The Conservation Tourism Environment & Social Officer (E&S Officer) shall be primarily responsible for implementing the ACCT Fund’s Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) as part of TNC’s conservation advisory services to the ACCT Fund. This includes working closely with the Fund’s portfolio of tourism operators to ensure that E&S principles are integrated appropriately into the governance and day-to-day decision making of the Fund to help deliver environmental and social outcomes. In addition, they will be responsible for developing, implementing and reporting on detailed environmental and social risk management and monitoring processes to key cornerstone investors and ensuring that any potential investment would meet the environmental and social risk requirements over the life of the investment. The E&S Officer will work closely with tourism operators, TNC’s local country programs in the target geographies, ThirdWay Partners, and the third-party investment management team.  They will report to the Conservation Tourism Manager on TNC’s NatureVest team. This position will ideally be based at the TNC Regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, but other locations in Africa where TNC has existing projects may be considered.

 

The E&S Officer shall manage all aspects of TNC’s conservation advisory services to the ACCT Fund related to the ESMS. In this capacity, the E&S Officer shall be responsible for conducting detailed environmental, conservation and socio-economic diligence on conservation tourism companies. This shall include leading detailed desktop and onsite diligence related to environmental and social matters on tourism companies under consideration to receive investment from the Fund. For existing investments in the portfolio, this shall include ongoing monitoring, such as on-site meetings and review of the operators’ environmental and social performance against the benchmarks set by the Fund, and regular evaluation of each company’s efforts to manage any environmental and/or social risks identified during review.

The E&S officer shall support the Conservation Tourism Manager to develop detailed written recommendations to the Fund’s Conservation Committee outlining (i) whether a conservation tourism company meets the Fund’s conservation and E&S criteria, (ii) what mitigation measures may need to be implemented to adequately address identified E&S risks and impacts, (iii) what outcomes (impact metrics) each conservation tourism company should seek to achieve over the life of their loan, and (iv) what conservation/E&S covenants should be put in place to hold the tourism companies accountable to these impact metrics. The role  will also work closely with the Conservation Tourism Manager and key cornerstone investors to review and amend the ESMS as needed during the term of the Fund based on lessons learned and incorporate any new developments in global trends in this area.

They shall also be responsible for preparing regular summary performance reports to the Fund’s Conservation Committee and its investors and support the  Conservation Tourism Manager in coordinating the Conservation Committee’s meetings, developing any necessary materials (including the conservation recommendation memos) in advance of those meetings, and providing any necessary follow-up to the Conservation Committee.

 

• Undertakes detailed conservation, environmental and social diligence (assessment) on selected tourism operators in eastern and southern Africa.
• For new investments, prepares summary recommendations to the Conservation Tourism Manager on the environmental, conservation and social impact potential of a given investment based on the results of their diligence processes and the overall impact objectives of the ACCT Fund.
• Supports the Conservation Tourism Manager in preparing detailed recommendations to the Conservation Committee for environmental and social activities to be undertaken by tourism operators, including specific environmental and social impact criteria for investments on a case-by-case basis, in formal memoranda.
• Works with the tourism operators and third-party investment manager to ensure that appropriate environmental and social considerations, including covenants, are incorporated into loan agreements for each operator.
• Monitors on a bi-annual basis the impact of the environmental and social activities being undertaken by tourism operators receiving investment from the Fund, assesses performance against targeted Fund benchmarks and monitoring and mitigation plans, and details that assessment in formal memoranda.
• Monitors as necessary the environmental and social risk profile of the companies that have received investment from the Fund and works closely with cornerstone investors to meet their risk and outcome reporting needs.
• Provides technical guidance and assistance on E&S issues to the Conservation Tourism Manager, the Conservation Committee and tourism operators receiving investment from the Fund.
• Reviews, and if necessary, revises E&S guidelines each year in coordination with the Conservation Tourism Manager, the Conservation Committee, the third-party investment manager and related investors.
• Works closely with TNC Africa staff and/or other key partners, as necessary, to identify opportunities where the diligence process and any targeted impact requirements may be designed to advance TNC’s existing priorities in the region.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% both domestically and internationally, and to work on occasional weekends and/or evenings.