Environmental Safeguard Specialist

Overview

The Sustainable Growth and Nature team at Oxford Policy Management is seeking a Environmental Safeguard Specialist on a fixed-term basis of 6 months initially, contingent on the successful outcome of a bid for an upcoming project.

The position would be located in Jakarta- Indonesia Office

We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet.

Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement, and evaluate impactful public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change.

Position Summary

Indonesia’s energy transition is a key pathway toward achieving the national target of net zero emissions by 2060. As the state-owned electricity utility, PLN plays a central role in realizing this ambition while ensuring that the transition proceeds in a fair, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable manner. The integration of environmental and social considerations into electricity infrastructure developments still requires further strengthening, largely due to existing gaps between national regulations, PLN’s internal practices, and the more stringent standards applied by international financial institutions. To address these challenges, PLN has developed and launched the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) as a framework that aligns international safeguard standards with Indonesia’s regulatory context and PLN’s business processes.

KfW Development Bank (KfW)’s Energy Transition Acceleration Programme Pillar 1 project (ETAP) project aims to strengthen PLN’s capacity regarding the implementation of international social and environmental standards in different project phases and their organizational mainstreaming in PLN. A consultant team led by Oxford Policy Management, with PT Hatfield, PT Equator and EnviroPro were contracted to deliver the five-year project (October 2026 – September 2030).

As part of the ETAP project team, OPM Indonesia is looking for an Environmental Safeguard specialist to be based in Jakarta, and line managed by the ETAP Core Team National Social Expert and Biodiversity Expert respectively. The role will be dedicated to delivering ETAP activities but mostly sit within PLN’s office.

The position of Environment Safeguard specialist would be responsible for:

Support the delivery of ETAP project activities:

They will have dedicated technical roles supporting and delivering Task Activities with specific responsibilities outlined in the Activity TORs with the reference to the ETAP inception report. This is expected to include:

• Managing the ESMS KPI monitoring and reporting framework (Task 3), including the KPI dashboard and quarterly reporting of ESMS Implementation.
• Secretarial support to the ESMS Steering Committee or equivalent (Task 2), including logistic support and drafting the ESMS Implementation Update Memo and documenting discussions. This includes synthesizing the Memos within PLN’s planned annual ESMS Implementation Report, published at the end of each year).
• Supporting the development and piloting of new tools and processes to support implementation of the PLN ESMS.
• Supporting the design, piloting and review of priority ESMS training curriculum (Task 4B), including logistic support, organizing training material and managing post-training surveys.
• Carrying out environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) study activities (Task 5) including document review, data collection, site visits, preparing documentation and reporting.
• Other research support required across all Tasks, including collating data and reports, report writing and outreach.

Facilitate the ETAP team’s communication and coordination with PLN:

They will support the Deputy TL in day-to-day communication with TEK Division and other parts of PLN given their proximity and easy access.

Develop advanced understanding of the ESMS processes and requirements, as well as specialist skills in environmental safeguards

The role will have active engagement in ESMS implementation and refinement and working closely with ETAP key experts and PLN counterparts. They will contribute to the strengthening the environmental safeguards aspects of the ESMS