ESG Community Manager - Spekboom Restoration Project

About the role

NatCarbon Africa, a mission-driven African organisation implementing large-scale carbon, climate and biodiversity projects, is looking for an ESG Community Manager for its Spekboom Restoration Project in the Eastern and Western Cape. The project aims to restore up to 100,000 hectares of degraded subtropical thicket biome by planting Spekboom on privately owned land, improving ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, soil filtration and water storage, and storing large amounts of CO2. The manager reports to the Community Enterprise Project Manager and leads planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting of all environmental, social and governance requirements, ensuring compliance with Verra CCB, SIZA and other ESG obligations.

Key responsibilities

• Align project activities with corporate sustainability objectives and international ESG best practice, and coordinate cross-functional teams
• Support ESG governance, safeguarding and security risk assessments, and identify compliance risks and mitigation measures
• Develop and run the ESG management system, collect and analyse ESG data, and prepare periodic ESG reports and track social KPIs
• Coordinate social surveys, baseline studies, independent social impact assessments and community benefit monitoring
• Coordinate interactions with auditors and verification bodies, manage non-conformities and demonstrate net positive community impacts under Verra CCB standards
• Lead SIZA certification, including audit readiness of SMMEs and corrective action plans
• Design stakeholder engagement strategies, facilitate FPIC, manage grievance mechanisms and hold stakeholder consultations
• Run training needs analysis for SMMEs and workers, deliver ESG awareness training and support learnership opportunities

Required profile

• Strong organisational and project management skills, able to handle multiple tasks at once
• Excellent communication, facilitation, negotiation and conflict resolution skills
• Cultural sensitivity and ability to work in diverse community settings
• Willingness to travel within the Eastern and Western Cape, including to remote locations, and to work irregular hours, sometimes on weekends or holidays

Required skills

• Microsoft Office Suite
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and of standards and auditing requirements
• Analytical mindset and ability to interpret data and write reports