CDR Demand and Market Development Lead

About the role

"We need to massively scale up carbon dioxide removal," said Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and lead author of the Planetary Boundaries framework, at the 2025 UN Climate Summit in New York. More specifically, carbon dioxide removal (CDR - the 'net' part of 'net zero') must scale from near-zero today to billions of tonnes by 2050. The growth rate this implies is faster than any other climate technology is expected to achieve or has achieved in the past. This cannot be achieved without government policy, and the role Europe must play in creating that policy cannot be overstated. Carbon Gap, Europe's leading CDR not-for-profit, exists to ensure Europe's contribution is maximised. A team of ~20 CDR policy experts based primarily between Brussels and London, we work closely with leading decision-makers right across Europe to design and shape the policies that are required to support CDR's scale-up - from R&D funding to government purchasing programmes, and from national targets to standards and certification. Our work has been covered by publications including the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. Carbon Gap alumni have progressed to exciting roles in government, the private sector, and academia. Location : Brussels Type : Full-time Reporting to : Chief Policy Officer We are looking for a Brussels-based CDR Demand and Market Development Lead who will help design and advance policy and market mechanisms that create durable demand for high-integrity carbon dioxide removal across Europe. Policy-driven demand is critical to CDR scale-up because long-term market growth will depend not only on innovation and supply, but on credible demand signals that improve investability, reduce risk, and unlock public and private capital. The role sits at the intersection of public policy, market design, and private-sector procurement. It will contribute to Carbon Gap's work on compliance-related and other policy-driven demand mechanisms for carbon removal, with a particular focus on how regulation, public demand, and market structures can create durable deployment signals. This includes work on: EU-level demand mechanisms, including compliance market integration, public procurement, and EU purchasing programmes or platforms Enabling public-private partnerships for near-term scaling of CDR Market structures that improve project economics and enable scale The role is suited to someone who understands how policy frameworks interact with real-world investment decisions, and who can analyse how demand signals affect project development, financing conditions, and market growth. You will work closely with Carbon Gap's EU policy team and with partners across government, industry, and the carbon removal ecosystem. 1) Demand-side CDR policy Lead Carbon Gap's Brussels work on policy and market mechanisms that can generate durable demand for high-integrity CDR across Europe. Shape demand-side approaches across EU and Member State contexts, including public procurement, public-private demand mechanisms, compliance-related pathways, and relevant industrial, innovation, and commercialisation frameworks. Assess how policy design choices affect bankability, financing conditions, and deployment. Produce clear, decision-useful outputs for policy development and external engagement, including briefings, recommendations, and meeting materials. 2) Market analysis and insight Analyse value chains, project economics, offtake dynamics, and deployment pathways across CDR approaches. Generate insights on how policy and market conditions affect demand, investment incentives, and the flow of public and private capital. Develop datasets, visualisations, and other analytical outputs that strengthen Carbon Gap's policy work and external positioning. 3) Stakeholder engagement and external influence Build trusted relationships across EU institutions, Member State governments, project developers, buyers, financial institutions, and civil society. Represent Carbon Gap in external meetings and discussions in Brussels and beyond. Design and deliver workshops, consultations, and convenings that connect policy design with market realities. Use stakeholder engagement to test, refine, and advance Carbon Gap's positions on policy-driven CDR demand. You have strong analytical judgement, are comfortable making decisions with imperfect information, and can operate effectively in a technically and politically dynamic environment. You are able to reason clearly about how policy choices affect markets, investment behaviour, and project deployment. You combine structured problem-solving with strong external judgement. You can build productive relationships with a wide range of actors, simplify complex issues, and turn analysis into practical action. You do not need to be a carbon removal specialist already. But you should bring a solid grounding in climate, energy, industrial, or adjacent policy, and enough fa