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 while building technical capacity through practical and on-the-job exposure

Support Environmental safeguards review and assessment

- Manage, implement and maintains/oversees relevant PLN’s operational processes and new developments to ensure company management’s and

- employees’ awareness and compliance with the approved environmental &

- HS procedures and practices at corporate level.

- Support screening and categorization of projects for environmental risks related to air quality, water quality, soil and sediment quality, noise levels, waste management, etc. against national and international standards

- Assess adequacy of environmental sampling plans, laboratory methods, quality assurance/quality control records, and provide recommendations and/or develop corrective actions plans to ensure environmental data is being collected and reported accurately.

- Support field investigations, site inspections and due diligence studies, including preparation of scopes of work, review of consultant outputs and verification of corrective actions.

- Assist in integrating environmental risk assessment, mitigation, and management activities into environmental and social management instruments (ESIA/ESMP, construction and operational ESMPs, biodiversity management plans, chance‑find procedures for natural/cultural resources).

- Assist in preparing and reviewing environmental monitoring and compliance reports for regulatory and corporate reviewers

Support development of standardized environmental management processes and planning

- Support PLN to design and/or update environmental management and monitoring programs across their energy infrastructure portfolio, ensuring industry best practices, proper mitigation hierarchy, and technically feasible processes and controls are used.

- Support PLN to develop and/or update standard procedures for managing environmental risks associated with common project activities related to dust and air quality, noise and vibration, erosion and sedimentation, wastewater and stormwater management, etc.

- Support PLN to translate environmental commitments into practical ESMP requirements, contractor clauses, monitoring requirements and schedules, with defined roles responsibilities, budgets, and effectiveness indicators.

- Support PLN to develop and implement corrective actions associated with environmental impacts.

- Support PLN to identify and operationalize opportunities to improve environmental performance and reduce environmental risks across the organization

Environmental data management

- Support PLN to collect, compile, and quality assure environmental datasets, and development of tools and procedures to allow effective and efficient analysis of data

- Assist in maintaining environmental databases and ensuring alignment and compliance with project permitting requirements and ESMS requirements

Coordination, reporting, and capacity building (for both roles)

- Work closely with PLN’s DIVTEK team members at corporate and project levels, as well as with technical, procurement, and engineering teams, to ensure safeguard requirements are integrated into project documents and tender packages.

- Contribute inputs to periodic E&S performance reports to PLN management and development partners.

- Participate in internal training and learning activities on biodiversity safeguards, environmental management; share lessons from field implementation with colleagues to support continuous improvement of PLN’s ESMS.

- Perform other qualified duties as assigned

Key Qualifications / Experience / Skills / Behaviours

- General requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, environmental science, natural science or related field. Master’s degree is preferred;

- Understanding of key concepts in environmental management and application in industrial projects, effects assessments and application of the mitigation hierarchy;

- Proficiency in spreadsheet and database software, environmental data analysis (including statistical analysis) and reporting;

- Familiarity with R coding language, specifically with developing graphical and statistical analysis is preferred.

- Training and certification in environmental fields and/or occupational health and safety by the certification body authorized by the Government of Indonesia and/or other recognized national or international body.

- More than seven (7) years of relevant experience in environmental engineering, environmental assessment and management or related fields

- At least seven (7) years of experience in EHS management plans/procedures development and/or implementation, or any combination of program management, plant & operations management, or environmental & HS management & environmental & HS compliance.

- Exposure to projects involving international development partners (e.g., World Bank, ADB, other MDBs) and familiarity with their social and/or environmental safeguards is strongly preferred.

- Experience working with government agencies, utilities, or state-owned enterprises in Indonesia is an advantage, particularly in the energy or infrastructure sector.

- Ability to work with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and simple databases for monitoring and reporting.

- Excellent oral and written communications skills in Indonesian and English to engage with international safeguards documents and development partner requirements.

- Strong analytical and organizational skills; attention to detail in documentation and data management.

- Good interpersonal skills and ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team (environment, social, engineering, legal, procurement) within PLN and partner institutions.

Our Offer

- We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work cross functionally, and space to engage with a range of internal and external industry events.

- Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.

- We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.

- Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.

- Competitive salary and contributory pension scheme.

We are strengthened by the diversity of colleagues across our global business and are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.

Our recruitment practices reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more inclusive and firm belief that our work delivers the best outcomes when we actively include a diversity of perspectives and experiences.

Application

If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we would love to hear from you.

Please submit your application through our careers’ site by the closing date OR We review and interview applicants on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply by way of CV via our careers site at the earliest.

We may close this advertisement before the published closing date, should a suitable candidate be identified.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role and candidates must have a pre-existing right to work in Indonesia for their application to be considered.

Oxford Policy Management is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of the business. Should you require adjustments to make the application process more accessible please inform us through completing this form or scan the QR code below.