Climate & Water Initiatives Lead

About the role

As the Climate & Water Initiatives Lead, you will sit at the intersection of science, protocol enablement, and water sector and carbon market engagement. You will ensure that our wastewater alkalinity enhancement projects are rigorously validated, transparently credited, and effectively sold while supporting our wastewater sector initiatives.

You will play a key role driving excellence in measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) strategy and application. You will be responsible for driving the MRV program within CREW, quarterbacking new buyer application processes, and forging partnerships with external verifiers, protocol developers, registries, and carbon credit buyers. You will also help shape CREW’s broader market strategy through engagement with registries, buyers, policymakers, industry coalitions, and grant funding opportunities.

This is an ideal opportunity for a detail-oriented, mission-driven operator who can seamlessly transition from deep technical protocols to external stakeholder engagement across both the climate tech and utility sectors.

This position is a full-time role. Location can be remote, with a preference for onsite at our office in Brooklyn or our office in New Haven.

Responsibilities

• MRV & Protocol:
  • Drive the development and refinement of CDR protocols, managing relationships with key registries, credit buyers, governments, and standards bodies.
  • Lead end-to-end project validation and verification processes with independent third parties, including data delivery, coordination, and attendance at onsite visits.
  • Collaborate with our Technology & Operations teams to ensure MRV methodologies are technically rigorous and aligned with industry requirements, while working with Operations, Technology and Finance teams to optimize credit delivery.
• Water Sector Implementation:
  • Collaborate with internal engineering teams to align carbon removal operations with the day-to-day priorities, constraints, and process optimization goals of municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
  • Monitor and engage with evolving state, federal, and international policy frameworks relevant to wastewater treatment, greenhouse gas removal, and environmental impact.
  • Build trusted relationships across the broader water utility ecosystem, registries, standards bodies, and industry coalitions to position CREW’s technology as a win-win for climate and clean water.
• Offtake:
  • Support the end-to-end process of applying to CDR buyer programs and carbon marketplaces, managing initial RFI through successful onboarding.
  • Track offtake pipeline and coordinate reporting and delivery of credits with buyers.
• Grants & Strategic Funding:
  • Identify, evaluate, and write high-impact grant applications across federal (DOE, EPA), state, philanthropic, and corporate climate/water funding programs.

Experience Requirements

• 5–8+ years of experience in carbon markets, climate tech, environmental engineering, project development, consulting, or related fields.
• Experience working with carbon registries, carbon credit buyers, grant programs, and/or policy stakeholders is strongly preferred.
• Strong background in climate science, geochemistry, oceanography, or related fields.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• In-depth understanding of global greenhouse gas protocols.
• In-depth knowledge about science-based carbon reduction methodologies (SBTi).
• Deep understanding of Life Cycle Assessment Methodologies for technology products with respect to carbon footprint.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing startup environment where priorities can shift on a monthly basis.
• You practice extreme ownership (no task is too small).
• You love being in the trenches with your team and working with high empathy.
• You have a growth mindset.

Compensation

Compensation at the time of offer is unique to each candidate and based on a variety of factors such as skill set, experience, qualifications, and work location. Salary is one part of the total compensation and benefits package. Other benefits for eligible employees may include: equity through the form of option grants, flexible paid time off, 401(k) plan, well equipped office environment, and health benefits offerings.

The expected base salary range for this role is $90,000 – $140,000. This range represents the company’s estimate for this position at the time of posting however actual compensation may vary based on skills, experience, location, role scope, and business needs.

About the company

CREW is a water technology company providing wastewater treatment facilities with a process intensification solution that improves performance, lowers costs, and permanently removes greenhouse gases.

Leveraging advanced chemistry, natural minerals, and AI, we’ve developed and are deploying a category-defining process intensification technology, with decarbonization at its core. Today, we help wastewater treatment facilities and operators:

• Stabilize pH & alkalinity 24/7
• Eliminate hazardous chemicals & cut costs
• Avoid $100M+ infrastructure upgrades
• Capture & Store CO₂

We are currently deploying this technology across the US and Europe, with 10+ commercial projects online or being commissioned. We’ve recently raised $25M in funding to scale our dual solution technology. In addition, we’ve signed $30M+ in carbon removal offtake agreements with leading corporations looking to meet their climate goals, supercharging geographical CREW’s expansion.

CREW is positioned to become a category-defining leader in water and climate as our patented technology addresses the wastewater industry’s mounting challenges, allowing facilities to get more out of aging infrastructure to improve treatment efficiency and save costs for utilities and ratepayers — while removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) at scale.

CREW has offices and labs in New Haven, CT and offices in Brooklyn, NY.