BACKGROUND

The Kennemer Group (Kennemer) is a Southeast-Asian socially minded agribusiness founded in 2012 that specializes in growing, sourcing and processing high quality agricultural crops, such as cocoa beans. The founder Simon Bakker won the Schwab Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneur in 2016.

Kennemer Group is a leading developer of sustainable agriculture, nature conservation and restoration programs in the Philippines and the APAC region. Its agricultural subsidiary Kennemer Foods International (KFI) is the leading exporter of cocoa beans in the Philippines and a leading banana trader. Its subsidiary for ecosystem services, Kennemer Eco Solutions, launched the Philippines’ first nature-based carbon credit from its agroforestry reforestation project MinTrees in 2023.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Climate Certification Manager (CCM) will be the inhouse expert on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) accounting & monitoring for ecosystems and nature-based projects. The CCM will lead overall certification processes of climate projects like reforestation, forest conservation and other project types under international certifications like Verified Carbon Standard.

This innovative and exciting topic will include a lot of learning, but also sharing to the existing KenEco team. Uniquely for the Philippines, this position will be embedded in a team that is already operating and monitoring climate projects in ecosystems and led by nature-based GHG experts.

The position requires familiarity with ecosystem functions, climate change, Greenhouse Gas fluxes, carbon pools. The capability to think through new complex systems and to learn will be just as important as existing knowledge and experience.

The position mixes detailed statistical work with real-work project implementation for sustainable development, conservation and restoration of ecosystems and communities. From agriculture, to forest conservation, to mangroves and other topics this is a diverse portfolio of tasks for people who enjoy learning and are happy to dive into diverse topics.

Main output of the work are successfully completed annual certification steps for each project with high quality monitoring, documentation, and reporting. A keen eye for detail and thorough preparation is the basis of every successful certification effort. The work happens in a positively spirited, young and diverse team in across the Philippines, India and Indonesia.

● The CCM is experienced in developing nature-based carbon credit projects under international certifications such as Gold Standard, Verra, Plan Vivo or similar in tropical developing countries (= the relevant project types)

● The CCM has been leading the completion of successful validation & verification processes of the relevant project types

● The CCM has experience in organizing collection and analysis of diverse information on Climate (GHG), Community (Socio-economic, cultural) and Biodiversity (High Conservation Values, Rare-Threatened-Endemic species) through a team of specialists

● The CCM has experience in development of Project Description (PDs) / Project Design Documents (PDDs), Monitoring Plans and Monitoring Reports of the relevant project types

● The CCM has team management experience for technical assessment specialists for Climate, Community, and Biodiversity

● The CCM has experience in early-stage assessments of the relevant project types via e.g. Feasibility Studies, Environmental & Social Impact Assessments, Stakeholder Consultations or Technical Due Diligence processes

● The CCM has experience in certifications, assurance systems and audits such as Gold Standard, Verra or Plan Vivo for the relevant project types

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

● Manage the existing team of Climate, Community & Biodiversity specialists

● Develop Project Description (PDs) / Project Design Documents (PDDs), Monitoring Plans and Monitoring Reports of the relevant project types

● Develop early-stage assessments of the relevant project types via e.g. Feasibility Studies, Environmental & Social Impact Assessments, Stakeholder Consultations or Technical Due Diligence processes

● Conduct field visits in rural and forestry sites

● Completion of successful validation & verification processes of nature-based carbon credit projects under international carbon credit certification such as Gold Standard, Verra or Plan Vivo in tropical developing countries

● Familiarize with different GHG accounting protocols and methodologies for different ecosystems and project types

● Develop Climate Monitoring Plans for different relevant project types, including sampling and data recording procedures implemented by field teams

● Take lead authorship of Monitoring Reports of projects to be submitted to international certifications

● Participate in the drafting of Project Descriptions for various project types

● Learn and then share and capacitate other team members on elements of climate monitoring

REQUIREMENTS

• Experience in certification processes such as greenhouse gases or agriculture or other project certifications

• M.Sc. in Biology, Forestry, Climatology, Geography, Environmental Sciences, Business Administration or related field

• Completed leading at least 1 successful validation or verification of a relevant project type

• Minimum 3 years’ experience working on certifications

• Minimum 5 years’ experience working on climate change science

• Strong mathematical and statistical knowledge

• Strong familiarity with Excel

• Quick learner and curious to learn new scientific topics, even when challenging

• Good remote collaboration skills in emails, chat, online calendars & meetings, cloud drives

• Additional benefit: Familiarity with Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold

Standard (GS) or other carbon credit certification schemes

• Additional benefit: Familiarity field monitoring techniques like tree biomass inventory, soil sampling or other field data collection

• Passion for environmental conservation and a commitment to protecting natural resources for future generations.