World Bank, Senior Environmental Engineer

Senior Environmental Engineer

Job #: req3189
Organization: World Bank

Sector: Environment
Grade: GG
Term Duration: 3 years 0 months
Recruitment Type: International Recruitment
Location: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date: 6/4/2019 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2018, the WBG committed $67 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $24 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions and thirteen Global Practices to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients.

Global Practice Context (Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice)
Sustainable environment and natural resources management (ENRM) is at the heart of the WBG’s poverty agenda. Biodiversity and natural resources constitute the social safety net of the poor, representing a food bank and often their only source of livelihood. Sustainable ENRM promotes a green, clean, and resilient world where natural resources – from forests to fisheries, freshwater, oceans, coastal zones and ecosystems – are managed to support livelihoods and strong economies. Sustainable ENRM builds a world better prepared for shocks and global challenges, helping countries limit their exposure to resource scarcity, more-volatile weather patterns, and the long-term consequences of climate change.

The Environment & Natural Resources (ENR) Global Practice has been set-up to deliver on the opportunities, benefits and outcomes offered by enhanced management of the environment and natural resources. The ENR GP has close to 300 operations under management, representing close to $7 billion, and a growing pipeline of new investments under active development. The practice consists of some 300 staff across the world plus numerous other staff in other Practices and Cross Cutting SAs that are professionally associated with it. ENR GP also manages the environmental risk aspects of about 2000 projects in the World Bank’s global portfolio. About 150 staff work specifically on environmental risk management safeguards.

The Environment & Natural Resources Global Practice has three broad and distinct functions:

Provides clients with lending and non-lending services aimed to support the GP’s three core business lines, namely: (i) Forests, Watersheds and Sustainable Landscapes; (ii) Marine, Coastal and Aquatic Resources; and (iii) Pollution Management and Environmental Health. The GP’s activities also include a focus on Clean and Resilient Growth through its work on environmental economics and support to institutional development.
Supports effective environmental risk management and sustainability by managing risk at the project level and creating opportunities to advance sustainable development, in part through the implementation of the Bank’s environmental policies.
Works closely with other sectors, including by leveraging GEF grant financing, to mainstream environmental considerations into their policies, strategies, and operations.

ENRM activities in Africa Region accounts for a substantial part of the ENR Global Practice’s business:

Delivery of about 10 operations per year, amounting to about $800 million annually;
An active dialogue on regional issues, such as climate change, coastal and marine economies, improving governance of natural resources, watershed management, pollution management, and wealth accounting and valuation of ecosystem services; and
About 100 active projects in the portfolio, amounting to around $3 billion.

A key characteristic of the Bank program in the Africa region is a high level of decentralization. About 50% of staff is located in the country offices (outside of the Headquarters in Washington DC), and about 50% of operations are managed and led from the country offices. The underpinning of this decentralization rests on four main pillars:

better integration at the field level to provide greater synergies and integrated responses;a decentralized management structure supported by regional and global knowledge;
provision of faster responses and management decisions to our clients; and
ensuring environment and natural resources dimensions are at the forefront in the region given the large urbanization trend in almost all countries, the need to better incorporate environment and natural resources priorities in the fast growing economies and huge demand for infrastructure where governance issues and growing income disparities between urban centers and rural areas could undermine the growth potential.

Unit and Country Context:

The Environment and Natural Resources Unit for East Africa (one of three 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. About 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, The Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Unit for East Africa has about 40 staff. Half work on environmental safeguards/environmental risk management. The rest focus on lending and knowledge products. About 50% are based in the field. Their skills include economics, pollution management, forestry, fisheries management, landscapes management, watershed management, and natural areas protection.forestry, fisheries management, landscapes management, watershed management, and natural areas protection.

The Position:

This position will be based in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania and will focus on the environmental risk management. Tanzania has very large infrastructure shortfall. As a result, the Bank has been investing heavily in infrastructure in the country. This requires additional staff in the Tanzania 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 in order to meet these obligations.

This position is based in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania. Your focus will be environmental risk management.

The World Bank has been investing heavily in infrastructure in Tanzania, since the country has a significant infrastructure shortfall. This requires additional staff in the Tanzania office to implement the Bank’s environmental risk management policies. All World Bank-supported investment projects seek to meet ambitious environmental management standards. The ENR Global Practice is responsible for providing technical support and oversight to all investment projects to meet these obligations.

DUTIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES:

The Senior Environmental Engineer- Environmental Risk Management will have the following key responsibilities as agreed with his/her Practice Manager based on an annual Result Agreement:

Work closely with the Safeguards Focal Point in Dar Es Salam and the Regional Safeguards Coordinator for East Africa, who are responsible for assigning safeguards tasks and ensuring the quality of the safeguards work in Tanzania and the East Africa Region, respectively.
Ensure the effective integration of environmental due diligence as defined by the WBG Environmental and Social Management Framework, safeguards policies, and international good practice documents into the design, appraisal, and implementation of projects.
Provide advice to clients and counterparts, project teams, and WBG management for 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. You should base this advice on a thorough analysis of baseline conditions, project scope and impacts, requirements from national legal and institutional frameworks, and the WBG’s operational policies.
Provide guidance for clients to prepare relevant project cycle documentation, including terms of reference for environmental safeguard instruments, and oversee their implementation. Provide technical training for EA practitioners in client countries on the WBG safeguard policies.
Provide environmental input for project documents in accordance with the Bank operational policies, and assist with handling timely disclosure procedures and public consultation requirements for all environmental assessment and management instruments.
Participate in the development and/or supervision of environment or natural resources activities of projects. This may include participating in identification missions, developing opportunities to integrate sound environmental management in investment project operations, maintaining regular dialogue with the client and improving their capacity to align with environmental policies, and elaborating mission outputs such as back to office reports.
Maintain effective communication with the local community of practice, including NGOs, academia, civil society, the private sector, and specialized international organizations, in line with the Bank Disclosure Policy and need to harmonize with clients and other international financial institutions in the region.
Coordinate all environmental safeguards and improvement activities within and between projects, and share information with Task Team Leaders (Project Managers), project team members, staff/consultants responsible for projects’ social safeguards management, and other regional staff working on the environmental and NRM agenda–in particular the EAP regional safeguards advisor, the EAP regional safeguards coordinator, and the Pacific safeguards coordinator.
Participate in and/or lead natural resource or environmental management projects and the policy dialog with the government and other stakeholders on environment and natural resources issues relevant to the region, including climate change.
Seek to learn WBG procedures and facilitate their improvement by participating in training and staying on top of research and development knowledge in the sector, as well as of relevant safeguard management processes. This will become especially important over the coming 1-3 years during the World Bank’s transition from the current framework of safeguards policies to a new environmental and social framework (ESF), which constitutes a radical modernization of the Bank policies, standards, and procedures.
Perform other tasks as requested by the Manager; for example, organizing training or knowledge sharing events and helping the country office staff with office management.

Selection Criteria

Advanced degree (PhD or Masters) in environmental engineering, civil engineering, environmental science, or a related field, with a strong preference for technical training and experience in environmental risk management related to large-scale civil engineering or industrial engineering projects, pollution management, solid waste management, soil, water and groundwater remediation and clean-up, or coastal zone management.
A minimum of 8 years of full-time relevant professional experience in the environment engineering or environmental management sector.
Fluency in English (writing, speaking, listening, and reading).
Validated teamwork and successful experience engaging with multi-disciplinary teams.
A strong sense of teamwork and ability to work independently with limited supervision
Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Professional experience in different developing countries.
Willingness to travel extensively, including to remote rural areas and islands.

An advantage but not required:

Knowledge of and experience in environmental assessment and management of investment projects involving large scale civil works, extractive or industrial activities, especially in the preparation of environmental safeguard/risk management documents of lending projects of the WBG or other international organizations.
Experience working in developing countries, understanding the institutional and political context and being exposed to the national environmental policy challenges.\
Proven project management/operational skills, including occupational health and safety management
Experience working with contractors that have weak implementation capacity in environmental risk management.

Competencies (Level GG, Senior Environmental Engineer)