Director, Environment and Social Safeguards Department (SNSC) at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/064
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: EL5
Position N°: 50093255

The Complex

• The Senior Vice-Presidency is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The Senior Vice-President will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions.
• The Senior Vice-President will lead senior management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Board and Management decisions.

The Hiring Department

• Located within the Senior Vice-Presidency Complex, the Environment and Social Safeguards Department is responsible for mainstreaming environmental and social development considerations into Bank-financed operations in the public and private sectors through the implementation of the Integrated Safeguard System.
• The Department’s main tasks will be to improve the quality-at-entry of Bank operations, including Country Strategy Papers and project-specific interventions (Economic and Strategic Works, etc.) as well as during implementation, with a particular emphasis on enhancing developmental effectiveness through application of environmental and social safeguards procedures and tools at various stages of the project cycle.

The Position

• The Environment and Social Safeguards Department’s mission is to ensure proper application of the Integrated Safeguards System and its associated procedures, guidelines and tools, in order to enhance environmental and social sustainability into the Bank’s operations.
• The Director will provide guidance, leadership and strategic direction on effective:
  • Planning, organization and coordination of the activities of the Department 
  • Timely delivery compliance of regional operations with the Bank’s environment and social safeguards and timely processing of their Environment & Social requirements 
  • Effective execution of environmental and social safeguards during project implementation through supervision, counselling and compliance audits.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Senior Vice-President, the Director of the Environment and Social Safeguards Department will:
Strategy and technical consultation:

• Provide leadership and interface with the Board in providing feedback on environment and social matters related to Compliance Review and Mediation Unit /Independent Review Mechanism in liaison with respective sector departments;
• Advise Senior Management in relation to operations undergoing mediation or inspection under the Independent Review Mechanism;
• Coordinate Management responses on issues of compliance with environmental and social safeguards;
• Provide guidance, leadership and strategic direction on:  developing, implementing and updating the Environment & Social safeguards policies, procedures and guidelines;
• Provide policy and operational guidance to Task Managers and Investment Officers on environmental and social development issues as a means of strengthening the environmental and social performance of Bank operations;
• Provide technical support to Regional Member Countries to enhance their knowledge of Environment & Social issues and through country dialogue strengthen their own national country safeguards systems
• Ensure that projects and programs comply with the Bank’s environment and social safeguards and compliance policies throughout as well as coordinating management responses to complaints on Bank-funded projects;
• Foster partnerships in the area of environmental, climate and social sustainability to enhance the delivery and performance of the High 5s;
• Strengthen partnerships and initiate networking with other international and bilateral agencies at international, regional and local levels.

Work Program Validation and Execution:

• Plan, organize and coordinate the activities of the Department, including review and validation of the work program;
• Set the overall objectives, ensuring alignment between the strategic priorities of the department, the Complex and the Bank, and oversee their execution;
• Ensure that deadlines are met and that Department’s outputs reach the highest technical quality standards;
• Review the budget and its real implementation;

Technical Oversight of Department Activities:

• Ensure environment and social compliance of the Bank’s operations;
• Oversee environmental and social categorization and climate screening routinely executed by the decentralized regional staff and liaise with operations on any issues of categorization;
• Ensure project due diligence review, clearance and monitoring of all operations’ environmental and social safeguards documents.

Knowledge Development and Networking:

• Establish and oversee the in-house network of environmental safeguards and social development specialists as a platform for consultation, knowledge and capacity development;
• Support staff development and capacity building programs on environmental and social safeguards, at both Bank and country levels;
• Coordinate knowledge capture, and dissemination and outreach activities;
• Manage partnerships, networking, harmonization initiatives with other multilateral development banks and development agencies and represent the Bank in international fora and conferences on environmental and social safeguards.

People Management:

• Ensure the department has the appropriate skills-mix at any time for effective delivery of the objectives defined in the work program.
• Review and validate the staffing needs, and build with the Human Resources department the required recruitment plans.
• Assess work performance, appraise staff potential and determine training needs.
• Put in place, with the assistance of the Human Resources department, talent management mechanisms, to build a talent pool for the department for business continuity.
• Organize effective delegation of responsibilities by empowering staff at all levels.

Relations with Stakeholders:

• Provide sufficient human and financial resources to fulfill the mandate of the Department, leveraging internal resources and establishing external partnerships.
• Represent the Bank in the relevant discussion platforms, by clearly presenting Senior Management value proposition and enhancing African Development Bank 's brand image
• Performs other duties assigned by the Senior Vice-President.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master’s degree in Environmental and/or Social Sciences, International Development studies or related discipline
• Have a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant experience (5 of which must be at a managerial level) in a combination of related fields such as: Environmental and Social impact assessments; environment and social safeguards policy and procedures (development and application); multilateral development bank operations; public or private financial institutions operations; A proven track record in successfully developing and applying environmental and social safeguards measures in development interventions, in the particular context of the multilateral development banks
• Ability to manage cultural and sensitive issues within a multicultural team
• Demonstrated leadership and strategic thinking on mainstreaming environmental, social and climate safeguards measures in lending and non-lending operations
• Extensive knowledge and experience with environmental and social safeguards with a clear understanding of developing and applying multilateral development banks’ safeguard policies and procedures to project operations, or equivalent
• A strong understanding of environmental and social  safeguards’ issues, challenges and practices relating to Africa
• Ability to interact with various stakeholders at all levels, internally and externally
• Ability to develop a successful leadership style to establish and achieve exceptional organization performance
• Ability to handle multiple responsibilities in a fast paced environment; Strong managerial skills, including interpersonal communication and client-orientation
• Ability to communicate effectively (excellent written and oral skills) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other language
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)
• It would be advantageous to have competence in SAP, and any other bespoke application used by the Bank which is deemed critical for discharging of Directors’ duties.