Job Description
The Climate and Nature Specialist is responsible for providing technical and operational support on climate finance, climate policy, and green investment across DBSA sectors. The role assists in mobilising climate and nature finance from global mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and other climate and nature financing mechanisms. This position contributes to embedding climate and nature considerations into DBSA’s operations and supports the achievement of the Bank’s climate and nature finance targets.
Key Responsibilities
Climate Finance Advisory & Mobilisation
- Provide advisory support on GEF/GCF climate finance processes and opportunities.
- Assist in identifying co-financing opportunities leveraging GEF/GCF funding.
- Support partnerships with internal lending units, DFIs, and private investors to expand access to climate finance.
- Contribute to advisory work on adaptation and mitigation financing mechanisms.
- Assist in preparation of policy submissions to GEF/GCF, UNFCCC mechanisms, and other fora.
- Support DBSA’s representation at climate finance meetings by preparing briefing notes and key messages.
- Provide technical input on national and international climate policy, including NDC implementation.
Project Appraisal and Portfolio Support
- Support appraisal and monitoring of climate finance projects, ensuring compliance with safeguards and accreditation requirements.
- Assist executing agencies with procurement, reporting, and documentation for GEF/GCF projects.
- Prepare technical inputs for project documentation, supervision missions, and evaluations.
Stakeholder Management
- Build and maintain working relationships with clients, partners, and government officials to support project preparation.
- Support partnerships and networking initiatives that strengthen DBSA’s climate finance positioning.
- Liaise with investment peers to contribute to pipeline development.
- Represent DBSA in technical working groups and industry engagements.
Reporting and Governance
- Draft accurate and timely reports to GEF, GCF, and other climate finance sources in line with accreditation, fiduciary, and safeguard requirements.
- Support the management, administration, and operationalisation of DBSA-accredited climate funds, systems, and reporting frameworks.
- Maintain essential documentation, data integrity, and audit-ready records across the climate finance portfolio.
- Implement and refine reporting formats, portfolio dashboards, and decision-support tools to strengthen climate investment oversight and management.
Key Measurement of Outputs
- Number of opportunities identified and supported.
- Contribution to programmes developed and capitalised through climate and nature funds.
- Value of bankable projects supported.
- Percentage greening of loan book influenced by specialist inputs.
- Quality of stakeholder relationships maintained.
- Contribution to team performance and knowledge transfer.
Expertise & Technical Competencies
Minimum Qualification
- A Bachelors Degree in Environmental/Natural Sciences, Engineering, Finance, Commerce, Economics or a relevant field.
Minimum Experience
- A minimum of 8 years’ experience in the climate and nature/environmental sector or the financial/DFI/development sector with a focus on Climate and Nature Financing or project development for energy, water or transport, including the technical and financial aspects of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and investments.
- Experience in climate change adaptation, nature-based solutions, resilience or mitigation.
- Experience in renewable energy, energy efficiency, water security, sustainable transport, or related low-carbon sectors
- Proven expertise in climate & nature metrics and GHG accounting tools.
- Understanding of GEF/GCF operations, climate and nature definitions, eligibility criteria, and fiduciary standards.
- Knowledge of climate-related markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and international best practices.
- Experience engaging senior executives in government, DFIs, the private sector, and DFI/financial institutions.
- Track record in client relationship management and transaction execution.
Desirable Requirements
- A Master’s in Environmental Science related qualification, an MBA or a relevant master’s degree.
- Experience in policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement on climate issues.
TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES
Business Acumen
- Reviews own actions against the organisation’s strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects, or thinks about long-term applications of current activities.
- Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation.
- Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations.
- Deep understanding of DBSA economic priorities and how they can be implemented to meet DBSA’s strategic objectives.
- Deep understanding of DBSA’s core sector role in achieving DBSA’s strategic objectives.
- Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations.
Project Preparation
- Demonstrates a sound understanding of limited recourse and balance sheet funding, the process required to prepare projects, and financing documentation required to present projects for investment decisions.
- Leads an internal team of sector specialists and analysts to appraise and present transactions to internal committees.
- Appoints and leads a team of external consultants/advisors (technical, environmental, financial and legal) to prepare and present the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) to prospective financiers.
- Analyses sponsors’ financial statements, understands and reviews financial models.
- Demonstrates a sound understanding of the water, transport and energy sectors to identify potential fatal flaws generally associated with these sectors in projects presented and key risks to be mitigated.
Project Management
- Ability to plan, initiate, execute, control and close projects related to a relevant function as well as to track and manage resources, timelines, costs, deliverables and performance, and implement contingency plans, if necessary, to ensure projects are completed.
- Defines, plans and manages large and/or strategic projects, including those with a high degree of technical complexity, with impacts across the organisation and/or with national implications.
- Assembles and leads diverse and multidisciplinary teams, ensuring maximum effective resource utilisation.
- Successfully manages substantial project budgets and reports directly to senior managers on the progress and results of projects.
- Identifies complex issues that need escalation and proposes appropriate corrective action by maintaining a respected profile with relevant external organisations and the research community in general.
Solutions Focused
- Identifies complex problems based on a broad range of factors, many of which are ambiguous or difficult to define.
- While remaining guided by organisational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first in terms of possible approaches and flexibilities in the system vs. blind adherence to rules or procedures.
- Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions after they have been implemented and identifies needed changes.
Planning and Organising
- Coaches others on advanced planning and organising skills.
- Plays a role in transferring advanced planning and organising skills and knowledge to others.
- Identifies and acts on opportunities to partner with other units in the department to achieve desired results.
- Develops partnership agreements that ensure winwin outcomes for all parties.
- Develops integrated plans for the work unit and others that interface with the function’s budget.
- Uses advanced time management processes to deal with a high workload and tight deadlines.
- Organises, prioritises and schedules tasks so they can be performed within budget and with the efficient use of time and resources.
- Achieves goals promptly, despite obstacles encountered, by organising, reprioritising and replanning
Detail-oriented
- Quickly identifies relevant and irrelevant information to support accurate decision making.
- Maps out all the logistics and details of a situation to ensure smooth and flawless implementation.
- Consistently identifies all relevant details that are not obvious in complex situations.
- Requires the highest standards for accuracy and quality for their work.
- Establishes processes to ensure accuracy and quality of services delivered by the team.
Reporting & Communication
- Designs, reviews and improves reporting processes and provides guidance.
- Leads production of complex environment reports, takes an editorial role, determines content and level of detail, and ensures consistent messaging and branding.
- Is relied on by others to help them write complex technical and non-technical documents and briefs.
- Can determine which aspects of this knowledge area need to be transferred to others to achieve organisational goals.
- Coaches others and transfers communication skills and knowledge to others.
- Able to communicate complex problems or concepts by making them simple and understandable for others.
- Adapts language to the level of the audience to ensure that the message has a positive impact and is interesting to the audience.
- Is articulate, demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary, and is confident when talking to large/high-level audiences.
Presentation Skills
- Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter, etc.).
- Knows various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.
*The KPA’s, competencies and relationships listed in this document are not exhaustive, and the incumbent will be expected to undertake additional duties within their capacity to meet the needs of business and/or the business unit.
Required Personal Attributes
BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES
Customer Service Orientation
- Tries to understand the underlying needs of customers and matches these needs to available or customised products and services.
- Adapts processes and procedures to meet ongoing customer needs.
- Utilises the feedback received by customers to develop new and/or improve existing services/products that relate to their ongoing needs.
- Thinks of new ways to align offerings with future customer needs.
Self-Awareness and Self-Control
- Withholds the effects of strong emotions in difficult situations.
- Keeps functioning or responds constructively despite stress.
- May apply special techniques or a plan of time to manage emotions or stress.
Strategic and Innovative Thinking
- Experiments with new approaches, tests scenarios, questions assumptions and challenges conventional thinking.
- Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others, leveraging internal and external sources of information, to build incremental revenue and growth opportunities.
Driving Delivery of Results
- Sets challenging goals that will have a significant impact on the business or support the organisational strategy.
- Commits significant resources and/or time to ensure that challenging goals are achieved, while also taking action to mitigate risk.
Teamwork and Cooperation
- Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale and resolves conflicts.
- Creates opportunities for cross-functional working.
- Encourages others to network outside of their team/department and learn from their experience.
