Lead Social Safeguards Officer, 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 below:

Job Title: Lead Social Safeguards Officer, SNSC

Reference: ADB/18/160
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL2
Position N°: 50093568

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 of 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 Social Safeguards Officer will work under the general supervision and guidance of the Safeguards and Compliance Director and is primarily responsible for leading the Department’s efforts to provide policy and strategic guidance, capacity building, development of knowledge products and dissemination, coordination of safeguards and sustainability partnership and networks as well as other non-operational activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the development and revision of policies, strategies, guidelines, formats/manuals, tools and procedures, in particular the Integrated Safeguards System (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.
• Identify and prioritize knowledge needs of the department; Lead and provide oversight to the development of knowledge products in the Safeguards and Sustainability Series and the collection of and dissemination of lessons learned.
• Establish and implement quality assurance process for knowledge products and their management.
• Develop and implement capacity-building program for the Bank, RMCs, private stakeholders, sponsors and consultants, executing agencies, 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.
• Coordinate strategic partnerships and networks with other entities such as the UN Agencies, Bilateral and Multilateral Agencies, including MDBs.
• Provide strategic guidance and close liaison with the team managing the Integrated Safeguard System.
• Lead social inputs required to provide appropriate and timely management responses to complaints lodged with the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (BCRM)/Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) and ensure subsequent follow up on a regular basis.
• Oversee the preparation of management responses to audit, independent evaluation, compliance and review mechanism, etc.
• Perform other duties commissioned by the Director.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Hold at least a Master's Degree or equivalent in Sociology, Anthropology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Economics, relevant Social/Political Sciences, or in an equivalent social-related discipline.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience, gained in international organizations or Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), part of which should be in the area of Social development policy work and practical experience of safeguards implementation.
• Knowledge and experience in preparing and managing the implementation of  Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs), Resettlement Action Plans (RAP); Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), 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 (e.g. health and safety, involuntary resettlement and gender components), operations monitoring and evaluation, and compliance assessment.
• Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability - Extensive experience conducting to social assessments and development of effective tools; ability to coach others in the application of the tools
• Strong inter-personal and team working skills, as well as ability to provide strategic guidance
• Ability to work independently with little supervision as well as part of a multicultural team.
• 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 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.
• Competence in the use of standard software applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, SAP etc.).

Application Closing Date
19th September, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online