Senior Climate Change Specialist

OVERVIEW

Business Unit:

Operations Complex – Global Practices and Partnerships Directorate

Department:

Resilience & Climate Action

Division/Section:

Climate Change and Environment

Country:

Saudi Arabia

Location:

IsDB, HQ Jeddah

Job Grade:

E3

Contract Type:

Fixed Term

Closing Date:

30-Oct-2026

JOB PURPOSE

To provide senior-level technical and professional expertise in delivering IsDB’s climate action and green growth, sustainability agenda across mitigation, adaptation and resilience, nature-based solutions and to support the Bank in raising the development impact of its operations. Participate as a core team member in the identification, preparation, appraisal and implementation support of projects and programmes – including climate risk screening, GHG accounting, climate finance qualification and Paris alignment assessment – and support the mainstreaming of climate and environmental considerations through the Bank’s systems, policies and standards, including the Environmental and Social Framework and the sustainable finance architecture. Support Member Countries in implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans, long-term low-emission development strategies and net-zero pathways. Contribute to business development in collaboration with Regional hubs, the mobilization of concessional and vertical-fund climate finance through bilateral and multilateral partners, and to knowledge generation, capacity development, partnership building and results reporting on the Bank’s climate portfolio. Coordinate the work of consultants and less experienced team members and review their deliverables.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategic and Operational Planning and Implementation:

• Contribute to the development of strategic plans, analytics, guidance notes and other products related to climate mitigation, adaptation and environmental sustainability within the Climate Change and Environment Division and jointly with other Global Practices and Regional Hubs in the Operations Complex.
• Take part in project identification, appraisal, design, processing and approval as a team member along with the relevant Regional Hub. Lead the provision of input on climate change aspects, including physical and transition climate risk screening, GHG accounting, identification of adaptation and mitigation measures, alignment with Just transition Framework, and climate co-benefit and climate finance qualification.
• Support the Bank’s alignment with the Paris Agreement in line with the joint MDB Paris Alignment framework, in particular Building Blocks 1 (mitigation alignment) and 2 (adaptation and climate-resilient operations), and support the consistent application of the agreed assessment methods by project teams.
• Support the interface between the climate agenda and the Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards (ESS1–ESS10), including on climate-related aspects of environmental and social risk screening, resource efficiency and pollution prevention, biodiversity and nature-based solutions, and contribute to the roll-out, benchmarking and capacity building of the Environmental and Social Framework.
• Co-lead Communities of Practice (CoP) in selected sectors on climate mitigation and adaptation, which entails providing technical leadership on positioning the Global Practice internally and externally in relation to climate change and environment, including participation in MDB Working Groups.
• Contribute to the delivery of selected global engagement products on climate mitigation and adaptation and, when needed, directly lead and participate in country dialogues and deliverables (such as NDC and LTS support, NAPs, and national drought resilience plans), in addition to capacity building workshops in Member Countries.

Climate Finance and Sustainable Finance:

• Support the achievement of the Bank’s corporate climate finance target, including its adaptation finance ambition, across Global Practices and Regional Hubs. With the Global Practice and Operations Task Leaders in the Regional Hubs, keep track of commitments and report to and advise the Bank on progress in meeting the target, on portfolio composition and on adjustments required.
• Apply the joint MDB methodologies for tracking climate change mitigation and adaptation finance, and ensure consistent, defensible and well-documented classification of climate finance in Bank operations.
• Support the operationalization and management of the Physical Climate Risk Management System (PCRMS) of the Bank for various sectors. With support from the Division and regional focal points, ensure the implementation of best practice in climate adaptation and resilience measures in projects across sectors, including nature-based solutions, and support the development and use of operational guidance notes for project teams to incorporate appropriate adaptation and resilience measures in their projects.
• Contribute to articulating the Bank’s distinctive Islamic finance offer for climate action, including blended and Shari’ah-compliant instruments, Takaful-based risk transfer and Maqasid al-Shari’ah framing, in operations, knowledge products and external engagement.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Capacity Development:

• Contribute to identifying, assessing and monitoring the capacity development needs of internal stakeholders across the IsDB Group and the Regional Hubs, as well as of relevant external partners, with the aim of designing and administering relevant capacity development interventions.
• Support the development and administration of technical assistance (TA) grants, training programmes and learning content for climate capacity development within the Bank and in Member Countries.

Resource Mobilization and Strategic Partnership:

• Contribute to the Division’s engagement with international bilateral and multilateral climate finance institutions, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the Climate Investment Funds, the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), the NDC Partnership and coordinate fundraising for the relevant IsDB climate tagged projects.
• Prepare and quality-assure concept notes, funding proposals, project preparation facility applications, budgets, procurement plans and terms of reference for submission to vertical or bilateral climate funds, including the case for concessionality and the delineation between Bank and fund financing on a baseline versus incremental transformational basis. In addition, prepare approach papers, reports and statements on the rationale and activities to be supported by donor funds.
• Work, in coordination with the Climate Change and Environment Division and others, with academia, MDBs, UN agencies, think tanks and other key partners outside IsDB on relevant research and analysis, events and outreach, including in support of flagship partnerships and of the Bank’s engagement with the UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD processes.

Knowledge Sharing & Innovation:

• Track external issues and processes relevant to best practice in climate mitigation and adaptation in various sectors. Keep abreast of external developments and provide technical support to Management on engagement in key external processes on issues of climate change and sustainability. This includes, but is not limited to, IsDB partnership with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention for Biodiversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), other specialized UN agencies, multilateral development banks and bilateral finance institutions.
• Contribute to knowledge products, guidance notes, policy briefs and case studies that capture lessons from the Bank’s climate portfolio, including on Islamic climate finance, nature-based solutions, drought and land degradation resilience, and just transition.

Results, Reporting & Communication:

• Contribute to the preparation of progress reports on all project cycle related activities in compliance with the Bank rules and procedures.
• Ensure that climate-relevant core results indicators are included at design stage so that results can be aggregated, and support the quality and completeness of climate, green and social tagging in the Bank’s operational systems.
• Contribute to divisional and departmental results and KPI reporting, including quarterly reporting into the corporate results architecture, and to the evidence base supporting Management and Board reporting on the climate portfolio.
• Contribute to the Bank’s external climate reporting commitments, including joint MDB climate finance reporting and impact reporting associated with sustainable finance issuances.

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in Climate Change, Sustainability, Environmental Studies, Environmental, Water or Energy Engineering, Natural Resource Management, Economics or any related field.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in the design and implementation of climate change and environmental projects, of which at least 4 years are related to climate change adaptation and resilience and in a developing country context.
• Demonstrated experience with climate risk screening tools, GHG accounting methodologies, climate finance tracking and Paris alignment assessment.
• Experience in preparing and processing proposals for vertical climate funds (GCF, GEF, Adaptation Fund) or bilateral climate finance providers.
• Familiarity with the environmental and social safeguard frameworks of multilateral development banks and with results-based management is an advantage.
• Experience working with IFIs/Development Agencies/Multilateral Development Banks preferred.
• Languages: English: Mandatory | Arabic: Preferred | French: Preferred

SKILLS & NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE

• Sound knowledge of international climate negotiations (Conference of the Parties), climate policy and the current state of best practice among International Finance Institutions and UN organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead or contribute to high-level analytical work and policy dialogue in IsDB Member Countries.
• Sound knowledge of Environment/Climate/Carbon Finance, including carbon market mechanisms under Article 6.
• Working knowledge of MDB environmental and social standards and of results-based management and reporting.
• Familiarity with Islamic finance instruments and their application to climate and sustainable finance is an advantage.
• Planning & organizing / project management skills
• Analytical thinking and problem solving
• Presentation Skills.
• MS Office skills and familiarity with data, screening and reporting tools.

ABOUT APPLICATION PROCESS

If you meet the criteria and you are enthusiastic about the role, we would welcome your application. To complete the application you would need the following document(s):

• Resume/CV
• Copy of passport
• Academic certificate
  

If you are currently an IsDB Regular staff applying for this role and get selected through the competitive selection process; your current contract type and other terms and conditions will remain unchanged.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) does not ask for payments of any kind from applicants throughout the recruitment process (job application, CV review, interview meeting, and final processing of applications). In addition, the IsDB does not request information on applicants’ bank accounts. The IsDB declines all responsibility for the fraudulent publications of job posts or job offers in its name or, in general, for the fraudulent use of its name in any way whatsoever.