Description
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
The Sustainable Development Practice Group
The Sustainable Development (SD) Practice Group (PG) helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food; Climate Change; Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy; Environmental and Social Risk Management; Urban & Disaster Risk Management; Resilience & Land; Social Sustainability and Inclusion; and Water.
Environment Natural Resources & Blue Economy Global Practice
The sustainable management of the environment and natural resources is vital for economic growth and human wellbeing. When managed well, renewable natural resources, watersheds, productive landscapes and seascapes can provide the foundation for sustained inclusive growth, food security and poverty reduction. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment
Unit and Country Context
The Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Unit for Africa East and Southern Region (one of four Environment units in Africa) has about 40 staff. Half of these staff work on environmental safeguards/environmental risk management. The other 50 percent work primarily on lending and knowledge products in client countries. More than 50 percent are based in the field. The balance is based in Washington DC and travel to the region frequently. The skills of these staff include, economics, pollution management, forestry, fisheries management, landscapes management, watershed management, and natural areas protection.
The position
This position will be based in Lusaka, Zambia and will focus on the environmental risk management, and environmental project management, analytical work and policy. Zambia has very large infrastructure shortfall. As a result, the Bank has been investing heavily in infrastructure in the country. This requires staff in the Zambia office to implement the Bank’s environmental risk management policies (including the Safeguard Policies and the new Environmental and Social Framework, or ESF). All World Bank-supported investment projects must meet ambitious environmental management standards. The Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice is responsible for providing technical support and oversight to all investment projects to meet these obligations. In addition, the World Bank has an increasing portfolio of environment related loans, analytical work and policy advisory activities that require management duties and Accountabilities
The Senior Environmental Engineer- will have the following key responsibilities as agreed with his/her Practice Manager based on an annual Result Agreement:
Environmental Risk Management
• Ensure the effective integration of environmental due diligence as defined by World Bank Group (WBG)Environmental and Social Management Framework, safeguards policies as well as international good practice documents (e.g. Equator Principles) into the design, appraisal and implementation of WBG supported projects (environmental lending portfolio and analytical work).
• Provide expert advice to client and counterpart organizations, project teams and WBG management with regard to the preparation of environmental impact assessments, including regional, strategic and cumulative assessments; environmental management frameworks and plans, including plan for monitoring, reporting and evaluation; public consultation plans; and specific plans related to natural habitats conservation, natural resource management, pest management, forest management, dam safety and international waterways management; such advice will be based on a thorough analysis of baseline conditions, project scope and impacts, requirements from national legal and institutional frameworks and, and compliance with the WBG’s operational policies.
• Provide expert guidance to clients in the preparation of relevant project cycle documentation including terms of reference (ToR) for environmental safeguard instruments, such as environmental and social assessments (incl. strategic, regional and cumulative); environmental and social management frameworks and plans, Pest Management Plan, and supervising their implementation. Contract specifications related to environmental safeguards and risks management, particularly for large dams and water related projects. Provide technical training for the domestic EA practitioners on the WBG safeguard policies and requirements.
• Provide environmental input in project documents in accordance with the Bank operational policies including Project Concept Note (PCN), Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (ISDS), Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and Decision/Negotiations Packages, and assist with managing timely and proper disclosure procedures and public consultation requirements for all required environmental assessment and management instruments.
• Work closely with the Regional Safeguards Coordinators in the Africa region who are responsible for assigning safeguards tasks and ensuring the quality of the safeguards work and environmental risk management in the Region.
Project Operations and Analytical Work
• Participate in and/or lead natural resource or environmental management projects and the policy dialog with the government and other stakeholders on environment or natural resources. This includes coordination with other financiers, review of sector policies, strategies, and legislation. A particular focus of this position will be to build a portfolio of environment projects in Zambia, which could include solid waste management, air quality, contaminated sites management – mainly related to the mining industry.
• Participate as team member or team leader in the development and/or supervision of implementation of environment or natural resources activities or components in various projects, including participation in identification missions; seeking and developing opportunities to integrate sound environmental management and policies in various investment project operations; maintaining regular dialog with the client and enhancing their capacity for understanding and compliance with on environmental policies; and contributing to mission outputs such as back to office reports (BTORs) and Aide Memoires.
• Facilitate and maintain effective communication with relevant communities of practice, including NGOs, academia, civil society, the private sector as well as specialized international organizations in line with the Bank’s Disclosure Policy and need to harmonize with clients and other international financial institutions in the region. In particular, active participation in communities of practice and global level technical innovation and knowledge sharing in the area of pollution management will be an important component of this position.
• Actively seek to learn World Bank Group procedures, and contribute to their improvement, by participating in training offered, by developing a personal training program, keeping abreast of research and development knowledge in the environment and natural resources sector, and relevant safeguard management process.
• Coordinate and carry out other tasks as requested by the relevant Manager such as for example, contribute to the organization of training or knowledge sharing events.
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Selection Criteria
In addition to meeting Bank-wide Grade GG level positions (see below), it is expected that the successful candidate will meet the following selection criteria:
The following are required:
• Advanced degree (PhD or Masters) in environmental engineering, civil engineering, environmental science or related field, with a strong preference for candidates with good technical training and experience in environmental risk management related to large scale civil engineering or industrial engineering projects, pollution management, solid waste management, soil, or water and groundwater remediation and clean-up.
• Deep technical experience in solid waste management would be highly beneficial.
• A minimum of 8 years of full-time relevant professional experience in the engineering or environmental management sector is required.
• Fluency in English is required (writing, speaking, listening and reading).
• A second language (French, Spanish, or Portuguese) would be highly beneficial.
• Proven teamwork and successful experience working with multi-disciplinary teams.
• A strong sense of team work and ability to work independently with limited supervision.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience working in different developing countries.
• Willingness to travel extensively in Zambia, the Africa region and possibly globally is necessary, including to remote rural areas.
The following would be an advantage but not required:
• Knowledge and experience in environmental assessment and management of investment projects involving large scale civil works, extractive or industrial activities would be a strong advantage, especially the experience in the preparation of environmental safeguard/risk management documents of the lending projects of the WBG or other international organizations.
• Experience working in developing countries, like Zambia, understanding the institutional and political context and exposure to the national environmental policy challenges would be an advantage.
• Demonstrated project management / operational skills, including occupational health and safety management would be an advantage.
• Experience working with contractors that have weak implementation capacity in the area of environmental risk management would be an advantage.
Competencies Level GG, Senior Environmental Engineer:
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Environmental Engineering - Deep experience applying knowledge in engineering on environmental engineering and infrastructure projects.
• Environmental Safeguards and Risk Management – Deep experience successfully applying the environmental safeguard policies and risk management to a least moderate risk projects, with minimal supervision.
• Environmental Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Solid understanding of environmental policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
• Environmental Sciences – Understanding of fundamental concepts of natural science (soil science; water; ecosystems; conservation; agriculture concerns, etc.).
• Biodiversity – Broad knowledge of biodiversity with ability to apply knowledge to projects and analytical work.
• Environmental Economics -Understanding of fundamental economic concepts relevant to environment.
• Project Design for Impact and Sustainability – Investment Lending - Contributes to the design of projects and programs, based on an understanding of the country and sector context.
• Sector Dialogue – Investment Lending - Able to conduct a dialogue with the client on familiar topics, with a narrow scope, based on a solid understanding of the sector.
• Operational Project Management - Demonstrates in depth knowledge and understanding of project management tools & methodologies, resource management, and stakeholder communications.
• Team Leadership - Leads teams to achieve challenging outcomes, providing a role model and enhancing the team-leadership skills of team members.
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
WBG COMPETENCIES:
• Lead and Innovate - Develops innovative solutions.
• Deliver Results for Clients - Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs.
• Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries - Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives.
• Create, Apply and Share Knowledge - Applies knowledge across WBG to strengthen solutions for internal and/or external clients.
• Make Smart Decisions - Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward.
For information about WBG Core Competencies, please visit: https://bit.ly/2kbIA7O.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
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