The EIB, the European Union’s bank, is seeking to recruit for its Projects Directorate (PJ), Environment & Natural Resources Department (ENR) – Bio-economy Division (BIOEC) at its headquarters in Luxembourg, a (Senior) Bio-economy Sector Specialist*

This is a full time position at grade 5/6 for which the EIB offers a permanent contract.

Panel interviews are anticipated for beginning/mid of November.

*internal benchmark: (Senior) Sector Engineer

The EIB is the “EU Climate Bank”, having as goal to provide climate finance that supports the European Green Deal and to help make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050. As a result, the Bank, which provides long-term investment financing, needs to pay increasing attention to long-term climate and environmental aspects of projects it finances. The Projects Directorate’s sector experts are in charge of ensuring the quality of projects financed by the Bank and play an important role in assessing and shaping relevant aspects of projects be they on climate, environment or other social, financial and economic aspects. In this context, the Projects Directorate is seeking to strengthen its Environment and Natural Resources department with a (Senior) Bio-Economy Sector Specialist.

Purpose

The (Senior) Bio-Economy Sector Specialist will work within a multi-disciplinary team and in close cooperation with the Lending Directorate and other services of the Bank on the overall appraisal of investment proposals in the relevant sectors of responsibility and in accordance with Bank procedures, standards and requirements.

In particular, the Bio-Economy Specialist will assess and monitor the long-term technical, financial and economic viability of capital investment projects and programmes located in the EU and globally in the EIB countries of operation. S/he may also be exposed to the preparation of projects, giving advice and mobilising technical assistance where required.

The areas of activity of the Bio-Economy Division include virtually all the phases of the agriculture and forestry value chain: the primary sector (mainly agri-food and production and processing, forest industries and bio-based industries), the broader bioeconomy sector including RDI related to production, harvest and transformation of biomass and innovative inputs such as alternative new agricultural inputs and seeds, including renewable fertilizers.

Operating Network

You will report to the Head of the Bio-Economy Division and work within a multi-disciplinary team with other professional staff in the Projects (PJ) Directorate and in close cooperation with the Lending Directorates and other services of the Bank on the overall appraisal of financing proposals in accordance with EIB procedures, assessing and monitoring the long-term, technical, environmental, financial and economic viability of investment projects and programmes located both inside and outside the EU.

You will be required to travel to project locations within and out of the EU (normally short trips of up to a week depending on the project location).

In order to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of outputs and responses demanded from the various internal and external counterparts, the post requires strong organizational, relationship and communication skills.

Accountabilities

As a (Senior) Bio-economy Sector Specialist you will:

• Identify and screen new projects and contribute to all the relevant aspects of project assessment.
• Assess the techno-economic and operational viability, of projects and programmes in the countries in which the Bank operates.
• Draft reports summarizing the relevant aspects of the investment proposals for Bank lending for supporting the approval by the EIB governing bodies.
• Monitor approved operations during the implementation stage, including through deployment of external consultants.
• Continuously update technical expertise in key areas such as innovative value chain developments, agro-industry processing technologies, biomass cascading and food loss/waste reduction and other environmental sustainability aspects related to the bio-economy sector, and contribute to knowledge exchanges at various levels as required.
• Follow regional and global technology, market and policy developments in defined sectors such as agro-food/forest value chains, process engineering, regional and rural development, as well as horizontal policies concerning Bioeconomy and the wider Rural Development and Innovation environment.
• Contribute to sector studies, lending policy papers and other analyses in support of the Bioeconomy Division and wider Bank activities as required.

Qualifications

• University degree (minimum an equivalent to a Bachelor) in a relevant Engineering discipline (e.g. agriculture, forestry, bio-based and/or food processing or chemical or process Engineering) or closely related field;
• A minimum of 5 years relevant industry, research or consultancy experience including preparation and screening of feasibility and market studies, assessment of company strategies, profitability and risk analysis in a relevant sector.
• A post graduate degree, such as an MBA or a PhD in a relevant sector of responsibility would be considered as an asset.
• Proven knowledge or direct experience of any of the following would represent an advantage:
  • Work experience outside the EU in implementation of development projects and policies
  • Research and Development.
  • Procurement of larger CAPEX investments in the private and/or public sectors.
  • Mobilising/managing consultancy assignments.
  • Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.
  • Agriculture value chain and Farm/rural infrastructure.
• Solid IT (standard Office tools, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and writing skills.
• Excellent knowledge of English and/or French (*), with a good knowledge of the other. (Knowledge of other EU languages would be an advantage).

Competencies

Find out more about EIB core competencies here

(*) Unless stated explicitly as a required qualification, a good command of French is not a pre-requisite for hire. As both English and French are however official working languages of the EIB, proficiency in both languages is a pre-requisite for your future career development. Any language clause in your contract must be fulfilled in order for you to be eligible for a promotion (either via the annual appraisal cycle or via an internal selection process). Proficiency is understood to mean the attainment of level 5 of the Inter Institutional language courses, corresponding to B1.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). The Bank offers appropriate training support.

We are an equal opportunities employer, who believes that diversity is good for our people and our business. We encourage all suitably qualified and eligible candidates to apply regardless of their gender identity/expression, age, racial, ethnic and cultural background, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation/identity, disability or neurodiversity.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact the EIB Recruitment team [email protected] who will ensure that your request is handled.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge the importance of maintaining the security and integrity of the Information of the EIB Group. In case of selection for the position you agree to comply with all measures (policies, controls, document classification and management) implemented by the EIB Group to prevent unauthorised disclosure of any information or any damage to the EIB Group reputation.

Deadline for applications: 20^th October 2023

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