Application Guide
How to Apply for Senior Manager, Beyond Carbon Benefits Certification
at Winrock International
🏢 About Winrock International
Winrock International stands out for its innovative, integrated approach to sustainable development, tackling social, agricultural, and environmental challenges through practical, on-the-ground solutions. Working here means contributing to a mission-driven organization with a 40+ year history of impact, where you'll collaborate with experts across disciplines to create scalable, lasting change.
About This Role
This role spearheads the final development and market launch of the Beyond Carbon Benefits (BCB) Certification, a critical new standard for measuring and verifying environmental and social co-benefits in carbon projects. You'll ensure the certification is rigorous, practical, and globally applicable, directly influencing how corporations and jurisdictions report ESG impacts and accelerating the adoption of high-integrity climate solutions.
💡 A Day in the Life
Your day might start by reviewing feedback from the ART Board on the latest BCB draft, then shift to a virtual workshop with a jurisdictional government team to pilot a reporting template. In the afternoon, you could draft a blog post explaining BCB's alignment with new biodiversity frameworks, followed by planning a verifier training schedule and coordinating with Winrock's communications team on social media content to attract new ART participants.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Winrock International Is Looking For
- A seasoned professional with 10+ years specifically in designing, testing, and implementing environmental or social standards/certifications (not just policy analysis).
- Has deep, operational knowledge of jurisdictional REDD+ programs, including direct experience working with government agencies, verifiers, and Indigenous/Local Community organizations on implementation challenges.
- Possesses a robust network within the voluntary carbon market and sustainability reporting ecosystem, able to immediately engage key stakeholders for the BCB rollout.
- Is both a strategic thinker who can align frameworks with international biodiversity/ESG reporting and a pragmatic manager who can develop templates, training materials, and oversee verification processes.
📝 Tips for Applying to Winrock International
Quantify your 10+ years of experience: Instead of listing job titles, detail specific standards or certifications you helped develop/implement (e.g., 'Led the pilot testing of the [X] Standard across 3 jurisdictions').
Explicitly connect your experience to 'jurisdictional REDD+': Mention specific programs or governments you've worked with, as this is a core requirement distinct from project-level REDD+.
Highlight your stakeholder network: Name-drop key organizations (governments, NGOs, verifiers) you have relationships with, demonstrating you can hit the ground running.
Tailor your resume to show both 'development' and 'implementation' phases: Use bullet points that show you can take a standard from design (e.g., 'drafted criteria') through to rollout (e.g., 'trained 20 verifiers').
Reference ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions): Show you understand this is the parent program for BCB by mentioning ART's TREES standard or its governance structure in your materials.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your hands-on experience in the final stages of certifying a standard—discuss how you navigated stakeholder feedback, ensured practicality, and aligned it with frameworks like TNFD or CSRD.', 'A specific example of building consensus among diverse groups (governments, IP/LC communities, verifiers) to adopt or implement a sustainability standard.', "Your vision for making BCB 'practical to use' and 'rigorous in outcomes'—propose one concrete idea for a reporting template or training approach.", "Why Winrock's integrated approach to social and environmental development resonates with you, and how BCB advances that mission beyond carbon mitigation alone."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Winrock's current projects related to carbon benefits and social co-benefits (e.g., their work on the USAID-funded Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience activity).
- → The ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions) program—its TREES standard, board structure, and existing participants to understand BCB's institutional home.
- → Recent Winrock press releases, blogs, or social media on carbon markets or certification to grasp their communication style and priorities.
- → Competing or complementary standards for environmental/social co-benefits (e.g., CCB Standards, Plan Vivo) to formulate informed opinions on BCB's unique value proposition.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic sustainability resume without explicitly detailing experience with standards/certification development and implementation.
- Failing to demonstrate knowledge of jurisdictional-scale programs (confusing them with project-level carbon initiatives).
- Overemphasizing carbon market trading or offsetting experience without highlighting the policy, stakeholder engagement, and verification oversight aspects critical to this role.
📅 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:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Winrock International!