CrossBoundary recruits 01 ESG Director – Investment Platforms
Job Description
CrossBoundary Energy is recruiting a full-time Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) Director to oversee our Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) and implement ESG risk mitigation actions across our growing African portfolio of distributed energy projects. The Director will act as a hand-on problem-solver within project teams of finance, engineering, and legal professionals, who together will deliver power projects. The ESG Director will be accountable for investment screening, contractor screening, and know-your-business-partner (KYBP) screening processes across all of CBE’s activities, managing the work of CBE’s Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) personnel and external consultants as needed.
The Director will represent the findings of these analyses to CBE’s investment committee, recommend risk mitigation actions, and oversee implementation of those actions during project construction and operation. Quarterly reporting of ESMS Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to investors, oversight of project EHS reporting and permitting, and management of CBE’s grievance redress mechanism will also fall within the ESG Director’s scope. It is expected that the Director will employ innovative technology solutions to maximally leverage CBE’s existing talent while supervising E&S impacts across an active portfolio of 20-30 projects. This role will report to the Chief Investment Officer with dotted-line accountability to the Head of Project Development. Leadership of the Business Development, Project Development, and Operations teams will regularly consult the ESG Director for ESG perspective on project decisions.
Who We Are
CrossBoundary operates in underserved markets that also hold immense investment opportunities. The chosen candidate will play an important role in a unique team with the opportunity to make a large impact on the renewable energy landscape in Africa. Team members come from diverse backgrounds but share a number of qualities: commitment to excellence, deliberate thinking, curiosity, bias to action, and a focus on results.
Who You Are
- Excellence: Demonstrated expertise in implementing international best practices for mitigating ESG risks in a range of industries, especially across renewable energy technologies and heavy industry
- Excellence: You hold yourself to high standards and lead by example. You overdeliver on all tasks – big or small – necessary to contribute toward the team objective
- Humility: Values and incorporates the input of teammates, investors, and external partners into work, especially differing perspectives
- Acts Like an Owner: A systematic and highly organized project manager; takes personal accountability for managing teams and tracking numerous activities across workstreams to drive them all to successful conclusion
- Deliberate Thinker: A pragmatic decision-maker known for deducing the simple, robust solution where more complicated approaches would deliver the same results
- Curiosity: Not satisfied with “no;” assists others to generate creative solutions by looking at problems from new perspectives. You do not make or accept ultimatums
- Bias to Action: Self-starter who is passionate about creating lasting change in Africa. You are comfortable with ambiguity and effective in a fast-moving and complex environment
- Prioritizes Results: You are continuously iterating on how to improve your team’s efficiency. Skilled at employing software solutions to ESG procedures where technology can better leverage talent
- Authentically Cares: Patient and skilled at developing relationships with clients, suppliers, and consultants to consistently deliver excellent work
- Integrity: You personally aspire to and empower teams to achieve ESG standards that go beyond the legal definition of compliance and serve the core purpose of our work
Primary Responsibilities
- Oversee investment diligence to conceptualize the E&S impact of CBE’s client businesses and interpret their E&S processes for CBE’s investors, especially for clients in mining and heavy industrial sectors
- Oversee environmental diligence and permitting process for complex, hybrid projects, leading scope, selection, and oversight of environmental consultants as needed
- Validate Environmental & Social Impact Statements (ESIAs) and other ESG risk assessment studies prepared for CBE’s projects
- Expert advisor to Project Development team on complex community engagement issues and leads drafting of scope, selection, and oversight of social consultants as needed
- Takes personal accountability for thorough investigation and resolution of any stakeholder issues with project delivery via CBE’s grievance redress mechanism (GRM)
- Update and continuously validate CBE’s policies for managing environmental and social impact against international standards – including the IFC Performance Standards—and keep internal procedures and templates updated accordingly
- Seeks opportunities to position CBE as a leader in ESG best practices, leading CBE’s participation in sector-wide ESG initiatives where appropriate
- Directs the translation of global ESG best practices into new CBE practices, notably approaches to ESG supply chain risk
- Oversees EHS risk assessment for complex or hazardous projects, managing CBE’s EHS personnel. Takes personal accountability for mitigating EHS impacts and addressing incidents
- Serves as CBE’s Compliance Officer – improve CBE’s KYBP process to meet best-in-class procurement and governance procedures while operating efficiently for project teams. Closely coordinated with CBE and Group legal teams on international and Group corporate governance policies and compliance of CBE contractual partners
- Liaise with EPC contractors, technical consultants, and others working on-site to make sure that ESG mitigation activities are being undertaken in an integrated and collaborative manner across all parties. Facilitate integration of lessons learned into updated procedures
- Collaborate within Investment Team to compile and report on ESMS performance as well as the positive ESG impacts generated by CBE’s portfolio regularly for current and prospective investors
Qualifications
The Ideal candidate will have the following skills and qualifications:
- 10+ years’ experience in project ESG management through either:
- ESG project consulting for multinational industrial corporations operating in Africa
- A supervising ESG role at an IPP, project developer or infrastructure investment firm
- Track record of successfully implemented projects with complex E&S impacts on which you served as a senior ESG expert
- Strong personal network of global environmental, social, and governance experts with diverse geographic and technology experience
- Native speaker or professional fluency in spoken and written French
Required skills and qualifications:
- 7+ years’ experience in project dedicated EHS management through either:
- ESG project consulting for multinational industrial corporations
- ESG role at an IPP, project developer or infrastructure investment firm
- Technical experience conducting and evaluating ESIAs and other project risk assessments for renewable energy projects of varying technologies
- Experience applying Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) and international lenders’ standards –IFC, AfDB, and/or EIB standards – for ESG management on renewable energy projects
- Excellent English oral and written communication skills. Experience summarizing complex ESG issues in concise, compelling oral and written professional presentations appropriate for international investors
- Working knowledge of ESMS or EHS management software platforms and how to apply them to streamline ESMS processes
- Expertise in training internal teams in ESG competencies
- Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)