Lead Environmental and Social Safeguards and Compliance Officer (L-ESSCO), SNSC at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Lead Environmental and Social Safeguards and Compliance Officer (L-ESSCO), SNSC

Position Number: 50064836
Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Position Grade: PL2

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 Board and Management 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 development cycle.
The Department will also design and/or provide capacity-building support to ensure that all the Bank’s projects and programmes are not only compliant with the ISS but also enhance opportunities for the sustainability of Environment and Social development outcomes.

The Position

The Lead Environmental and Social Safeguards and Compliance Officer (L-ESSCO) will work under the general supervision and guidance of the Safeguards and Compliance Director and is primarily responsible for effectively contribute to the Department’s efforts to provide policy and strategic support, ensure E&S quality and compliance due diligence in the Bank operational portfolio, stakeholders capacity building in E&S, development of E&S knowledge products and dissemination, coordination of safeguards and sustainability partnership and networks as well as in other non-operational activities.

Key Functions

Contribute to the development and revision of policies, strategies, guidelines, formats/manuals, tools and procedures, in particular the ISS in order to provide Bank staff, Regional offices and RMC clients with the ability to quickly assess and recommend measures to address environmental safeguards issues in projects and programmes.
Supervise and support E&S specialists working on operations in her/his geographic area of coverage.
Review and approve the Bank’s due diligence documents throughout the operations cycle.
Identify and prioritize knowledge needs of the Department; leading and providing oversight to the development of knowledge products in the Safeguards and Sustainability Series and the collection of lessons learned.
Propose quality assurance process for knowledge products and their management.
Contribute to the capacity-building program on E&S for the Bank, RMCs and executing agencies, key stakeholders, and staff, through e-learning modules, workshops, etc.
Contribute to knowledge sharing and harmonization efforts through conferences, external knowledge management publications and others.
Provide expert leadership for the development and implementation of best practices and innovative approaches related to sustainability and risk management.
Participate in the coordination of strategic partnerships and networks with other entities such as the UN Agencies, Bilateral and Multilateral Agencies, including MDBs.
Provide appropriate and timely support to project teams in the preparation of management responses to complaints lodged with the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM), for Bank’s non-compliance to the ISS and related procedures in operations and ensure subsequent follow up on a regular basis.
Oversee the preparation of management responses to any other independent mechanism report (Auditor general, IDEV, ).
Actively participate in the Department Management Team.
Perform other duties assigned by the Director.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

Hold at least a Master’s Degree in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Geography, Agronomy, Natural Science, Environmental Economics, Ecology, or related discipline.
A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). More than five (5) years are required in permanent practical work in environmental and social safeguards implementation.
Knowledge and experience in operationalizing and coordinating the implementation of MDB’s environmental and social policies, through the preparation, quality and compliance review and monitoring and evaluation of : Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs), Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments (SESA), Environmental and Social management Framework (ESMF) and Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMSs), including social aspects of development projects.
Strong and demonstrable knowledge of operational and non-operational interventions of MDBs both in public and private sectors.
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 lending and non-lending 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 English and/or French.
It would be desirable to have a working knowledge of the other language, or even communicate and write effectively both in French and English.
Competence in the use of standard software applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, SAP etc.).