The Sustainable Development (SD) Department in the Africa Region is responsible for assisting client countries on a wide-ranging work program that covers, among others, infrastructure, agriculture, urban and rural development, environment, and social development. Within the SD department, AFTN3 is one of the 3 departments focusing on environment, natural resource management, water resources, and disaster risk management. AFTN3 covers 5 CMUs in East and West Africa, including AFCS2 which covers Angola, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe. AFTN3 staff are located in Country Offices, as well as in Washington DC.
The teams in AFTN3 work on a range of tasks from investment and policy-based lending projects aimed at improving environmental conditions, addressing climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources such as forests, land, fisheries, and water; to analytical work, technical assistance and policy dialogue; and support to projects in a range of sectors—including energy, transport, agriculture, urban development—to ensure that potential environmental impacts are mitigated; that good environmental management practices are followed; and that the Bank’s environmental (safeguard) policies are complied with fully (this involves reviewing and monitoring the preparation and implementation of environmental assessments and environmental management plans). In addition to and consistent with the Bank’s policies, particular attention has to be given to the disclosure requirements regarding the “safeguards instruments” prepared in the context of both project preparation and implementation.
The Environmental Specialist will report to the AFTN3 Sector Manager (based in Washington DC), and will work under the general guidance of the Safeguard Focal Point in AFTN3, and the SD Sector Leader in Maputo. He/she would be part of the environment team in working on Mozambique, and a number of integrated, interdisciplinary teams preparing and supervising operations with World Bank financing in Mozambique and possibly other countries. For safeguards work, the Environment Specialist will collaborate closely with social safeguards specialists assigned to the same projects.
Duties
- Environmental safeguard inputs to projects—from identification to preparation, implementation, and completion—to ensure that projects integrate good environmental management practices, and that the Bank’s environmental safeguard policies are complied with in full
- Management of or contributions to a number of projects in the environmental portfolio (lending and non-lending)
- Assisting other colleagues working on the environment, management of renewable natural resources and on climate change to conduct policy dialogue, to supervise ongoing projects/programs, to develop new projects/programs and to follow up with clients and other development partners
- Providing inputs to country partnership strategy preparation and implementation, the preparation of environmental briefs for management, presentations, and pieces of analytical or knowledge products as needed
Environmental support to sector projects
- During project preparation, identify which of the Bank’s safeguards policies will be triggered and which instruments are best suited to comply with these policies
- Subsequently, assist the borrower/project implementing agency in preparing these instruments, review them for quality and present them to sector management and/or the Africa Regional Safeguards Secretariat for approval
- The Environmental Specialist will also be expected to contribute well-written summaries of key safeguards instruments for inclusion in project documentation
- During project implementation, supervise compliance with the Bank’s safeguards policies by building effective working relationships with the borrower/project implementing agency to ensure proper understanding of the policies
- The Environmental Specialist will be expected to help the borrower/implementing agency apply the safeguards policies effectively
- During both preparation and implementation, the Environmental Specialist will go beyond narrow policy compliance to look for opportunities to improve the environmental outcomes of the project he/she is supporting
Project preparation and supervision
- Lead and/or support the AFTN3 task teams in the areas of environment/NRM in project identification, design and preparation in line with strategic sector papers and policies, CPS and TA/analytical work and taking into account the Bank comparative advantage and opportunities
- Lead/support task team in the supervision of projects and programs under implementation to ensure quality and timeliness of output/outcome delivery and consistency with project development objectives
Policy dialogue and portfolio development
- In collaboration with members of AFTN3 and AFCS2, contribute to the Bank’s policy dialogue on environment and NRM with government and relevant stakeholders, in line with the CPSsand other country strategic partnerships
- In collaboration with members of the AFTN3, establish and maintain working relationships with key counterparts in government, regional organizations, donors, development partners, and civil society in order to expand the World Bank dialogue on the environment/NRM agenda in the CMU
Knowledge management
- Extract and help disseminate lessons of experience from successful project implementation, and prepare dissemination materials
- Prepare presentations and briefing materials on country-specific environmental issues as needed
Requisites
- Master’s degree or equivalent academic qualification in a relevant discipline, e.g. environmental science, environmental engineering, environmental economics, biology, etc
- Minimum of five years of professional experience in the environmental sector, preferably commissioning and assessing environmental impacts around infrastructure or agriculture projects
- Good knowledge of environmental legislation and institutions in Africa
- Professional experience in natural resources management, water resources, protected area management or related areas
- Experience or understanding of the application of the World Bank’s environmental safeguards policies
- Proficiency in English and Portuguese, especially writing ability, is required
- Familiarity with social safeguards issues (particularly field experience with involuntary resettlement) will also be an advantage
- Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams based in multiple locations on diverse and complex tasks
- Strong client orientation with the ability to build an understanding with implementing agency counterparts on the value-added of Bank safeguards
- A drive for results while working with limited supervision and under tight timelines
- A penchant for solving problems rather than merely identifying them
- An ability to think innovatively and negotiate effectively
- Willingness to travel
- Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena
- Understands policy making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients
- Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies and assesses policy issues and plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders
- Integrative Skills - Working to develop an integrated view across all facets of current sector
- Environmental Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Familiarity with environmental policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations
- Environmental Sciences - Depth in at least one area: soil science; water; ecosystems; conservation; agriculture concerns, etc
- Client Orientation - Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success
- Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so
- Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner
- Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others' work
Notes
If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 2 year term appointment.