E T Consultant

World Bank Group • Washington, DC

4d • Onsite

About The Position

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) Region

Home to about 700 million of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The subregion boasts of some of the world’s richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.

The subregion harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continues to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

The World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,200 staff, mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities:

• Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.

• Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030 – a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

• Making Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support helps governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.

• Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities.

• Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure.

• Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.

• Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) Region:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/eastern-and-southern-africa

Unit Description

On October 1, 2018, the World Bank launched its Environment and Social Framework (ESF) to help protect people and the environment in the investment projects that it finances. The ESF brings the World Bank’s environmental and social (E&S) protections into closer harmony with those of other development institutions, and makes important advances in areas such as transparency, non-discrimination, social inclusion, public participation, and accountability – including expanded roles for grievance redress mechanisms.

The Central Safeguards Unit (SAEM3) is one of the three ESF Units in AFE that manages E&S risks in two Country Management Units (CMUs): DRC CMU – Angola, Burundi, DRC, Sao Tome and Principe; Ethiopia CMU – Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea). The other two ESF Units are the Southern Safeguards Unit (SAEM1) comprising of the Mozambique CMU - Mozambique, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius and South Africa CMU - South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia) and the Eastern Safeguards Unit (SAEM2) comprising of the Kenya CMU – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia; and the Tanzania CMU – Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe.

All World Bank-supported investment projects must meet these ambitious environmental, social, health and safety standards. SAEM3 staff are responsible for providing technical support and oversight to all investment projects to meet these requirements. In line with the ESF, the team also supports clients to build systems, institutions and capacity in country to manage environmental and social risk for WBG funded activities and more broadly.

The Position

This position is for an Extended-Term Consultant (Environmental Analyst) based in Washington DC. The position is expected to provide administrative and analytical support to the monitoring and quality control of the safeguards/ESF portfolio for Central Safeguards Unit (SAEM3) of the Eastern and Southern Africa region of the World Bank. This position is for one-year renewable for another year based on business needs and performance to a maximum total of three years and will not be extended beyond the maximum three-year period. As such, this position is an ideal position for a recent graduate (BSc or MSc) who is seeking to gain environmental and social risk management (safeguards) work experience in an organization that is a recognized leader in this field and working with an experienced team.

This position will focus on providing administrative and technical support to the implementation of the World Bank’s environmental and social risk management policies (including the Safeguard Policies and the Environmental and Social Framework, or ESF). All World Bank-supported investment projects must meet ambitious environmental, social, health and safety standards. SAEM3 is responsible for providing technical support and oversight to all investment projects to meet these obligations.

She/he will report directly to a regional Practice Manager. The selected candidate will also be expected to work collaboratively and develop good relations with SAEM3 but also the Southern (SAEM1) and Eastern (SAEM2) Safeguard Units in AFE and the Global Makers team.

Requirements

• Minimum of BSc degree in environmental engineering, civil engineering, or related fields in environmental science or natural resources management is required.
• 0-2 years relevant professional experience in environmental and social risk management, with experience in the management of the environmental, social, health and safety risks.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills. Diplomatic approach and ability to work under pressure with limited supervision.
• Fluency in English is required (writing, speaking, listening and reading).
• Strong analytical skills, ability to think strategically, analyze and synthesize diverse qualitative and quantitative environmentally related data and information.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Practice Manager and E&S Specialists who are responsible for assigning safeguards tasks and ensuring quality of the risk management/safeguards work in SAEM3.
• Under the guidance of the Practice Manager, build and maintain the key spreadsheets/databases used for managing and monitoring the environmental safeguards/ESF portfolio for SAEM3, including task assignments, budget planning, budget utilization, contract management, project scheduling and document flow management.
• Coordinate and monitor the review and clearance processes of ESF Instruments, Concept Environmental and Social Review Summaries, Appraisal Environmental and Social Risk Summaries, and other relevant E&S instruments.
• Conduct preliminary quality control checks, under the guidance of senior staff, on documents such as environmental impact assessments, environmental management frameworks and plans, and compliance with the WBG’s operational policies and Environmental and Social Standards
• Provide support to safeguards team with the initial screening of Bank projects (IPFs) and programs (PforRs) for environmental risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities and identify risk management opportunities/strategies, including in • • Occupational and Community Health and Safety and climate change adaptation and mitigation in Bank operations.
• Contribute to analyzing and disseminating lessons learned and best practices from specific Bank projects for research, knowledge and learning purposes.
• Provide technical risk management support to Low and Moderate risk projects.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level