Chief Environmental Safeguards and Compliance Officer, SNSC at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/21/078
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Grade: PL3

The Complex

• The Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP) 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 SNVP provides 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 SNVP leads senior management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Management and Board decisions.

The Hiring Department:

• Located within the SNVP Complex, the Environmental and Social Safeguards and Compliance 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 (ISS).
• The Department will provide cross-sector E&S operational support to all operations in the regions, in conducting the necessary E&S due diligence and implementation support across all stages of the project cycle.
• The Department will also design and/or provide capacity-building support to ensure that not all the Bank’s projects and programs are only compliant with the ISS but also enhance opportunities for the sustainability of Environment and Social development outcomes.

The Position

• The Chief Environmental Safeguards and Compliance Officer will work under the general supervision and guidance of the E&S Safeguards and Compliance Director.

Duties and Responsibilities
Mainstreaming of environmental aspects in operations:

• As task team member, he/she will provide support to Task Team Leaders/ Task Managers and Borrowers/Clients in identifying, mainstreaming, and monitoring environmental aspects/concerns in Bank operations during the identification, preparation, appraisal, implementation, and completion stages (throughout project lifecycle) through the following:
  • Assess the environmental risk associated to Bank-funded operations and prepare/contribute to the categorization memorandum.
  • Assess and/or ameliorate the nature of the environmental studies, prepared by Borrowers/Clients, to capture all relevant environmental concerns.
  • Analyse and mainstream relevant and cross-cutting environmental issues into Bank-funded operations, particularly issues related to stakeholder engagement, biodiversity and resources efficiency and climate change vulnerability.
  • Document and recommend lessons learnt on environmental sustainability to integrate in the design and implementation modalities of new operations to enhance environmental benefits.
  • Assist Borrowers/Clients for the finalization of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the preparation of Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) documents (Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment -SESA-, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment -ESIA-,  Environmental and Social Management Framework -ESMF-, Environmental and Social Management System -ESMS-, Resettlement Action Plan -RAP-, Environmental Audit -AE-, Hazard and Risk Assessment -HRA-, etc.) to ensure compliance with the Bank E&S requirements.
  • Review the ESA documents submitted by the Borrowers/Clients as of the ISS and other Bank requirements.
  • Draft the inputs for the technical sections on environmental aspects in Project Concept Notes (PCNs), Project Appraisal Reports (PARs), Project Completion Reports (PCRs) and any other project related report as required.
  • Draft and/or ameliorate reporting templates for use in implementing and monitoring environmental aspects and components of projects and programs and prepare, where applicable, action plans to bring projects and programs in compliance with Bank’s environmental and social requirements.
  • Liaise with co-financiers to ensure consistency in the mainstreaming of social safeguard concerns.    

Policy and Compliance with Environmental Requirements:

• Participate in the formulation, review and/or revision of the Bank environmental and social safeguard policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Provide policy guidance to Bank teams on environmental safeguard issues to enhance their awareness and the capacity of the projects and programmes to comply with the Bank’s requirements.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management:

• Contribute to the development and implementation of capacity building and training programs for staff within the Bank and in RMCs.
• Participate in, contribute, and represent the Bank in internal and external trainings and conferences on environmental issues as well as other activities for advocacy, dissemination, and knowledge building.
• Develop and/or contribute to the development of innovative knowledge products on environmental sustainability, environmental safeguards and/or the E&S performance of Bank financed projects and programmes.
• Undertake any other task as the Director of the Environment and Social Safeguards Department and/or the Regional Director General.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Geography, Chemistry, Natural Resources Management, Agronomy, Forestry) or related discipline. 
• A minimum of seven (07) years of relevant professional experience in environmental assessment and management, including the preparation and implementation of environmental safeguards risk management instruments, land management etc. Experience with international organizations or Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) is an advantage.
• Demonstrable knowledge and practice of the operational safeguards policies, procedures, and practices of major bilateral and multilateral partner development agencies in regional member countries, particularly with respect to infrastructure projects.
• Analytical Tools for Environmental Sustainability - Extensive experience conducting environmental assessments and development of effective tools; ability to coach others in the application of the tools.
• Mainstreaming Skills - demonstrated skills in mainstreaming environmental and social, as well climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in operations.
• Achieving results and problem solving - (e.g. consistently seeks more effective and practical ways for the Departmental delivery of services, products, and processes; proposes new ways to improve the quality and relevance of products and services).
• Strong inter-personal skill and ability to deal with sensitive issues in a multi-cultural environment and to build effective working relations with colleagues.
• Communicate and write effectively in French and/or English. It would be desirable to have a working knowledge of the other language, or even communicate and write effectively both in French and English. Practice of Arabic is an additional advantage.
• Competence in the use of standard software applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, etc.).