STC - Africa ESG Advisory Services – Kenya IESG Program Coordinator and E&S Specialist at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Objective/Purpose of the Assignment

IFC’s CEG department seeks to employ an STC to coordinate the IESG Kenya Advisory Program with environmental and social risk management skillsets.

The key objective of the assignment is to coordinate the activities of the Program and lead the program activities related to environmental and social risk management capacity building for regulators, industry professionals, consultants and training partners.

Specifically, the E&S consultant will be responsible for the following key activities and deliverables:

Firm Level E&S Risk Management Support:

• Support with detailed diagnostics of the E&S practices of agricultural and manufacturing firms, affordable housing developers and financial institutions including reviews of E&S capacity, identifying key gaps and training needs, preparing assessments and client engagement support plans, budget and cost estimates based on diagnostics and findings, draft inputs for legal agreements and assist with negotiations with clients.
• Support with the implementation of all AS support to be provided to clients as agreed upon, which will typically include:
• Coaching E&S staff and providing hands-on support to clients in developing/enhancing their Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) and all related procedures/systems as needed.
• Developing training plans and materials, and delivering training sessions for key staff of the firm (e.g., senior management team, board, E&S team etc.)
• Review client progress against key agreed upon milestones and improvement plan items.
• Provide day-to-day oversight of AS implementation support provided to clients.

Enhance Regulatory E&S Standard Setting:

• Support regulators and industry associations to enhance and improve the uptake of existing E&S risk management guidelines and the development of new guidelines and regulations through the provision of technical support.
• This will involve providing technical input on industry guidelines and legislation, providing training to regulators and industry association staff and delivering awareness raising events for industry on guidelines/legislation (i.e. developing and delivering training agendas and material, organizing venues and invitations).

Building Local Consultant and Training Institute E&S Risk Management Capacity:

• Organizing in-depth training courses for consultants and training partners on E&S risk management in the program’s target sectors.
• Development of sector-specific E&S risk management products, tools, case studies and guidelines for the local Kenyan market.

Scope of Work and Deliverables / Specific Outputs Expected from Consultant:

• Support the Program to identify key stakeholders in the target sectors including regulators, consultants, financial institutions, real sector businesses and training institutions.
• Identify and develop opportunities to partner with stakeholders to further the objectives of the Program and IFC country objectives in Kenya.
• Support project teams in the organization and preparation of trainings
• Support with the development and delivery of E&S risk management related training workshops and awareness raising events.
• Actively support program leaders (PLs) on all aspects of firm level AS support provided, including preparation of E&S assessments and Improvement Plans, development of AS proposals and negotiations with clients, drafting diagnostics, as well as delivery of implementation support.
• Assist with all M&E related activities as per the AS governance procedures during project preparation, implementation and after completion.
• Support Pls with drafting and reviewing project status and donor reports, coordinating input from project teams with respect to routine internal and donor reporting and conduct consistency reviews to ensure data accuracy.
• Participate in weekly team meetings to provide project updates.

Selection Criteria:

• Post-graduate (Masters) or graduate degree in a field relevant to environmental and social risk management discipline (e.g., environmental management, social sciences, biology, economics etc.).
• At least 10 years of experience working in corporate sustainability, DFI or E&S consulting fields with specific experience in the financial, affordable housing, agri-business and/or manufacturing sectors.
• Excellent knowledge of the IFC Performance Standards, EHS Guidelines and Sector Specific Guidelines.
• Extensive prior experience working in Kenya in the environmental and/or social field with a strong pre-existing network is critical.
• Experience conducting training to professionals on E&S related aspects.
• Experience working with regulators on E&S related aspects.
• Excellent project management skills including work planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.
• Strong organizational skills with ability to prioritize, deal with frequent unexpected changes, and manage multiple tasks under tight deadlines. Attention to detail is a must.
• Pragmatic, solution-oriented, problem solver with a high degree of responsiveness and proactivity, coupled with the ability to recognize when a solution is not available.
• Good team player with strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work as a member of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team, work effectively in and influence a team, and network effectively across boundaries.
• Ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently, articulate issues and recommend solutions and a reputation for listening carefully to clients and stakeholders and understanding their needs.
• Excellent English is essential.

Term of the Assignment

The assignment will initially be up to 50 days during FY22 subject to work as available and assigned starting from date of engagement through to June 30, 2022. The contract is renewable for up to 150 days per 12 months. The consultant will report to Ben Gaffney and Rose Lumumba, the IESG Program Coordinators for Kenya.