Application Guide

How to Apply for Project Development Manager

at Living Carbon

🏢 About Living Carbon

Living Carbon is a pioneering biotech company that genetically enhances trees for faster growth and greater carbon sequestration, directly combating climate change. Their innovative approach combines plant biology with carbon markets, offering a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of science, technology, and environmental impact. Joining means contributing to a mission-driven team that is reshaping how we think about carbon removal.

About This Role

As Project Development Manager, you will be the linchpin coordinating Living Carbon's carbon project portfolio—from forestry operations to financial structuring. You'll own timelines, cross-functional workflows, and stakeholder reporting, directly enabling projects to reach financeability and registration. This role is critical for scaling the company's impact by ensuring that complex, multi-team projects advance efficiently and transparently.

💡 A Day in the Life

Your day might start with a stand-up with the Forestry team to check on field progress, then a mid-morning meeting with Carbon and Finance to align on milestone priorities. After lunch, you'd update project dashboards, review a report for an investor partner, and spend the afternoon refining a workflow to streamline data flow between teams, ending with a check-in on a critical path item for an upcoming registration deadline.

🎯 Who Living Carbon Is Looking For

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📝 Tips for Applying to Living Carbon

1

1. Highlight specific examples of building cross-functional workflows from scratch, especially in a startup or fast-paced environment—quantify the impact (e.g., 'reduced project cycle time by 20%').

2

2. Emphasize any experience with carbon markets, forestry, or climate tech, even tangentially, to show domain awareness. If not, connect your PM skills to mission-driven work.

3

3. Tailor your resume to showcase 'ownership' of timelines and milestone tracking—use metrics like number of projects managed, stakeholders coordinated, or reports delivered.

4

4. In your cover letter, explicitly mention Living Carbon's unique biotech approach and how your PM skills can help scale their carbon sequestration projects.

5

5. Prepare a portfolio or case study of a complex project you led, detailing how you managed cross-team coordination, risks, and reporting—ready to share if requested.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

- Express genuine passion for climate change solutions and Living Carbon's specific mission of using enhanced trees for carbon sequestration. - Demonstrate your ability to own and drive project milestones in a cross-functional setting, with concrete examples of managing timelines and reporting. - Highlight your experience in building workflows and processes that improve team alignment and efficiency, especially in a remote or distributed environment. - Show that you understand the importance of investor-grade reporting and can deliver accurate, timely updates to external stakeholders.

Generate Cover Letter →

🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • 1. Study Living Carbon's whitepapers or public research on their enhanced tree traits (e.g., faster growth, higher carbon uptake) to understand the science behind their projects.
  • 2. Review the carbon credit market landscape, including registries like Verra or Gold Standard, to understand how projects become financeable and registered.
  • 3. Look into Living Carbon's existing project portfolio (if publicly disclosed) or any partnerships (e.g., with landowners or investors) to gauge the scale and stage of their work.
  • 4. Familiarize yourself with the company's culture and values from their website, blog, or LinkedIn posts—especially their emphasis on impact and cross-functional collaboration.

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 1. 'Walk me through how you would set up a project plan for a new carbon credit project, from land acquisition to registration, including key milestones and cross-functional dependencies.'
2 2. 'How have you handled a situation where two teams (e.g., Forestry and Finance) had conflicting priorities? Give a specific example.'
3 3. 'Describe a time you improved a workflow or process that significantly impacted project delivery. What was the outcome?'
4 4. 'What experience do you have with reporting to external stakeholders (investors, partners)? How do you ensure data accuracy and clarity?'
5 5. 'Why are you interested in working at Living Carbon specifically, and how does your background align with our mission to combat climate change through biotech?'
Practice Interview Questions →

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • 1. Submitting a generic application without referencing Living Carbon's specific mission or biotech approach—this role is highly mission-driven.
  • 2. Focusing too much on technical PM tools (e.g., Jira, Asana) without demonstrating the strategic thinking needed to build workflows and align teams.
  • 3. Overlooking the importance of reporting and investor communication—this role requires comfort with external-facing deliverables, not just internal coordination.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Living Carbon!