ESG Officer at Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Job Description    

• This position is specific to the SADC Regional Fund for Water Infrastructure and Basic Sanitation, reporting to the Programme Manager SADC Water.
• The ESG Officer responsibilities, under the supervision of the Programme Manager SADC Water, span a broad spectrum, covering all areas of Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS)/ ESG implementation, monitoring and reporting.

Key Responsibilities    
Project Origination

• Contribute to the implementation of the Fund’s strategy by supporting the development of a climate resilience project portfolio.
• Support the process of project proposal development, including the development of innovative approaches from a climate mitigation and adaptation perspective.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for embedding ecological and resource management interventions in grey infrastructure interventions.
• Work with the Programme Manager SADC Water to identify and develop opportunities for implementing naturebased solutions as part of the project portfolio.
• Contribute to building relationships and collaboration opportunities with other development organisations/partners.
• Contribute to the development of Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) and Policies.

Project Investment Evaluation & Development

• Assess and appraise the environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact of potential investments by identifying ESG development outcomes, identifying key environmental, social and (occupational) health & safety risks and proposing relevant mitigation and monitoring measures.
• Support the process of environmental and social risk categorisation of pipeline projects and guide additional assessments (such as Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), resettlement action plan (RAP), etc.).
• Prepare due diligence reports on the outcomes of assessments for consideration to the governance structures.
• Support the embedding of gender considerations through the implementation of the Gender Marker System in the appraisal of investment and development projects.
• Ensure that all relevant ESG /Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects are covered and that appropriate measures, management plans and procedures are in place to address ESG and OHS risks and impacts.
• Review ESG outputs from consultants/service providers and implementation plans.
• Monitor compliance and report on ESG requirements/standards and outcomes during the implementation of Fund financed projects.
• Coordinate and liaise with the DBSA ESG team, mobilising additional support to the business unit as required.

Project Investment Administration

• Liaise with the Project teams in defining project specific ESG and OHS measures to be included in project implementation that comply with relevant national legislations and international standards.
• Provide advice to clients to support sustainable infrastructure delivery for ESG.
• Ensure the implementation of ESG measures across the portfolio as required in the ESG Framework in collaboration with the team.
• Monitor and evaluate of implementation of ESG and E&S/OHS measures and agreed environmental and social action plans for ongoing projects.

Fund Communication and Reporting

• Develop appropriate ESG & Climate reporting matrices for ongoing projects.
• Prepare regular reports as required for governance reporting.
• Support the preparation of regular partner/investor reports.

Key Measurements of Outputs

• Quality and number of due diligence assignments and projects concluded to ensure the application of the Banks Environmental and Social Safeguard Standards (ESSS) in investment decision-making.
• Quality reports prepared on due diligence, ESG requirements/standards, and climate change matrices.
• Achievement of setting ESG targets.

Expertise & Technical Competencies    
Minimum Requirements:

• A Bachelor's degree in Environmental Sciences, relevant Engineering, Climate Risk Management / Mitigation / Adaptation, Sustainable Development field, or relevant.
• A minimum of 6 years’ experience in preparing and appraising projects for investment, quantifying development outcomes, identifying and mitigating environmental, social/ governance risks.
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in conducting environmental and social due diligence assessments, ideally against international standards (such as International Finance Corporation Performance Standards (IFC PS), World Bank Environmental and Social Standards (WB ESS) and World Bank Environmental, Health, and Safety (WB EHS) Guidelines).
• Experience with International Financial Institution funded programmes.
• Experience in working on infrastructure projects, preferably in the water sector.
• Demonstrate experience in the application of good international industry practice principles in ESG.
• Proven ability to undertake research, analyze and synthesize diverse ESG-related data (especially climate-related) and information to deliver independent, high-quality professional reports.
• Proven ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently, and present ideas to clients and partners.
• Understanding of gender mainstreaming and grievance redress mechanisms.
• Experience in setting up and/or implementing project ESMS and Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP).
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• Excellent communication and reporting skills.

Desirable Requirements

• Experience working on water infrastructure projects.
• Experience in working in the SADC region.
• Project management and delivery experience.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Written communication

• Understands that different writing styles are required for different documents or audiences.
• Write effective correspondence, prepares questions and reports, statements of circumstance and briefing notes.
• Reviews others’ documents for clarity and impact.
• Has a solid mastery of writing principles such as grammar, sentence construction etc.

Presentation skills

• Can reinforce key presentation points with examples.
• Is able to translate technical terminology into language understandable to the audience.
• Has insight into the audience’s behavior and motivation and responds appropriately and professionally, adapting communication style as appropriate.

Reporting

• Designs / customizes reports to meet user needs.
• Prepares complex or tailored reports, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report.
• Keeps standard reports under review and proposes improvements to meet user needs.

Business acumen

• Thinks and plans in future-oriented terms.
• Develops annual business plans that consider longer-term activities, issues, problems or opportunities.
• Develops and establishes broad scale, longer-term objectives, goals or projects (e.g., affecting a business, department, or organisation).

Project Management

• Demonstrates a practical knowledge of project management principles and techniques.
• Plans, defines, and manages projects within a department or area.
• Identifies resources required and their appropriate role and skills.
• Assists in the management of projects where the objectives, milestones and time scales have been defined.

Presentation Skills

• Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter etc.).
• Has knowledge of various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Negotiation

• Understands and can apply basic negotiating skills and techniques, e.g. obtaining a full understanding of the other party's agenda and needs before disclosing own perspectives.
• Possesses an understanding of various unspoken communications from other parties and can decipher hidden agendas.
• Is able to successfully conclude negotiations which require the development of an emotional as well as factual argument.
• Is able to develop mutually-beneficial potential solutions.
• Required Personal Attributes    

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

Achievement Orientation

• Delivers work on time and quality and follows through on agreed commitments.
• Views new work experiences as an opportunity for growth.
• Reacts immediately to overcome setbacks or/and obstacles in order to meet goals.
• Recognises and acts upon current opportunity.
• Make specific changes to systems and processes in order to improve efficiency and quality.
• Formulates own objectives and action plans in order to achieve a measurable improvement in the future.

Conceptual thinking

• Uses knowledge of theory or of different past situation to look at current situation.
• Applies learned concepts across various situations.

Customer Service Orientation

• Tries to understand the underlying needs of customers and matches these needs to available or customized products and services.
• Adapts processes and procedures to meet on-going customer needs.
• Utilises the feedback received by customers, in order to develop new and/or improve existing services/ products that relate to their on-going needs.
• Thinks of new ways to align DBSA’s offerings with future customer needs.

Decisiveness

• Acts promptly to address urgent needs, quickly taking those decisions which need to be taken.
• Assesses available information to reach a clear view of key options and selects the best option at the time.
• Thinks on their feet when necessary.

Integrity

• Publicly admits having made a mistake.
• Speaks out when it may hurt a trust relationship.

Self-awareness and Self-control

• Withholds effects of strong emotions in difficult situations.
• Keeps functioning or responds constructively despite stress.
• May apply special techniques or plan ahead of time to manage emotions or stress.

Driving Delivery of Results

• Sets challenging goals that will have a significant impact on the business or support the organisational strategy.
• Commits significant resources and/or time to ensure that challenging goals are achieved, while also taking action to mitigate risk.

Teamwork and Cooperation

• Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale and resolves conflicts.
• Creates opportunities for cross-functional working.
• Encourages others to network outside of their own team/department and learn from their experience.