Opportunity to shape the future of tech for ecology
- Join a fast-growing and innovative NatureTech business
- UK, remote team with regular meet ups
- Competitive salary + share options
About Verna
Verna builds software to help people manage land in the best way for the environment – enhancing biodiversity and drawing down carbon, whilst making sustainable returns.
We have built the market-leading software for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), England’s revolutionary new approach to data-driven nature recovery. Our B2B SaaS app, Mycelia, is in daily use by ecologists and planners to get the best outcomes for BNG projects.
Verna has recently finalised a multi-million-pound fundraise, to help accelerate the growth of the company – and the impact we can have – over the coming years.
Key Responsibilities
- Ecology expertise: Research and answer technical queries from customers and the software engineering team
- Product development: Inform product development by providing insights around ecologists’ requirements and workflows
- Strategy: Influence Verna’s strategic direction by researching and advising on development around nature policy in the UK and in other jurisdictions
- Customer engagement: Engage directly with customers to provide ecological insights as part of Verna’s customer support
- Broader engagement: Increase Verna’s profile by engaging with the broader ecology community
Role and day-to-day activities
This role is ideal for an ecologist who is ambitious and wants to work towards being a leader in the nature and biodiversity sector.
This is an opportunity to help shape the future relationship between ecology and technology. Over the coming months and years, we’ll be exploring opportunities like how AI can assist ecologists, how new kinds of ecological data can be collected and used, and other ways that tech can accelerate nature recovery worldwide.
Your role will involve identifying and exploring these opportunities, including through networking and research, and working with our world-leading software engineers to bring them to life.
We are looking for someone to lead Verna’s day-to-day work around ecology, interacting with customers, our software engineering team and the broader ecology community. The successful candidate will also play an important role in shaping Verna’s strategic direction and have the opportunity to be mentored by Dr Claire Tancell.
The day-to-day role will be varied, and will include activities (in line with the responsibilities above) such as:
- Researching and addressing technical BNG and broader ecology questions for customers and for the software engineering team
- Influencing product development by sharing how customers might use new features within Mycelia
- Writing articles about emerging BNG and broader nature topics (including nature markets), both in the UK and internationally
- Engaging with the broader ecology and nature community to help Verna understand how the sector is developing and to raise Verna’s profile, both in the UK and internationally
As an early-stage start-up, execution is paramount and every team member at Verna spends lots of their time rolling up their sleeves and getting things done. As such, the role is likely to include a broad range of additional activities.
We currently operate as a remote team, with London office bases available including through our place on the Geovation accelerator programme. The whole team meets in person roughly monthly. The co-founders spend roughly one day per week in London together, and this role will be welcome to join those days and to be office-based for as many days per week as desired.
About you
We are looking for evidence of the below experience, skills and ways of working. Above all, we believe that the desire and ability to learn quickly is more important than ticking every bullet point from this list.
- BSc and/or MSc degree in Ecology or closely related subject
- Have, or be eligible for, CIEEM membership
- Sound knowledge of the UK planning system and environmental legislation
- Interest in how technology can drive positive impacts for nature
- Proactivity and use of initiative and creativity to unlock progress
- Superb communication skills (written and verbal, in-person and remote)
- Strong team player, including eagerness to collaborate and to both give and receive feedback
- Ability to create structure and identify ways forward in uncertain/ambiguous situations
We also expect all team members to share our mission to help address the climate and nature crises.
To find out more and apply
To apply, please email careers@verna.earth with the subject line “Ecologist (NatureTech) – Application”. Your email should include:
- Your CV.
- A short covering note (<300 words) explaining why you are interested in the role and how you meet the requirements.
- A short answer (<300 words) to the following question: What are the key themes to consider when thinking about how policy and technology can drive improvements for nature?
We will consider applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis, until the role is filled.