Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer - HCI

World Wildlife Fund, Inc.; Brasília; On-site; BRL 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Brazil is seeking an Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer - HCI to lead the implementation and monitoring of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and SEP across the Heart of Conservation Initiative. The role emphasizes Indigenous Peoples and local community rights, governance, and safeguarding compliance under GEF requirements.

Reporting to the Project Manager in GCU, you will collaborate with Indigenous Peoples and local partners, provide

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in social sciences; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 7 years' experience in social science and 5+ years Indigenous Peoples/local communities work.
• Fluency in English; knowledge of Spanish/Portuguese/French is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead ESS screening and safeguard implementation with local partners.
• Ensure ESSF integration and annual budget alignment.
• Coordinate with GESI, MEL, and partners on risk management.
• Provide training on ESS for staff and community partners.
• Assist in stakeholder engagement and GRM establishment.

Skills

Analytical

Reliability/follow-through

Cross-cultural communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Anthropology, or related social science

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

ArcGIS

R

MS Office

Job description

Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer - HCI

• Full-time
• Paid Relocation: None

Founded in 1961, WWF works to help people and nature thrive. As a global conservation organization, WWF operates in more than 100 countries, partnering with communities, companies, and governments to protect wildlife, conserve vital habitats, and advance sustainable solutions. Grounded in science and driven by collaboration, WWF works to help nature by conserving biodiversity, supporting resilient communities, and addressing climate change. Nearly 1 million people in the United States and more than 5 million globally are WWF members.

Project Description

The Heart of Conservation Initiative (HCI) is a 5-year global project designed to address systemic barriers that limit Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ ability to steward their lands, territories, waters, and biodiversity-rich ecosystems. Despitestrong evidence that Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage or influence at least 37% of remaining natural lands globally, they receive less than 1% of international climate and biodiversity finance, face complex donor procedures, limited direct access to funding, and insufficient recognition in decision-making arenas.

Building on the achievements of the GEF-7 InclusiveConservationInitiative (ICI), HCI’s objective is to increase Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ organizational capacities and ability to access sustainable finance at scale for territorial stewardship to deliver social, economic, cultural, and Global Environmental Benefits. The project is transformative in that it targets structural change in biodiversity finance systems - shifting from centralized, intermediary-driven models toward more inclusive, Indigenous Peoples and local community-led financing and governance mechanisms.

This will be achieved through four integrated components: (i) organizational and technical self-strengthening of Indigenous Peoples and local community funds and organizations and implementation of self-determined Indigenous Peoples-and local community-led sub-projects across Latin America, Africa, and Asia; (ii) collective self-strengthening of Indigenous Peoples and local community-led funds and organizations’ institutional, fiduciary, and technical capacities;(iii) enhancing Indigenous Peoples' and local communities’ representation and influence in global biodiversity andbiodiversityfinance processes; and (iv) advancing knowledge, learning, and evidence on rights-based, inclusive conservation.

Major Function

Under the guidance and supervision of the Project Managerwithin the Global Coordination Unit (GCU), andinclose collaboration withIndigenousPeoples and local community organization partners , theESSOfficer willbe responsible forleadingimplementation and monitoring of theEnvironmental and Social ManagementFramework(ESMF)andtheStakeholder Engagement Plan(SEP).This is a uniquecrosscuttingrolewitha strongfocus onComponent 1,supporting environmental andsocial safeguarding ofa global, Indigenous-ledinclusive conservation project that must respectIndigenous and local community partners’rightsand approaches, while ensuring implementation of GEFsafeguardingrequirements.In addition to working closely with the Indigenous Peoples and LocalCommunities’organizations in Component 1, this role will alsobe responsible foroverall projectSafeguards, including those activities under directmanagementof the GCU.

Reports to:Project Manager in GCU

Key Responsibilities

• Lead implementation ofstepsand proceduresfor ensuringWWF’s Environmental and Social SafeguardsFramework (ESSF) is fullyincorporated into all aspects of the project, including ESSimplementationas outlined in the ESMF. This includesyearly ESSscreening ofproject activities,reviewand input intoannual budget/work plans, conducting consultations with local stakeholdersasappropriate, supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ development ofadditionalsafeguards plans, and ensure thereview, approval, and disclosure of safeguard documents.
• Provide that all documents necessary to ensure full compliance with ESSinstruments, in particularthe ESMF,areprepared,implemented,regularly updated and are available to relevant stakeholders.
• Work with Component 1 partners to support their annual ESS screening and related mitigation planning, asrequired. This will require individualizedsupport to each C1 partner,as theirsub-projects, as well as cultural,politicaland environmentalcontexts, arevery different.
• Troubleshoot with Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ organizations to find creative ways to streamline ESS planning, implementation, monitoring, documentation, andreportingapproachesthat respect their organizational and cultural processes and meet GEF requirements.
• Review annual work plans and budgets and provide recommendations to ensure that sub-project activities being developed as a part of the project are designed to include avoidance of potential social and environmental risks, as recommendedin theESMF;and that where such risks are not avoidable, mitigation plans or measures are in place to minimize or mitigate these risks.
• In collaboration with the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) officer, provide overall environmental and social risk managementsupportduring the implementation of the project activities and advise theGCU in addressing the environmentaland socialissues - for example,providingrecommendations to the Project Manager to(a) safeguard the environment before, during, and after implementation of the project; (b) mitigation measures and the monitoring program.
• Conduct training on ESS (WWF, Project ESMF) for projectstaffandIndigenous Peoples and local communities’ organizationpartners, as per their self-strengthening andcollective strengthening plans.
• Participateinregular and other missions and technical visits by theGCU, and work closely with the WWF Environmental and Social Specialistsin the WWF GEF Agencyin ensuring the Project's compliance with relevant environmental and social policies.
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer to provide recommendationsto the GCU andIndigenous Peoples and local communities’ organizationpartners on howtheirproject and sub-project M&E plans could incorporate critical ESMF and SEPindicators in a streamlined way.
• Support establishment and lead implementation of an HCIgrievance redress mechanism (GRM)aligned with WWF-US’s currently existing systemto handleproject-specificcomplaints in an effective manner.
• SupportComponent 1 partners tosocialize the HCI GRM andensure thattheirsub-project GRMsareculturally appropriate as well as functional,socialized, andaccessible.
• If required,work with Component 1 partners todevelopLivelihood Restoration Plans (LRPs)that follow requirements laid out in the ESMF whileutilizinga highly participatory processthat respects their rights to self-determination and governance.
• Collaborating with the Project Manager toimplementstakeholder engagement as outlined in theGCUStakeholder Engagement Plan, and ensuring mitigation measures are in line with the Process Framework.
• Collaborate with the MEL Officer and C1 partners to designmethodologyfor the collection of relevant data for the preparation of Semi-AnnualESS reportingand provide recommendation onmonitoring and reportingforstakeholder engagement through the annual project implementation reports (PIRsand PPRs).
• Collaborate with the MEL officer and the GESI officer to develop a simple environmental, social risk monitoring check list for project staff(including data collection sheet and data management).
• Any other tasks thatarerelevant to theassignment.

• Analytical
• Reliability/follow-through
• Cross-cultural communication

Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree in Sociology,Anthropology, or relatedsocial science,ornatural resources management; advanced degree highly preferred.
• A minimum of7years relevant working experience in the field ofsocial science;
• A minimum of5years directly applicable experience working onIndigenous Peoples or local community issues – especially environmental and social safeguards, including hands-on experience inenvironmental and social safeguard planning and monitoring tool design;
• A demonstrated track record of culturally sensitive and respectful, community-centered collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and local communities;
• Familiarity with relevantinternational policies and methods for environmental and socialsafeguarding;
• Strong participatory and facilitation skills, in leading stakeholder consultations and participatory planning;
• Proven experience withqualitative andquantitativedataanalysisand tools;
• Experience in conservation or development programand project implementation. Excellent capacity to manage project planning, implementation and evaluation;
• Previousexperience with similar donor-funded project(s) is an advantage;
• Excellent command of language in Englishincluding ability to write clearly and concisely at technical level;fluency or working knowledge of Spanish, French, and/or Portuguese stronglypreferred;
• Experience working in distributed teams, ideally across multipletimezonesand cultures;
• Excellent inter-personal skills, including the ability to develop and maintain strong relationships at all levels;
• Teamwork and strong soft skills including interpersonal, ethical, listening and communication skills, proactive, problem solving, self-organizing, planning, organizing, setting priorities and efficient use of time;
• Computer literacy in MS Officerequired, with ArcGIS and/or other conservationplanning/monitoring tools and analysis software forbiodiversity, habitat, and ecosystem and its services(R, connectivity analysis, etc.)a nice-to-have;
• Willingness to travel regularly to engage with Partnersrequired.

Location

The position will be based in Brazil, Cambodia or Kenya.

If applying to work in Brazil or Kenya, applicants must be nationals currently based and legally authorized to work in Brazil or Kenya. Employment visa sponsorship and relocation are not provided for Brazil or Kenya.

If applying to work in Cambodia, nationals from South and Southeast Asian countries who are willing to relocate to Cambodia may also apply, and WWF-Cambodia may be able to support visa sponsorship and relocation costs based on available budget.

Please note: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the job's location. Position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) promotes equal employment opportunities for all qualified individuals regardless of age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.