Standards and Guidance Specialist

Job Description

Position Overview:

We’re seeking a Standards and Guidance Specialist with strong analytical and organisational skills, deep knowledge of GHG reporting standards, protocols and guidance, and an entrepreneurial mindset to support the growth of Cool Farm’s advisory services.

You will help translate international standards into clear, operational methods for our Platform and lead the early growth of a new business opportunity providing advisory services to members and supply chain reporters.

You’ll work closely with modellers, developers and product managers to ensure our methods remain robust, transparent and aligned with evolving guidance such as the IPCC Guidelines,  WRI Land Sector and Removals Guidance and Carbon Removals Certification Framework.

You will also help define methodology and work with our modellers on implementation, so a strong mathematical and logical skill set is essential, enabling you to interpret quantitative requirements, understand uncertainty, assess emissions formulas, and engage confidently in method design discussions.

You will report to Cool Farm's Head of Science and Methods and be supported by the full Cool Farm secretariat.

If you have a background in science, are smart, fun, love numbers, have outstanding attention to detail and organisational skills and a solid work ethic we would love to hear from you.

Your Key Responsibilities:

• Interpret and apply standards: Review and operationalise evolving GHG and sustainability standards (e.g. IPCC, WRI Land Sector and Removals Guidance, GHG Protocol, CRCF, ISO, FLAG, TNFD, etc) to ensure alignment of Cool Farm methods and method boundaries.
• Develop advisory services:
• Identify and scope opportunities to provide tailored consulting and advisory services to Cool Farm members and external clients.
• Support bid proposal writing, costings, and resource planning.
• Deliver or coordinate technical consulting work (e.g. standards interpretation, data analysis, or bespoke modelling).
• Develop supporting materials, templates, and documentation to professionalise and scale consulting delivery.
• Model review and methods development: Contribute to the development, review, testing, and documentation of models and equations within the Cool Farm Platform.
• Data analysis and QA: Use Excel to verify model outputs and assess consistency against standards.
• Documentation and knowledge sharing: Produce clear, concise technical documentation and contribute to communicating methods internally and externally.
• Working group and external engagement: Support or lead discussions with internal and external scientific and industry working groups to ensure stakeholder alignment.
• Support the Cool Farms Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives
• Demonstrated understanding of GHG accounting and sustainability standards (e.g. IPCC, GHG Protocol, ISO, FLAG, WRI).
• Strong client-facing consulting skills, including scoping ambiguous problems, managing stakeholder expectations, and delivering defensible, decision-useful technical advice.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex science clearly to different audiences.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with excellent proficiency in Excel and confidence in working with mathematical equations.
• High attention to detail and commitment to scientific accuracy and standard alignment.
• Self-motivated, adaptable, and comfortable working in a remote team environment.
• Understanding of agriculture, food systems, or environmental science.
• Fluent in English and eligible to work in the UK.
• Experience delivering or managing consulting or technical advisory projects.
• Familiarity with carbon or sustainability modelling (IPCC Tier 1–3 approaches)

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

• Individuals from ethnic groups that are underrepresented.
• Individuals with care experience.
• Individuals who have been recognised as refugees in the UK.
• Individuals estranged from both of their primary caregivers (for example, both parents or carers).
• Individuals who were eligible for the 16-19 Bursary/Pupil Premium and/or those who received Free School Meals.
• Young carers, who are the main caregiver for a parent or sibling.
• Individuals who have faced disruptions in their education due to factors such as health issues, family circumstances, or homelessness.
• Interested candidates should continue with this application form. Deadline is 8AM GMT, 23rd Feb 2026.
• Two people will read the applications and the first page of the application will be hidden from those selecting candidates for interview.
• We aim for the interviews to happen in March.
• Interviews will be virtual and approximately 1 hour long. We will send the main questions before the interview so candidates can prepare.
• Once the candidates have been shortlisted a test will be provided, and candidates given 4 hours to complete.

Essential Criteria:
The Cool Farm Alliance is dedicated to fostering a culture of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). We believe that diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences enrich our workplace and drive innovation. We seek candidates from all backgrounds and believe that diversity fuels innovation and that every team member's contribution is essential to our success. Our workplace fosters inclusion, open dialogue, and equal opportunities for all team members. 

We are on a journey to dismantle bias and barriers to ensure that everyone has an equal chance to thrive within our organisation. Join us, to create a diverse and inclusive workplace where every voice is valued and respected. The Cool Farm Alliance is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.

We are aware that women and people from different underrepresented backgrounds will often only apply for jobs where they meet 100% of the listed qualifications (Source: Harvard Business Review). If this is the role for you and you meet many, but not all, of our asks we still want to hear from you.

We actively invite applications from individuals represented by the criteria for broader participation outlined below, reflecting our dedication to enhancing diversity and inclusion and expanding opportunities in sustainability and environmental technical careers.
As this role can be fully remote, the position can be adapted to your requirements for example allowing flexible hours, or to be fully based working from home. We aim to create flexibility in the role to suit our colleagues' needs.

Application Process: 
We are striving to make this application process as accessible as possible. In the interest of accommodating diverse backgrounds and abilities, if you require any accommodations or assistance during the application process, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Additionally, as we would like to assess your writing skills, this application is written-based.

For more information about Cool Farm, please see our website (https://coolfarm.org/) or contact us megan.mckerchar@coolfarm.org

Join us in making a difference in the world of sustainable farming!

About Cool Farm Alliance: 
The Cool Farm Alliance is a science-led, not-for-profit membership organisation (community interest company) that owns, manages, and improves the Cool Farm Tool and Platform and cultivates the members’ leadership network to advance regenerative agriculture at scale.

For over fifteen years, the Cool Farm Alliance has worked to put knowledge in the hands of farmers and empower the full supply chain to understand and support agro-ecological restoration by providing a respected, standardised calculation engine to measure and report on agriculture’s impact on the environment. The Cool Farm Tool and Platform has established widely endorsed, science-based metrics for water, climate, and biodiversity, supported in 17 languages and used in more than 150 countries around the world.

Cool Farm Alliance members share the need for a respected, consistent, standardised, independent calculation engine and have joined the Alliance to ensure the Cool Farm Tool and Platform meets this need, now and in the future. To find out more visit https://coolfarm.org/