Chief Financial Officer

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Making the Market for Natural Capital as an Asset Class

ABOUT YOU

Are you ready to make a real impact - not just for a company but for the planet? At Oxygen Conservation, we're searching for an exceptional Chief Financial Officer to lead our finance strategy and help make the market for natural capital as an asset class, ensuring that every decision we make drives lasting environmental and social change.

You'll thrive in a fast-paced, purpose-driven, data-rich environment, where tackling complexity and solving challenges are part of the daily adventure.

You're a strategic thinker who's equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves to navigate financial details. With your inspiring vision and ability to build strong relationships, you'll bring an exceptional ability to communicate with investors, stakeholders, and colleagues, combining a deep understanding of financial structuring with a passion for creating impactful, sustainable solutions.

It doesn't matter whether you have come from a traditional finance background or have carved out your own unique path. What matters most is your passion for the environment, your drive to create meaningful impact, and your enthusiasm for working together toward a better future.

What You'll Bring:

1. A leader who inspires, empowers, and sets the highest standards for their team to deliver excellence.
2. A Finance professional with a proven track record of delivering results in dynamic environments and significant senior leadership and board experience.
3. A strategic mindset with commercial acumen, paired with meticulous attention to detail and accuracy.
4. Outstanding communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to manage and engage a diverse range of stakeholders - from investors to operational teams.
5. A creative problem-solver who's proactive, adaptable, and ready to embrace challenges with humility.
6. And yes, you'll need to be genuinely nice too. Whether it's sharing snacks on long journeys or braving the driving rain, you're someone who knows that teamwork and a positive mindset make all the difference.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As our Chief Financial Officer, you'll be at the forefront of a groundbreaking mission to scale Oxygen Conservation's natural capital portfolio to over £1 billion of assets under management by 2030.

Your focus will be leading investor relations and structuring investments while developing scalable financial strategies that attract large-scale institutional investors and family offices. You'll have the support of our exceptional Head of Finance (Alice Bayley) and a high-performing finance team to ensure operational excellence.

You'll develop and deliver a comprehensive financial strategy that supports sustainable growth and ensures robust financial stewardship across our business. From refining the financial narrative to driving operational excellence, your work will underpin the expansion of our portfolio and the scaling of impact in the natural capital sector.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Investor Relations: Forge relationships with institutional and family office investors to position Oxygen Conservation as a leading opportunity in the natural capital market. Act as the primary spokesperson for investment opportunities, ensuring alignment with mission-driven objectives.
2. Defining a New Asset Class: Play a pivotal role in shaping the rules, processes, and standards that underpin the emerging natural capital market. Your leadership will help define governance, pricing, and reporting protocols, creating the green infrastructure for a thriving, global nature-based economy.
3. Structuring and Raising Funds: Develop innovative financial structures and lead capital-raising efforts to attract diverse funding sources, including equity, debt, and hybrid instruments. Ensure that all financial strategies are designed to maximize scalability and impact.
4. Strategic Financial Leadership: Provide strategic oversight while delegating operational and compliance responsibilities to the Head of Finance and their team. Ensure alignment between financial strategies and organizational goals.
5. Scaling Impact: Drive solutions to navigate complex financial and operational challenges, enabling our business to expand its market-leading portfolio and maximize impact for biodiversity, communities, and investors alike.

Why This Role is Exciting:

This isn't just a finance role - it's a unique opportunity to define the financial DNA of an entire sector. You'll inspire an elite team that not only secures funding and grows investments but also shapes how natural capital is understood, valued, and scaled globally. By navigating challenges with creativity and vision, you'll contribute to building an entirely new asset class while leaving a lasting legacy for the planet.

If you're ready to tackle ambitious goals, think boldly, and help define the future of conservation finance, this is your moment.

ABOUT US

Oxygen Conservation was founded in 2021 by the Oxygen House Group and Dr Rich Stockdale with a clear mission: Scaling Conservation. We acquire land at scale on behalf of asset owners to deliver transformative environmental and social impact - creating profit as a result of what we do. In just three years, we've completed twelve transactions, assembling a portfolio of over 43,000 acres dedicated to restoring and protecting nature.

Our vision is intentionally aspirational and inspirational: by 2030, we aim to have £1 billion of natural capital assets under management, enabling us to protect and restore 250,000 acres of land for people and wildlife. By combining our scale, reputation, cutting-edge data, and exceptional skills, we're redefining conservation.

Our work hasn't gone unnoticed. In 2022, we were named Start-Up of the Year at the Business Leader South West Awards, followed by Team of the Year at the 2023 Edie Awards and our nature fundings agreement with Triodos won ESG Deal of the Year at the 2024 Insider South West Dealmakers Awards. Our founder and CEO, Dr Rich Stockdale, is featured in the ENDS Power List as one of the top 100 UK environmental professionals driving significant impact, and was shortlisted for Edie's Leader of the Year Award in 2024.

At Oxygen Conservation, we're scaling impact, creating opportunities, and leading the charge for a nature-based economy that works for people, wildlife, and the planet.

KEY INFORMATION AND NEXT STEPS

Term: Full time, permanent

Location: Remote with regular travel to sites in Scotland, England, and Wales

Closing Date: Sunday 26th January

This role is incredibly important to the future of the business, as such you will get the opportunity to meet a wide range of team, and a number of board members during the recruitment process. We recognise this will take time, but we assure you it will be enjoyable, and we will be respectful of your time throughout.

The following are key dates in the process:

1. Virtual interview with Alice Bayley (Head of Finance) and Andrew Dewar (Head of People) Monday 20th January to Friday 31st January
2. Virtual coffee calls with Rich Stockdale (CEO) and David Williamson (Board Member) Monday 3rd February to Sunday 16th February
3. Face to face interview (at Mornacott, our wonderful estate in Devon): with Rich Stockdale (CEO), Adam Franks (Board Member & Investor), and Fi Milden (Director of Planning and Property) Thursday 27th February
4. Final meeting with Benny Higgins (Chairman) and Mark Dixon (Founder of Oxygen House): Monday 3rd March to Friday 7th March