Company Overview

Highwood Emissions Management is a rapidly scaling technology company headquartered in Calgary which specialises in emissions management software and consulting services. Working with the energy industry, government, and innovators around the world, Highwood leverages data, analytics, and deep industry expertise to highlight and solve complex client emissions challenges. Highwood’s mission is to collaborate, innovate, and educate the way to a world with effective, high impact, and affordable emissions management solutions at scale.

With the announcement of their recent seed stage funding round, Highwood is positioned for continued exponential growth. The company has seen significant initial demand for its emissions management software solutions and associated consulting services. Highwood has differentiated itself in a crowded marketplace by creating high-impact solutions to complex, entrenched – previously thought unsolvable – client problems.

Highwood plans to use the proceeds of the funding round to accelerate its scale-up journey by further investing in high-performing talent and the commercialization and scale-up of its revolutionary Emissions Management Toolkit SaaS software platform with a blue-chip client base.

We are seeking exceptional candidates motivated by impact with the following values:

• People first – we grow and nurture an inclusive and diverse culture of high performers.
• Thinking big – we are systems thinkers who entertain the impossible.
• Thought leadership – we work on the cutting edge and share our learnings with the world.
• Enduring relationships – we foster long-lasting partnerships with clients and collaborators.

 

Position overview

As the urgency of climate change intensifies, companies and individuals around the world will become more accountable for carbon externalities. The oil and natural gas industry is carbon intensive but quantifying its impact is difficult due to the disproportionate contribution of methane emissions, which are unpredictable, highly variable, and hard to measure.

Governments, investors, and society expect oil and gas companies to have a precise understanding of their emissions. Company leaders also require better emissions data to inform decision making. However, emissions data is incredibly complex. Methods for estimating emissions are new, evolving, plentiful, unfamiliar, and unstandardized. Data can come from dozens of sources, including bottom-up inventories, company-specific emissions factors, and direct measurements from dozens of different technologies that collect data in a variety of ways.

The core problems are:

• Companies do not know (and therefore cannot prove) their true emissions, and
• Companies do not know how to deploy technology and capital to manage their emissions.

 

We’re developing the Emissions Management Toolkit (EMT) to solve these two problems.

As our first dedicated Director of Product, you will be responsible for further defining the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the launch of our new SaaS platform.

We are seeking an exceptional Director of Product who is willing to roll up their sleeves on our scaling journey. This role requires deep product acumen, an intuitive sense of customers, a growth mindset, strong leadership skills, the ability to thrive in ambiguity, and a willingness to take on big hairy audacious problems. You will also act as a strategic advisor to the company founders and broader leadership team on all strategic product matters.

How you will contribute to our team

• Lead and guide the development of novel products and pioneering new product categories, managing the entire lifecycle from concept to launch, customer delivery, implementation, and continuous refinement.
• Conduct comprehensive market research to identify genuine customer needs and emerging trends, applying insights to steer timely product decisions.
• Skillfully communicate the product vision, progress, and value proposition to both internal and external audiences, employing storytelling techniques for maximum impact.
• Provide exceptional leadership and mentorship to the product development team, fostering an environment of innovation, excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with sales and marketing to create impactful product messaging and positioning, shaping persuasive narratives for the target audience.
• Spearhead the creation of agile streamlined processes and delivery methodologies for optimized product development and deployment.
• Forge collaborative partnerships with internal stakeholders and external collaborators to proactively pursue enduring opportunities within various markets, including shaping governmental and industry standards to enhance competitive positioning.
• Cultivate and manage external partnerships, effectively facilitating the scalability of the product.

We are looking for someone who

• Has a people first leadership approach.
• Is highly agile and thrives in a fast-paced, ever-changing, and demanding environment.
• Thinks big and is creative in their problem-solving approach.
• Has the ability to build and maintain strong and collaborative peer, customer, and other outside relationships.
• Is mission and values driven, with a passion for emissions reduction.
• Has a growth mindset.
• Can thrive in a start-up environment where you do more with less.

Minimum education and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related technical, product or business discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive product experience with at least 5+ years in a strategic product leadership role.
• Experience in a start-up or scale up company developing and launching new software products and solutions would be highly desirable.
• Oil and gas industry market and network experience would potentially be beneficial.

Scaleblaze description

From the founders of the award-winning Energy Disruptors summit, ScaleBlaze exists to help scale and build world-class leadership teams for low carbon, clean-tech, and e-mobility companies. We find exceptional leaders for both entrepreneur-led scaling businesses and established companies pivoting into the new energy landscape. With our team in Canada, the UK, the US, and Australia, we are a motley band of corporate misfits who rejected traditional career paths to build an executive search firm with a difference. A company founded on the principles of entrepreneurship, diversity of thought, and a belief in a more sustainable energy and mobility future. For more information check out scale-blaze.com

All inquiries are held in the strictest of confidence

For suggestions, nominations, and information in the strictest of confidence, please contact Graeme Edge at [email protected]

Highwood Team Promise

Highwood’s promise to staff and contractors is to:

• Treat you with respect, fairness, and honesty.
• Give you a voice. We will encourage you to question the way we do things, and we will empower you to speak your mind.
• Understand your goals, insomuch as you are willing to share, and work to help you achieve them.
• Support your growth, promote you, and provide opportunities to expand your network and foster your professional identity.
• Appreciate, recognize, and reward your contributions and wins.
• Make time to have fun and celebrate success.
• Foster an environment that encourages you to share your concerns, no matter how small they might seem.

Your promise to Highwood is to:

• Treat others with respect, value their contributions, and lift them up, even when they fail. You never know how others might be struggling.
• Be patient with yourself. We work on unsolved challenges. We expect mistakes and see them as learning opportunities.
• Strive to continually learn and grow professionally and personally, regardless of where you started and where you might end up.
• Embrace innovation and change – there is no destination.
• Do your best – only you know what that means. Set boundaries and respect them. Take a break when you need it.