Environment Consultant
Remote | Beijing
- Organization: AIIB - Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- Location: Remote | Beijing
- Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
-
Occupational Groups:
- Environment
- Closing Date: 2025-03-19
Senior Environmental and Social Consultant (Advisor) 2025-03-14: We have resolved the issue with submitting an Expression of Interest through our Individual Consultant Management System. To accommodate the affected listings, the application deadlines will be extended.
Senior Environmental and Social Consultant (Advisor) 2025-03-14: We have resolved the issue with submitting an Expression of Interest through our Individual Consultant Management System. To accommodate the affected listings, the application deadlines will be extended. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Application close date
03/19/2025
1. Project Background
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and have since grown to 98 approved members and 12 prospective members worldwide. We are capitalized up to USD100 billion and Triple-A-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Working with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity. To this end, the Bank’s operational policies and procedures, including environmental, social, procurement, and financial management, are critical to achieving its mission. The Strategy, Policy and Budget (SPB) Department under the Vice Presidency, Policy and Strategy (VPPS) is responsible for policy development, policy compliance, advisory services, and resource management of the Bank’s operational policies and procedures. SPB coordinates with the Sustainability and Fiduciary Solutions Department (SFD) under the Vice President Investment Solutions (VPIS) on environmental and social aspects at various stages of the project preparation and monitoring. The separation between SPB and SFD ensures functional independence and a system of checks and balances on the assessment of environmental and social risks and impacts. With the growth of AIIB, the Bank is handling increasingly complex, innovative, and novel investment operations in both Sovereign-backed Financing (SBF) and Non-sovereign-backed financing (NSBF), some of which might have high environmental and social (ES) risk profiles. This will require senior experts to provide professional advice to support Management and Bank staff in handling complicated ES-related issues and elaborating on the application of AIIB’s ESF to new and complex operations to ensure AIIB operates at the best practice.
2. Objectives of the Assignment
SPB is looking for an experienced and high-performing Senior Environmental and Social (ES) Consultant as an advisor who is highly- knowledgeable of the operation of lending instruments and the application of ES safeguards policies of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), especially in the context of complex, innovative, and new NSBF projects. The Senior ES Consultant will work closely with other specialists in SPB to provide ES support for the investments, support the Bank's teams in managing complex and emerging ES issues in the Bank-financed operations, and advise Management on the solutions to ES matters. The Senior ES consultant will also play a critical role in fine-tuning the Instructions on Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and building the SPB knowledge base and contributing to the capacity-building of in-house staff.
3. Scope of Services
SPB is seeking a Senior Environmental and Social (ES) Consultant (Advisor) for the following tasks: 1) Provide support to the VPPS, Director General (DG), SPB, and the Policy Unit of SPB in the management of high-profile, complex ES issues, especially in innovative investment operations and non-sovereign/financial intermediary projects; 2) Provide expert advice on the application of AIIB’s ESF in the design of Bank-supported operations and provide inputs on ESF application in the context of novel financial instruments employed by the Bank, such as sustainable finance, green bonds, sovereign bonds, trade finance instruments, capital market operations, among others; 3) Supporting the SPB in converting the ESF Administrative Guidance (AG) into the ES Instructions and facilitating the inter-departmental consultations; 4) Serve as a technical advisor on complex environmental and social issues including biodiversity, pollution prevention, sustainability of land and water use, energy efficiency, health and safety of community and workers (including traffic and road safety), labor and working conditions, impact on cultural resources, among others; 5) Provide advice on financial intermediary operations (such as on-lending, PE funds, funds, bonds, etc.), corporate investment, guarantees, trade finance, among others to ensure relevant projects are prepared and implemented in line with AIIB’s ESF and international best practices; 6) Support in developing technical/practice notes to manage ES issues for new modalities, such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) approaches for capital market operations (CMOs), trade finance operations, infrastructure risk transfer programs, and new modalities that will be proposed by the New Product Working Group (NPWG); 7) Provide advisory support on complex project and policy matters that may pose reputational risk to the institution, through reviewing and supporting the preparation of responses to complaints to AIIB’s Project-Affected People’s Mechanism (PPM) as well as to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs); 8) Provide policy advice on international best practices and capacity building support to ES staff in SPB and SFD to enhance internal capacity on the ESP and critical ES aspects, especially in terms of novel financial instruments employed by the Bank; 9) Carry out other tasks upon request by SPB management.
4. Consultancy Output / Deliverables
1) Policy advice to SPB management and staff on ES matters and complex ES issues and risks 2) Instructions on the Environmental and Social Framework 3) Technical notes and materials for just-in-clinics on complex ES issues and new products with Bank staff 4) Other deliverables upon request
5. Implementation Arrangement
The timeline for this contract will be from: The consultancy is home-based, although, subject to business needs and travel conditions, the Senior ES Consultant (Advisor) may be required to attend in-person key meetings with Bank staff and Management at the AIIB Headquarters, and travel to project sites where necessary.
6. Support to the Consultant by the Bank
Laptop, access to the Bank’s service account
7. Knowledge Transfer and Training
The Senior ES Consultant (Advisor) will undertake just-in-time clinics, deep-dive training and regular check-in with SPB staff (including management) to strengthen the SPB's knowledge of critical ES issues and operational implications and impart experiences in managing the ES issues for NSBF operations and new products.
Qualification Requirement
Potential candidates for this consultancy will be assessed against the following qualifications and requirements: • A graduate degree in environmental sciences, economics, finance, political sciences, international development, or related fields; • At least 20 years of working experience in ES Safeguards and Sustainability related work, specifically related to ES policy formulation, update and interpretation; • Familiarity with MDB relevant policies, investment transaction modality, and ability to provide guidance to various units and departments; • Direct project experience in multiple countries on ES impact assessment, ES risks management associated with large and complex projects in both SBF and NSBF • Track record of developing strategies, policies, procedures, and guidelines on Environmental and Social Management Systems and related aspects to public information disclosure and providing quality assurance on ES risks and impacts; • Extensive experience working in a MDB providing advice and guidance to senior management, project teams, and ES specialists on high-profile investment projects involving complex high-risk issues such as critical ES issues such as biodiversity, pollution prevention, sustainable use of land and water resources, climate change, labor and working conditions, health and safety of workers and communities, safety of dams, cultural resources, etc; • Strong knowledge and experience reviewing development projects’ ES due diligence and implementation procedures and documentations; • Demonstrated expertise in consulting with clients, project-affected communities, CSOs, and governments on to devise solutions to ES issues and problems; • Robust experience in handling complaints and Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM) cases; • Experience integrating safeguard measures and information disclosure requirements in ES related policies and guidance notes to improve ESG of intermediary financing, including financial intermediaries, corporate loans, bonds, funds and capital market operations; and • Excellent written and communications skills in English.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.