Environmental & Social Specialist – Egypt Full Time

About the Role

To provide operational support on environmental and social aspects (including environmental and social assessments and permitting, land acquisition, labour, community and stakeholder engagement) for the development, construction and operational phases of renewable energy projects for Alcazar Energy in Egypt in line with best international practice and applicable E&S framework. Responsible for monitoring and reporting on E&S performance during the development phase as well as E&S performance of the EPC and O&M Contractor (and its subcontractors) during construction and operational phases, coordination of stakeholder engagement activities, and on-the-ground support for the development and implementation of Alcazar Energy’s social responsibility strategy, working closely with the Country/Development Manager, Project Engineers (and advisors) and Community Liaison Officer(s) (CLO).

Key Responsibilities

• Building and maintaining a positive and active collaborative relationship with the landowners, local communities (and wider stakeholders), communicating our strong commitment to socio-economic development, environmental protection, respect for labour & human rights and strong governance, and fostering an environment that supports community involvement and ownership
• Representative of Alcazar Energy for all E&S related matters
• Being Alcazar Energy’s main local interface with E&S consultants, advisors, governmental authorities and other relevant stakeholders during the process of national environmental permitting and international Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and later on through the project life.
• Coordinating the site-based tasks of E&S consultants during ESIA development, including, but not limited to, joining them on site visits, facilitating access to different stakeholders, such community members, NGOs, and local government representatives, and attending stakeholder meetings as the Company representative
• Monitoring the progress of the ESIA process and review deliverables, to ensure Project requirements are fulfilled on time, within budget, with the right quality and in line with our E&S Compliance Framework
• Planning and managing stakeholder engagement activities, disclosure of ESIA (and associated plans) and other E&S relevant information to local communities, and implementation of community related mitigation measures recommended in the ESIA
• Participating in the development, regular review and implementation of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP)
• Supporting in the coordination and taking part in Lenders’ Environmental and Social Due Diligence and periodical monitoring visits by the Lenders’/Lenders’ Environmental & Social Advisors and Technical Advisors
• Being Alcazar Energy’s first point of contact for grievance management, in according with the Project’s Grievance Mechanism and being responsible for filtering grievances and ensuring they are addressed in a timely manner.
• Monitoring and reporting on the E&S performance of consultants, service providers and engineering companies during the development phase of the Project
• Monitoring and reporting on the E&S performance of the EPC and O&M Contractor (and its subcontractors) conducting E&S inspections, investigation for incidents and grievances, and following up on remedial and preventive actions
• Responsible for overseeing the development of the Project-specific QHSEMS by the Contractor/s prior to the construction and operational phases
• Ensuring the adequate implementation of the Project-specific QHSEMS by the Contractor/s (and their subcontractors) during construction and operation, in particular with relation to environmental protection measures, including pollution prevention, waste management, third-party monitoring (if needed), among other aspects, as well as social aspects, including working conditions, employment terms, training , labour code of conduct andimplementation of the worker grievance mechanism by the contractor
• Providing on-the-ground support to the Technical team as well as the Country/Business Development Manager and interface with the E&S and Technical corporate team and directing local resources as needed (such as the HSE Engineer) – Work closely with all parties to identify and address E&S risks, and material & emerging issues
• Maintaining up to date knowledge of international, national and local environmental and social standards and legislation and the rapidly evolving ESG frameworks and requirements
• Facilitating training sessions for the local team, including the CLO as well as contractor and subcontractor’s workforce regarding project E&S requirements and raise awareness of international E&S best practices
• Providing guidance, direction and supervision to CLO and support them on engagement with the local community members and Project-affected people including but not limited consultation and disclosure events, community meetings, evaluating, reporting and resolving community grievances and providing feedback to the communities on issues
• Supporting with the identification and assessment of feasibility of social investment initiatives, including associated partners and wider stakeholders and manage and coordinate the successful implementation of such social investment initiatives on the ground
• Promoting awareness of social responsibility within the organisation by involving employees, ensuring both management and staff are informed of status of social development initiatives
• Supporting the Country/Business Development Manager in the liaison with Government Officials, Institutions and relevant stakeholders with regards to environmental and social matters

Qualifications, Experience & Job Specific skills

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant subject or speciality such as Environmental discipline, Engineering, International Development or equivalent experience

EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of 8-10 years’ experience in environmental protection and permitting, non-governmental organisations, social responsibility post or similar role
• Previous experience in environmental and social management, as well as stakeholder engagement in accordance with international standards
• Previous experience in an organisation with a strong E&S culture and in internationally financed projects (that required meeting IFC Performance Standards on Environmental & Social Sustainability and/or EBRD Performance Requirements and/or EIB E&S Standards)
• Previous experience with a Developer, an E&S Consultancy, a development financial institution and/or governmental institution
• Significant experience in front-end environmental and social studies and assessments as well as environmental permitting

Job Specific Skills:

• Passionate about environmental protection, socio-economic development, strong affinity working with communities and understands cultural sensitivities
• Has a profound understanding of business impact on society/ecosystems and vice versa through previous multi-disciplinary experience (e.g. NGO, government and corporate)
• Knowledgeable of regulatory frameworks, local regulations, permits, authorisations and any other consents required for the development of infrastructure projects, ideally renewable energy projects, as well as possess knowledge of relevant industry players i.e. developers, consultants, service providers
• High level interpersonal and communication skills including a demonstrated ability to act as Company representative, to coordinate and undertake stakeholder engagement activities with all levels of society, and to negotiate and mediate to resolve conflicts
• Strong sense of ethics and integrity, team player, self-motivated and with a constructive and committed attitude
• Commercial and financial acumen
• Quality focused with a strive for excellence
• Proficient in MS Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Egyptian National, fluent in written and spoken Arabic and English
• Current valid driving license and ability to drive to site

This list of responsibilities is not exhaustive, and the employee may be required to perform duties outside of those mentioned as operationally required and at the discretion of the manager

It is envisaged that this role may require travel to project sites within Egypt