Senior Specialist, Social Risk

South Pole is an energetic, global company offering comprehensive sustainability solutions and services. With offices spanning all continents across the globe, we strive to create a sustainable society and economy that positively impacts our climate, ecosystems and developing communities. With our solutions, we inspire and enable our customers to create value from sustainability-related activities.

Our Corporate Functions team is the “enablement engine” of South Pole. Behind the scenes, we provide the business with world-class solutions and best practices that sustain business growth and success. We cover key areas such as Finance, HR, Office Management, Legal, IT, Operations, etc. If you are a smart, ambitious and dynamic professional with a strong passion to make a real difference in the fight against climate change, the below position may be right for you!

Risk is a newly created function, which plays a central role in our organisation. The team oversees all risk aspects of the company: carbon projects, financial, people, governance, reputation, data, IT security and many others. The mandate of the team is to identify, assess, manage, mitigate, monitor and anticipate risks South Pole is or could be facing. It also defines boundaries within which South Pole teams can operate by providing guidance and recommendations and escalation procedures. The risk team has some level of independence given that the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) reports directly to the CEO and is the main counterpart of the audit and risk committee at board level.

Job summary:

The Carbon Projects Social risk role will work within the Carbon Projects Risk team to support the risk analysis of South Pole Carbon projects. The successful candidate will support the Social risk expert in assessing and managing social risks associated with our carbon projects, ensuring that our initiatives not only reduce carbon emissions but also contribute positively to the well-being of local communities.

With this role you will have the opportunity to shape our carbon offset portfolios to the highest quality and projects that deliver real emissions reductions and powerful impacts on communities and biodiversity. You will have opportunities to work alongside a passionate group of people looking to upgrade South Pole’s Carbon Project quality standards to the next level.

The role will work closely alongside other teams within the company like Climate Projects (CP), Climate Portfolio Management (CPM), Legal, Compliance and Communications.

Main tasks & responsibilities:

Support the Social risk expert in conducting social risk assessments for carbon offset projects, identifying potential social impacts and risks related to local communities, indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders.

Review (and in some cases develop) due diligence reports for selected projects, including proposed mitigation action plan

Support the Social risk expert in developing strategies and mitigation measures to address identified social risks and ensure alignment with international standards and best practices, including but not limited to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of social risk management measures throughout project lifecycle, and recommend adjustments as necessary

Provide support in developing social related procedures and guidelines for different technologies, including but not limited to land tenure guidelines, FPIC process, stakeholder mapping and engagement, benefit sharing mechanism, etc.

Provide support in revamping and designing the implementation of a new due diligence process for carbon projects

Develop training materials for carbon project manager

Provide content for communication material for external parties about South Pole’s social risk assessment framework for carbon projects in general and the results on social performance of SP for specific projects

Requirements:

Essential -

Minimum 3 years of experience working on social topics including stakeholder mapping, stakeholder consultation, free prior and informed consent, land tenure with experience on the ground for sustainability related projects.

Master's degree or higher in social sciences, environmental management, international development, or a related field.

Methodical approach to work, detail orientation, drive for continuous improvement

Proven ability to work across multiple teams and in multi-disciplinary projects

Entrepreneurial, flexible and proactive mindset, willingness to take initiative

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Fluency in English; other language skills (e.g. French, Spanish) are a plus.

Desirable -

Worked in the global south with sustainability projects.

Worked in a fast-paced company or a scale-up.

What we offer:

At South Pole, we care about our employees as much as we care about the planet. South Pole is not just an employer, we are a Team. South Pole does not just offer people a job, we offer you a career. By joining our team, you will find strong purpose and deep meaning in everything you do. You will have the chance to make a real difference for our clients and for the planet, working alongside a passionate team of like-minded colleagues, while building your knowledge/skills and developing your career in a fun, dynamic, international and fast-growing organisation.

We’re a planet of 7.5 billion unique and different people. We all have a contribution to make and South Pole is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status or disability. Our recruitment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.