly learning, and to staying up to speed on the science of our field. We work to grow our knowledge, sharpen our skills, and to bring great minds to the field of carbon removal.

We currently require that all employees who plan to enter a Carbon180 office or otherwise meet in person with coworkers or other third parties on Carbon180 business are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Accordingly, this role may require full COVID-19 vaccination (subject to any exemptions or accommodations due to medical or religious reasons).

Carbon180 is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Carbon180 continually seeks to enrich its staff and team culture. In particular, we’re dedicated to broadening opportunities for individuals from demographic groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences and in environmental advocacy. We’re also committed to building an inclusive workplace culture where talented people of widely different backgrounds can thrive. We've adopted this commitment because we believe the inclusion of culturally diverse perspectives will improve our work and produce better societal and environmental outcomes for all, including historically disenfranchised communities.