The Head of Safeguarding and Project Risk leads TMA’s commitment to uphold environmental and social safeguards (ESS). This role drives TMA’s project risk management strategy, working closely with internal teams to ensure projects and programs are designed and implemented with the highest protective measures for staff, partners and communities. The job holder will also ensure that TMA’s standards align with the requirements of our strategy, policies, and our funders.

Roles and responsibilities
Strategy and Leadership
• Develop and implement TMA’s comprehensive safeguarding strategy, reflecting organizational values, international best practices, and donor expectations.
• Establish and maintain a proactive project risk management framework.
• Contribute to policy, strategic reporting, and business planning concerning safeguards and project risks.
• Cultivate a strong safeguarding culture by collaborating with TMA’s central teams.

Team management
• Ensures close internal coordination and fosters strong integration between the team, other PDH units, regional and country programs and corporate resources.
• Lead, inspire, and oversee the safeguarding and project risk team, ensuring seamless integration with other units.
• Manage the team’s annual planning, budgeting, target setting and performance assessment.
• Facilitate effective coordination between the safeguarding team, other units within TMA, and external partners.

Environment and Social Safeguards Management
• Implement and oversee TMA’s ESS framework.
• Develop, review, and update operational guidelines, focusing on inclusive stakeholder-driven development.
• Conduct regular ESS risk and impact assessments, ensuring mitigation measures are implemented.
• Engage with stakeholders for necessary consultations, consents, and regulatory clearances.
• Manage the safeguarding incident reporting system and communicate pertinent findings to senior leadership.

Project Risk Management
• Conduct annual project risk assessments, guiding prioritization of key programs.
• Train and support program teams in risk assessment and mitigation.
• Regularly review risk registers, highlighting potential high-impact risks to relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate internal audits to assess TMA’s safeguarding and risk management efficacy, making necessary recommendations for improvement.

Knowledge Management
• Drive knowledge sharing on ESS, ensuring best practices and lessons are integrated into TMA’s strategies.
• Develop and disseminate ESS resources, enhancing the capacity of both staff and partners.
• Foster dialogues on social safeguards with external organizations, promoting TMA’s Safeguards Policy.

TMA’s corporate-level responsibilities:
• Apply the highest standards of controls and risk management practices and behaviors and embed a positive risk and control culture.
• Demonstrate prudence, sound judgement and appropriate and timely escalations in managing all types of risk (including fraud risk) applicable to the role.
• Understand and comply with the relevant end-to-end processes, including applicable risks and controls.
• Seek to identify, understand, and escalate risk events/incidents/ issues daily, focusing on fixing root causes and taking ownership of identified mitigating actions.
• Complete all relevant mandatory training within the stipulated timelines.
• Ensures compliance with PCM guidelines throughout the project design and implementation cycle, including robust project planning, reporting and closure, adhering donor requirements as stipulated in contribution agreements.
• Manages relationships and communicates with internal and external stakeholders including donors, partners and service providers and clearly articulates project and program scope, timeline, budget, risks and deliverables.

Understands funding sources for projects, the implementation timelines agreed with funders , monitors implementation and delivery to ensure that projects are within budget, scope and time. Where changes occur, clearly documents and ensures that relevant internal (portfolio director, technical lead, SLMT leads) and external stakeholders (donors, partners) are informed.

• Ensures compliance with grant management procedures and guidelines including appraisal, selection, implementation, reporting, closure, and hands-on involvement, management and execution.
• Ensure implementation of minimum standards on reporting gender disaggregated data
• Contributes to the development/revision of tools and procedures to document and share knowledge, incentivize staff/teams and enforce compliance and standards.
• Ensure inclusion of gender-sensitive /responsive indicators to track progress towards gender integration in all projects
• Participates in regular informal and formal reflection, knowledge sharing and learning events.
• Documents and promotes lessons learned and best practices for knowledge sharing and learning.
• Promote and adhere to TMA’s core values and ensure compliance with organizational policies and procedures.
• Maintain zero tolerance to bribery, fraud, and corruption, and ensure the immediate reporting of any corruption or suspect behavior that threatens TMA’s reputation.
• Adhere to the safeguarding policies and procedures and immediately report any safeguarding concerns.
• Collaborate with communication unit to shape and monitor the programs communication plan in line with TMA’s Corporate Communication Strategy and business plan, and visibility commitments to funding agencies.
• Work closely with other functions including the Corporate Affairs and Fundraising, Results and Impact, CEO’s office, Regional Outcome areas to ensure that external communications are developed with maximum impact and delivered against the results calendar and corporate strategy guiding work across the program area and the organization.
• Any other related responsibilities that the Director Gender and Inclusion may assign from time to time.

You may from time to time be required to provide support to Trademark Africa’s wholly owned subsidiary, Trade Catalyst Africa, as would be communicated by your line manager. When this happens, the specific task(s) will be reflected in your OKR and assigned to a relevant task(s) manager.

Organizational positioning
Academic and professional qualifications
• Undergraduate degree or higher in Sociology, Anthropology, Environmental Science, Economics or related discipline.
• Professional experience working in social safeguards and sustainability or other social development areas (community-driven development, citizen engagement/ empowerment, fragility and conflict, etc.) is desirable.
• Good working knowledge of operations, particularly the information required for project cycle activities and portfolio management, planning, work programs, budget preparation and financial management.

Work experience
• A minimum of 7 years’ relevant experience in implementing social safeguards, sustainability or international development programs. 5 years’ experience will be considered with a relevant Postgraduate degree.
• Experience in successfully applying the social safeguard policies to high-risk operations.
• Knowledge and experience in some key areas of social inclusion such as gender; conflict, fragility, and violence; and citizen engagement.
• Knowledge and experience in addressing issues covered by the World Bank’s social safeguards policies or similar policies in other institutions in complex and challenging settings.
• Excellent management skills and proven track record in managing programs and budgets and in delivering quality results in a timely manner.
• Experience of working in a risk, compliance, or project management related function.
• Demonstrated track record in mentoring and guiding less experienced staff and their work programs, including assistance in setting priorities and identifying training needs.
• Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and integrative team skills and ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced and practical solutions to complex safeguard issues.
• Certification in Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit would be desirable.

Technical skills and behavioral competencies
• Excellent management and communications skills.
• Proven intellectual and strategic thinking/leadership skills.
• Excellent team management and development skills.
• Ability to deliver a plan and performance to budget.
• Ability to communicate strategy and results concisely and simply.
• Adept at working with diverse teams, delivering change and demonstrating the value of results and knowledge management across the organization.
• Ability to influence others to achieve objectives and gain consensus and collaboration.
• Sound decision-making and judgement.
• Problem solving and analytical skills.