Consultant for Strengthening Environmental and Social Safeguards in the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF)

The consultant will support the operationalisation and strengthening of the Environmental & Social Action Plans (ESAP) within the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) in Iraq. This includes impact assessment, development of sector-specific standards and tools, and capacity building of technical and operational teams to mitigate environmental and social risks in SMEs funded by EDF.

Responsibilities

• Conduct desk review of existing ESAP implementation processes under EDF and identify gaps and bottlenecks.
• Conduct field visits to EDF-supported businesses to assess ESAP implementation and effectiveness.
• Produce an ESAP Impact Assessment Report with findings and recommendations.
• Develop sector-specific minimum standards for ESAP plans aligned with ESMF guidelines and Iraqi legislation.
• Develop guidance, monitoring tools, and templates for ESAP compliance assessment.
• Validate research findings and proposed amendments through consultation with EDF technical and operational staff.
• Design and deliver Training of Trainers (ToT) programme for EDF Technical Team on ESAP implementation.
• Train EDF operational field teams on updated SOPs, tools, and guidelines.
• Accompany EDF operational teams in field implementation and provide feedback.

Requirements

• University degree in Environment Engineering, Environmental Sciences/ Environmental Studies or at least 5 years relevant working experience.
• Must have prior experience of working with Environmental & Social Management Framework (ESMF)’s in a humanitarian context.
• Familiarity with the Iraq context and experience working in Iraq is highly desirable.
• Familiarity and/or experience with livelihoods, SME development or economic recovery programming is desirable.
• Strong writing and research design skills, with the ability to express and report results in a concise and clear manner to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Fluency in English is essential, and working proficiency in Arabic and/or Kurdish is highly desirable.
• Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Skills

• Environmental Engineering
• Environmental Sciences
• Environmental Social Management Framework
• Humanitarian Environmental Safeguards
• Impact Assessment Design
• Sector-specific Standards Development
• Capacity Building
• Environmental Risk Mitigation
• Social Risk Management
• SMEs Development
• Economic Recovery Programming
• Research Design
• Technical Report Preparation
• English Language Proficiency
• Arabic Proficiency
• Kurdish Proficiency

Languages

English, Arabic, Kurdish