Policy Manager - South East Asia

The rules that will set the revenue ceiling for rice methane credits over the next decade are being written now. Article 6 authorization frameworks across South East Asia, CORSIA's eligible-unit requirements, Singapore's international carbon credit framework under its carbon tax, and Japan's JCM and GX-ETS are all moving at once. Whoever secures credible, authorised pathways early will define the market for everyone else.

The company needs clear, tangible entry proof-points in these compliance markets. The single most important lever is a Letter of Authorization (LoA) from host-country governments for our Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) projects, backed by a clear route to buyers in Singapore, Japan and international aviation.

The Head of Policy, South East Asia is the person who makes that happen. This is not a traditional communications or government affairs role. It is a technical–political–commercial role. You need carbon market literacy to understand the sticking points in AWD and rice methane methodologies, policy fluency to navigate a dozen fast-moving regulatory regimes, the relationships and cultural range to sit in any room from a ministry in Jakarta to a buyer in Singapore, and the commercial instinct to turn all of it into the company's expansion strategy.

This means prioritizing across multiple countries and regimes, knowing when to lean on internal teams versus external advisors, and not stopping until real outcomes are achieved: an authorization granted, a methodology accepted, a buyer able to use our credits for compliance. Working alongside the C-suite, the Head of South East Asia and our country heads, you'll help drive the company's SEA compliance market entry and be the company's policy expert across the region.

Role responsibilities

• Market entry strategy and intelligence. Support the Head of South East Asia and the C-suite in shaping the company's compliance market pathway and country sequencing: Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia on the supply side, and Singapore, Japan and CORSIA on the demand side. Build and maintain a dossier for each target country covering its regulatory landscape, Article 6 architecture, LoA requirements, timeline to first compliance revenue and addressable market size, giving leadership the policy insight they need to prioritise.

• Host-country authorization (LoAs). Working alongside the Head of South East Asia, identify the decision-makers in each host government and drive LoA applications through to approval, making sure each one aligns with the country's NDC, sustainable development criteria, corresponding adjustment approach and environmental integrity requirements. Country heads lead local stakeholder engagement while you engage at national and ministerial level, so the two move in step. Together, spot and resolve blockers early, from hyper-local issues through to national policy. Where needed, bring in local partners, in-country experts or the company's senior advisor network to open doors, and manage them to deliver tangible progress towards LoAs.

• Representation and coalitions. Represent the company, alongside the Head of South East Asia, at SEA and Asia-Pacific policy forums, ministerial roundtables, and COP and SB sessions. Help build partnerships on shared priorities with regional organizations such as IRRI, ADB, the World Bank and JICA, as well as national rice research institutes, NGOs and other agricultural carbon developers. Work with the India team to draw on the company's track record there and strengthen these partnerships across SEA.

• Demand-side compliance access. Support the co-founders and commercial team in establishing how the company credits qualify under CORSIA, Singapore's international carbon credit framework and bilateral Implementation Agreements, and Japan's JCM and GX-ETS. Attend compliance demand conferences and help get the company into closed-door meetings with buyers and intermediaries to understand demand and price points.

• Policy and standards horizon scanning. Track and anticipate regulatory, Article 6 and methodology developments across the region, including at JCM Joint Committees and the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body. Work with our science and operations teams so the company's dMRV stack and ground operations keep pace, and provide insight to the commercial team on pricing and contracting implications. Where the commercial value is high advocate for changes in regulatory text that serve the company's position.

Requirements

Essential

• 5 to 7 years in carbon markets, climate policy, international environmental governance or a closely related field, including significant time working in South East Asia.

• Strong understanding of compliance carbon markets relevant to Asia: CORSIA, Singapore's carbon tax and international carbon credit framework, Japan's JCM and GX-ETS, and emerging domestic schemes across SEA. If you're not yet fluent in every one, you have a track record of getting to expert level fast.

• Working command of Article 6 mechanics: 6.2 cooperative approaches, 6.4 (PACM), ITMOs, LoAs, corresponding adjustments, DNA roles and reporting obligations.

• A clear understanding of how LoAs are secured in SEA: who decides, what a strong application contains and what it takes to move the process along.

• Experience navigating complex, multi-stakeholder government and policy environments across the region's business and government cultures, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. You're highly personable, and you know outcomes depend on relationships as much as paperwork.

• Exceptional written and spoken communication, with a strong eye for detail. You get to grips with new methodologies quickly, distil dense regulation into sharp strategic insight, and can show how a project's environmental benefits contribute to a country's NDC and net zero strategy.

• Fluent English.

Strongly preferred

• Direct experience securing an LoA, or equivalent host-country authorisation, from a SEA government.

• Strong existing relationships in environment ministries, DNAs, agriculture ministries or national climate bodies in the region, ideally built through prior roles in or around government, a development bank, a carbon policy advisory firm or a carbon developer with a SEA mandate.

• Familiarity with agricultural carbon markets and rice methane methodologies, including AWD methodologies under Verra, Isometric, Gold Standard and the JCM.

• Experience in an early-stage company or startup environment.

• Working knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Khmer or Japanese or another regional language.

Personal attributes

• Relationship-focused. You build trust with officials over time, work out who the real decision-makers are, and keep processes moving.

• Culturally aware. You're comfortable working across the region's different business and government cultures, and you adapt how you engage in each.

• Mission-driven. You care about climate and smallholder livelihoods, and want to work on a solution that measurably cuts methane.

• Technically grounded. You engage credibly with scientists, regulators and buyers, and translate between them accurately.

• Structured and detail-oriented. You're comfortable with the detail of a regulation, and can step back to explain what it means for the business.

• Outcome-oriented. You measure success by progress on authorisations, methodologies and compliance revenue, not by access alone.

• Entrepreneurial. You're comfortable with ambiguity, happy to build from scratch, and take ownership of your work.

• Collaborative. You work well across our science, commercial, finance and field teams, and with regulators, standards bodies and buyers.