Job/Fellowship with the Inter-American Development Bank

Research Fellow Description

Background:
The Bank is implementing the “Sustainability Initiative” which seeks to establish the foundations for implementing the new Environment and Safeguards Compliance Policy and Management’s commitment to the Blue Ribbon Panel Recommendations. This includes improving the Bank’s in-house sustainability efforts. To that end in 2007 the Bank launched the Greening of the Bank initiative which includes a series of activities to make the IDB a more environmentally responsible steward and to encourage staff to play an active role in greening both at work and at home. More specifically the initiative includes actions to calculate, reduce and offset the IDB’s carbon footprint and looking at more sustainable commuting options for IDB staff, as well as encouraging reducing Bank-wide mission travel.

Education:

o Master’s Degree or equivalent with emphasis on development issues, ideally with a focus on environmental sustainability, or practical experience implementing greening programs in a facilities management environment.

Experience:

o A minimum of two years work experience working in an environmental/sustainability field;
o Understanding of sustainability and corporate social responsibility issues facing large organizations;
o Understanding/ experience of implementing greening programs;
o Understanding/ experience of implementing carbon neutral strategies;
o Knowledge of Greenhouse Gas Protocol or comparable GHG management methodologies, calculations and emission factors;
o Excellent organizational skills;
o Experience collecting data and collating in Excel format;
o Ability to work independently and resourcefully to meet multiple work demands, while adjusting to shifting priorities;
o Communication skills - comfortable talking to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders;
o Ability to work under pressure in a multitasking environment, acting with a sense of urgency to meet the objectives;
o Enthusiasm, energy, creativity and initiative.

Languages:

o Full proficiency in Spanish and English.

Activities:

Carbon Neutral /Footprint Activities

o Technical development, coordination of and improvements to the Bank wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory and GHG Inventory Management Plan, based on the technical support and guidance of the EPA’s Climate Leaders program.
o Liaison with relevant divisions and departments at HQ to institutionalize the process of collecting, calculating, and maintaining a high-quality inventory; developing a strategy to and coordinating the adoption of an aggressive corporate-wide GHG emission reduction goal to be achieved by the Bank over the next 5 to 10 years.
o Liaison with country offices piloting greening initiatives to identify opportunities to implement new measures to reduce their “footprint”;

Coordination of Greening the Bank program:

· Implementation of the Banks Greening the Bank action plan which includes development of activities related (but not limited) to:

· Energy and resource efficiency (green build);
1 Recycling programs;
2 Greening printing and publications;
3 Greening cafeteria and food services;
4 Responsible travel (business travel and commuting);
5 Sustainable corporate procurement;
6 Green educational materials, events and expos.
Other facilities management, research or organizational tasks as needed.

Reporting Structure:
This position will be located within the IDB Facilities Management Unit