Senior Associate - Senior Associate - Environment, Health & Safety and Sustainability

Location

Chennai | India

Job description

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Northern Arc Capital Limited operates with the vision to be a trusted platform that enables the flow of finance from capital providers to users in a reliable and responsible manner. Our mission is to enable access to finance for the underbanked in an efficient, scalable and reliable manner.

As a leading player among India's NBFCs, its business model is diversified across offerings, sectors, products, geographies, and borrower segments. It's proprietary integrated technology system called Nimbus and its risk management framework enable it to offer a diversified product suite, efficiently at scale.

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JOB DESCRIPTION

The Environment, Health & Safety and Sustainability (ESHS) Officer's primary role is to (A) develop and maintain environmental, social, health, and safety management system at the organisational level to ensure compliance with occupational health and safety, social and environmental laws, procedures, guidelines and specifications as well as to meet international standards; (B) mitigate environmental, social, health, and safety risks at the portfolio level inter alia, by (a) conducting due diligence in consideration of the IFC Performance Standards and other standards to identify and assess the environmental, social, health, and safety risks of the operations, (b) recommend action plans to mitigate such risks and (c) monitor implementation of such action plans; and (C) assist in integration of environment and social governance framework in decision making processes, impact measurement and reporting with a focus on protecting stakeholder value and creating long term value. . He/she will work closely with the relevant business teams. The successful candidate would:

• During due diligence, assess gaps against Northern Arc's ESHS requirements / policies and identify opportunities for value addition.
• Appoint and manage specialist consultants, including for complex ESHS due diligence and / or monitoring.
• Contribute to the evaluation of investment proposals, including via credit committee papers and meetings.
• Support in negotiations with portfolio companies to ensure that ESHS rights are embedded in legal agreements, including ESHS action plans (where appropriate).
• Post-investment, work with investees to improve their ESHS management systems, policies and procedures, including the implementation of ESHS action plans (where relevant).
• Regularly monitor investee compliance with Northern Arc's ESHS requirements and policies, including the implementation of agreed action plans and/or by attendance of ESHS sub- committees of boards (as required).
• Contribute to the delivery of ESHS training, both for internal teams and for investees.
• Mentoring and working with more junior team members.
• Represent Northern Arc with external stakeholders, including limited partners and at responsible investment conferences.
• Work on ad hoc projects. For instance, external communications on ESHS, such as an annual ESHS report and case studies highlighting ESHS value addition.
• Establish and track key ESG and EHS performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress towards sustainability.
• Annual Disclosure of ESG Performance and Impact Reporting.
• Ensure compliance with environmental regulations, if applicable.
• Provide strategic direction and leadership on the policies and approach of the organization's ESG journey.
• Perform research and prepare guidance on ESG priority topics, as needed.
• Actively provide recommendations and opinions on discussion papers and draft policies on ESG topics published by statutory bodies.

Qualifications

• Advanced university degree (masters or equivalent) in a relevant discipline, preferably environmental engineering, environmental or social studies; development studies / development finance; or a similar area.
• Sustainability and Climate Risk Certification is desirable.

Experience:  

1-4 years of work experience in a related field (relevant sector, ESHS and / or sustainability etc.), preferably within ESHS consulting, development finance or private equity / the wider investment industry.

Personal Skills:

• Strong communication skills, including report writing (use of PowerPoint and diagrams to present information in a concise format) and oral communication.
• Effective negotiation skills, including the ability to be persuasive as well as to listen and pragmatically identify when compromise is required.
• Highly motivated and results driven.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent logical reasoning and structure in thought and communications.
• Proven ability to mentor and grow the skills of team members.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage and prioritise a busy and diverse workload with a range of deliverables for a variety of stakeholders.
• Enjoy working as part of a team, collaborating and coordinating where appropriate.
• Good judgement and attention to detail.

Technical Skills:

• Adapt for a fund with a particular sectoral profile or to emphasise a preference for a particular environmental and/or social skillset.
• Knowledge of relevant sectors and ESHS issues – Required.
• Insight into the challenges associated with implementing E&S improvements in our markets – Required.
• Understanding and experience of climate and sustainability reporting framework and guidelines (e.g. GRI, TCFD, SASB, IR, BRSR etc.) - Required
• Understanding of ESG Scoring Framework - Required
• Experience in application of the IFC Performance Standards across multiple sectors – Required.
• Experience in ESG integration, impact measurement and reporting – Required.
• Familiarity with environmental and social impact assessments, environmental monitoring assessments, and related activities – Required.
• Familiarity with the World Bank's EHS Guidelines and / or similar standards – Desirable.
• Experience in analysing the ESHS management systems of companies – Desirable.

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