Climate tech opportunities for IT pros

In what can only be labeled as a very encouraging trend, jobs and projects abound for tech professionals wanting to use their skills and expertise to try and make our planet and climate well again.

These opportunities fall under the umbrella category of climate technology and involve full-time careers, part-time jobs, and volunteer opportunities. One of the fastest-growing industries in the world, climate tech — and its companion area of nature tech — require a wide range of skills to help solve significant environmental problems. In especially high demand are IT pros with software development, data science and machine learning skills.

Projects needing the most IT job and skills help

Climate tech professionals can lend their skills and talents in a wide range of areas, explains Kanani Breckenridge, CEO and “headhuntress” at Kismet Search. She works with commercially focused companies developing technologies to support and boost projects and products that impact multiple sectors within greentech.

In the U.S., common projects for climate tech professionals are related to EV infrastructure (solar, wind, and nuclear projects), smart grids, and corporate carbon tracking analytics — which is fueled in a large part by government subsidies and funding, Breckenridge explains.

In Europe and some other regions, the priority is often with projects related to smart cities, circular economies, and renewable energy integration. Water management projects are more dominant in water-scarce regions, Breckenridge says. She notes, however, that the green sector has a lot of overlap globally as climate and sustainability goals become increasingly universal.

While crucial, if organizations are only monitoring environmental metrics, they are missing critical pieces of a comprehensive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) program and are unable to fully understand their impacts. IDC’s Sustainability Readiness Survey 2024 shows that the top 2 areas of ESG/sustainability-related investment for organizations are IT infrastructure efficiency assessments and investments (cited by 41.9% of survey respondents) and circular economy implementations (40.2%).

Industries and sectors where the jobs are most plentiful

Organizations hiring IT professionals in the climate and greentech space include renewable energy companies (such as solar and wind providers), greentech and agritech startups developing innovative sustainability solutions, and corporate sustainability teams in large organizations focused on reducing carbon footprints, Breckenridge says. Government agencies and nonprofits also seek IT talent for environmental data analysis and policy development.

Additionally, nuclear power companies and energy infrastructure firms are hiring to optimize and secure energy systems, while smart city developers need IoT and AI specialists to build sustainable and connected urban environments, Breckenridge explains.

In the climate and green sector, IT pros are the backbone of innovation across multiple areas, Breckenridge says. Some of the most common IT needs per specific sector within the broader climate technology space, according to Breckenridge, are:

• “Renewable energy companies need cloud engineers and data scientists to make smart grids work and integrate renewables like wind and solar.”
• “Agritech firms are hiring IoT and AI experts to streamline farming — think smart irrigation and predictive crop analytics.”
• “In the EV and battery space, software engineers and product managers are driving the build-out of connected charging networks and improving battery life.”
• “Greentech startups and corporate sustainability teams are bringing in AI talent to track carbon emissions and cut waste.”
• “Government agencies and nonprofits are looking for data scientists and engineers to help with climate modeling and environmental impact analysis.”

Breckenridge points out that cybersecurity professionals are also important across all sectors because “securing all this critical infrastructure is just as important as building it.”

The tech professionals most in demand

The most in-demand technical skills in the climate and greentech sector revolve around cloud computing, data analytics, IoT, and cybersecurity — each playing a critical role in driving sustainable innovation, Breckenridge explains. She breaks down the skills demands as follows:

• Cloud architects/engineers: Cloud platforms skills with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are essential for managing the massive datasets generated by renewable energy grids, smart cities, and sustainability projects. IT professionals with expertise in cloud architecture and optimization are needed to ensure these systems are scalable, efficient, and capable of real-time environmental monitoring, Breckenridge says.
• Data scientists and AI/ML engineers: These skills are in high demand, since large-scale data analytics that drive decision-making are also key to efforts related to sustainability, Breckenridge explains. Skills in Python, R, TensorFlow, and Apache Spark enable professionals to build predictive models for energy usage, optimize resource allocation, and analyze environmental impacts. This is where machine learning algorithms become indispensable for tasks such as predicting energy loads or modeling climate patterns. Companies that are also typically associated with more legacy/non-climate-friendly energy such as oil and gas and mining are also utilizing analytics to optimize efficiencies.
• Edge device (IoT) engineers: Those skilled in protocols such as MQTT and LoRaWAN, and tools such as Azure IoT and Google IoT Core, are building connected devices that manage everything from smart grids to water conservation, Breckenridge says. These systems collect real-time data to optimize energy distribution, reduce waste, and monitor environmental conditions, making IoT a core piece within smart and sustainable infrastructure.
• Cybersecurity engineering specialists: With all this digital innovation comes a growing need for cybersecurity engineering skills, especially related to critical infrastructure such as energy grids and EV charging networks, Breckenridge says. As they become increasingly digital, securing these systems is critical for preventing potentially disastrous outages and events. Cybersecurity experts fluent in tools such as those from Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and Splunk are vital for protecting against cyberattacks and ensuring the resilience of sustainable systems.
• DevOps and software engineers: To build out infrastructure and applications, DevOps and software engineering skills are critical for making the solutions that drive/support climate efforts and tech, Breckenridge says. Proficiency with tools such as Kubernetes, Docker, and Jenkins enables teams to build and deploy these solutions to make sure these systems can scale.

ESG skills becoming a must-have at some organizations

As organizations and government agencies face increasing pressure to meet sustainability goals, knowledge of ESG reporting tools is becoming a must-have in many IT roles, Breckenridge says. Tools such as SAP’s Sustainability Control Tower, Enablon, and Sphera help organizations track, measure, and report their environmental impact, ensuring they stay accountable and compliant with global sustainability standards.

On the “upcoming and fast-growth trends” front, Breckenridge says nuclear power is experiencing a technological renaissance that’s reshaping its role in climate solutions as the grid becomes more taxed by AI systems. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are leading this transformation, offering a more adaptable and economical approach to nuclear energy deployment, Breckenridge says.

“Across nuclear innovation areas, as with most of tech, AI is revolutionizing both traditional and experimental nuclear technology — from optimizing existing plant operations through predictive maintenance to accelerating fusion research by mastering plasma control,” Breckenridge says. “This convergence of nuclear engineering and advanced computing is positioning nuclear power as a cornerstone of carbon-free energy systems, working alongside renewables to provide the reliable baseload power needed for a sustainable grid. That is why major investors such as Bill Gates and AWS are quickly moving into the space.”

Salaries and benefits

While countless IT professionals offer their skills and expertise to climate causes on a volunteer basis, countless others wish for a full-time job role with traditional benefits.

Compensation varies greatly depending on location and specific skills, but they are similar to other comp plans and benefits within other tech sectors, Breckenridge explains. For senior engineers, compensation in most major markets ranges between $100,000 to $180,000 in base salary. Silicon Valley is an outlier at much higher ranges, Breckenridge says.

Benefits for climate tech pros are typically similar to other areas within IT. Still, there may be some non-traditional benefits that IT managers might offer to lure needed talent. Some perks are especially appealing to engineers and IT pros who care about climate issues. These include paid leave for environmental volunteering activities, matching donations to charities related to climate change prevention, and EV rebates.

But of course, engineers and IT pros who are more mission-driven in mindset will typically have more flexibility in compensation and other factors as they are motivated by more altruistic reasons, Breckenridge says.

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David Weldon is an adjunct research advisor with IDC’s IT Executive programs, focusing on IT business, digital transformation, data management, and artificial intelligence. He has extensive experience as a research analyst and as a business and technology journalist. His special concentrations are in the areas of technology, business and finance, education, healthcare, and workforce management. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University, where he studied newspaper journalism and American history.