The EIB, the European Union’s bank is seeking to recruit for its Projects Directorate (PJ), Sustainability & Quality Management Department (SQM), Environment, Climate & Social Office Division (ECSO), Social Policy Unit (SPU) at its headquarters in Luxembourg, a (Senior) Social & Gender Innovation and Impact Specialist*

*internal benchmark: (Senior) Officer

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

Final Panel interviews are anticipated for December 2023.

The Projects Directorate (PJ) appraises and monitors projects, assessing their economic, environmental, social and technical sustainability and their compliance with EU and EIB sector policies. It also provides advice to promoters on the preparation and implementation of projects, either directly or through external consultants. The EIB aims to add value by enhancing the environmental and social sustainability of all the projects that it is financing and all such projects must comply with the environmental and social requirements of the Bank.

The Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO) with its climate, environment and social policy units leads the development of the Bank’s climate, environmental and social policies and their mainstreaming through the Bank’s activities. This includes the definition of strategic orientations in these fields, as well as support for their implementation and mainstreaming throughout the Bank’s activities through the development of methodologies, reporting, knowledge management and other tools as well as operational support.

The Social Policy Unit (SPU) leads EIB’s work on social risk, sustainability and inclusion. This encompasses both rights-based risk management frameworks and processes (“social due diligence”) as well as various areas of social inclusion including gender equality and women’s empowerment, fragility and conflict sensitivity, migration and forced displacement and broader aspects of social inclusion. Across all these, the respect and protection of human rights is central to the EIB’s interpretation of social sustainability and human well-being, and ECSO follows their integration in the EIB’s social standards and the subsequent application of social due diligence.

Purpose

The (Senior) Social & Gender Innovation and Impact Specialist will actively contribute to the advancement of the Bank’s approach to social risk, social inclusion and gender equality results monitoring and impact measurement and advise on the development of socially inclusive innovative approaches and products. S/he will further oversee the Bank’s work related to the implementation of the upcoming Social Sustainability and Inclusion Framework which will integrate existing social policies under one coherent framework. S/he will also contribute to the further mainstreaming of the social inclusion agenda within the EIB portfolio and products (e.g. EIB’s piloting work around Results-Based Lending).

Operating Network

As part of a team of social development specialists, the selected candidate will report to the Head of Social Policy Unit. S/he will work in close contact with other teams in the Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO), the Projects Directorate (PJ) as well as with other Directorates, in particular the Operations, EIB Global and General Secretariat Directorate. This is also in line with ECSO’s vision to work in an integrated and holistic manner and use the synergies within the ECSO team and across PJ and other EIB teams, whenever possible.

ECSO/SPU social development specialists also provide support to project teams both in the fields of social due diligence and social inclusion/gender equality depending on their particular expertise and the complexity of the EIB investment. These work streams are complemented by the development and organisation of training and awareness raising events, as part of ECSO’s Knowledge Sharing Programme.

Accountabilities

Policy & Procedures Work:

Lead the further development of EIB’s work on social risk, social inclusion and gender equality monitoring, results and impact measurement:

• Develop EIB’s results and impact indicators for social risks, social inclusion and gender equality aspects in operations and advisory assignments, including as relevant environment and climate;
• Work closely with colleagues in the PJ/SQM/Impact Division, Inspectorate General Evaluation Division (IG/EV) and across EIB to enable integration in EIB’s corporate systems, aggregation, tracking, monitoring and evaluability of various social outcome and impacts in line with the Social Sustainability and Inclusion Framework approach;
• Advance EIB practices on the collection/estimation of disaggregated data on employment and project beneficiaries;
• Manage EIB’s quantitative reporting and analytics as it relates to social risks, social inclusion and gender equality (e.g. ESG reporting, SDG reporting, 2X Challenge reporting).

Operational work:

In close collaboration with Operations and EIB Global, develop innovative approaches and products in support of social inclusion and gender equality:

• Develop further EIB’s approach to social inclusion and gender equality within the context of its new results-based lending product;
• Develop new approaches that enable the EIB to better target specific groups of people to enhance the Bank’s positive impact on social inclusion and gender equality, including related Key Performance Indicators with a view of having a standardised approach to this thematic area;
• Explore together with EIB Global and the Operations Directorate the development of financial and non-financial incentives for social inclusion and gender equality outcomes complementing EIB products and seek required financial resources from potential donors;
• Support the implementation of a gender window under the Bank’s Sustainability Awareness Bonds.

Partnerships and Knowledge Management:

• Build relevant internal and external partnerships with MDBs, UN agencies and other relevant parties to advance EIB’s gender and social inclusion impact measurement and indicators work;
• Input in or organise specific learning activities to enhance knowledge and capacity of EIB’s staff regarding social risk and social inclusion results and impact measurement, as part of the Bank’s Knowledge Sharing Programme;
• Prepare briefings and related analysis on social risks, social inclusion and gender equality as required.

Qualifications

• University degree (minimum an equivalent to a Bachelor) preferably in statistics, political sciences, development studies, economics, sociology, anthropology or another relevant discipline;
• At least 5 years of recent and relevant professional experience within an international development and/or financial institution, consultancy firm, fund, or corporate;
• Expert knowledge of social inclusion and social development such as in the thematic areas of migration and forced displacement, gender equality and women’s empowerment, social dimensions of climate change, youth inclusion etc.;
• Sound knowledge of social and gender results and impact measurement methodologies and approaches;
• Expert knowledge of social due diligence frameworks, processes and tools and their application in a project/programme funding context would be an advantage;
• Experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders, including international financial institutions, governments and civil society would be an advantage ;
• Excellent data analysis and data management skills with a practical approach to problem solving and knowledge of relevant digital tools would be an advantage;
• Experience of operating in diverse and challenging international environments, including those of developing countries would be an advantage;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills;
• Excellent knowledge of English and/or French (*), with a good command 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: 23^rd November 2023

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