Associate Director – Climate and Sustainability Services: Business Development and Programme Delivery at Arup

The Opportunity:

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic consultant to join Arup’s team in South Africa to drive the growth of climate and wider sustainable development services in Sub-Saharan Africa with a particular focus on climate, cities and economic advisory services. The consultant, to be based in Johannesburg, will help to drive and deliver growth in the range and depth of services we offer locally, building strong relations with key clients – notably multilateral and bilateral donors, private finance and the public sector. You will form part of a network of colleagues based in Arup’s Africa offices, working with and draw on expertise and support from across Arup’s global business to tackle multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary challenges, improving project and programme level outcomes and impact.

You will be responsible for ensuring Arup continues to build a holistic understanding of development needs and challenges in sub-Sarahan Africa supporting the wider business to bring its technical expertise, knowledge transfer and partner centred approach to bear on the resolution of complex challenges. You will be expected to engage with and manage a diverse range of high-profile clients including donors, public sector bodies, and investors and to bid and oversee a range of projects. In positioning and building the brand, you will need to represent Arup with confidence and credibility amongst senior stakeholders at a national and international level, articulating the breadth and depth of our wide ranging technical, multi-disciplinary offer. In delivery you will be expected to lead and take part in multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together the right skills from across our wider business and working with local sub-consultants and partners to deliver locally relevant, sustainable solutions.

At the corporate level, you will be a member of the country level senior leadership team and your role will include leadership; line management; coaching and mentoring; resource management; marketing and business planning responsibilities. You will also be a member of Arup’s global team of climate and sustainability professionals receiving active support from the portfolio leadership, from the skills cadre and the UK based international development group.

Is this role right for you?

You will be expected to work closely with office leaders in South Africa supporting the overarching vision and business plan for Arup, South Africa and with the Arup’s international development group based in the UK. As the climate and sustainable services lead for Africa you will be expected to have experience across adaptation, mitigation and resilience. You should have a detailed understanding of Just Transition finance and programming and understand how climate challenges interplay with energy accessibility, economic growth and employment issues.

You should have a proven ability and deliver large complex programmes and a proven track record of managing multi-disciplined teams across climate, sustainability, cities and economics advisory services. You will be a key integrator for Arup’s business in South Africa and beyond, ensuring that our technical skills are brought together to address the impact of climate change across our key business sectors.

There will be an early opportunity to develop the depth and breadth of your team, bringing in additional technical team resource across climate & sustainability, cities, planning and design and economic advisory services to further enable a strong multi-disciplinary blend of local experience together with full reach back into wide ranging, globally excellent technical skills.

To succeed you will need excellent communication and interpersonal skills in order to understand the needs of the geography, clients and partners whose goals you will help to deliver. You will be a technical ambassador for Arup, working to promote, position and deliver the range of our sustainable development services, rapidly spotting opportunities to apply Arup expertise and build innovative partnerships to deliver impactful, scalable programmes. At your core you will be values driven, self-motivated, proactive, realistic and collaborative. You will be someone who strives to deliver solutions of the highest quality and is constantly learning through experience and through their interactions with others. Your words and actions should instil confidence in clients, partners, peers and colleagues alike. You will be an inspiring communicator in person and through an active and authentic social media presence. People will want to work with you and through you to access the full suite of Arup services.

Successful candidates will have knowledge, or first-hand experience, in most or all of the following areas:

• Deep understanding of development challenges and policy context in sub-Sarahan Africa
• Strong networks with donors, the public, private, non-profit and academic sectors
• Cross-cultural team leadership and track record of high-impact contribution to international and local teams
• Preparing successful project proposals, including for international donor organisations
• Technical expertise in at least one of carbon measurement and management, low carbon solutions, nature-based solutions, climate adaptation and resilience, flood and coastal resilience.
• Awareness and understanding of: circular economy, nature based solutions, biodiversity, social value, environmental design.
• Fluent in articulating and explaining the UN SDGs and their relevance to our work.
• Delivery of complex projects and / or programmes in sub-Sarahan Africa

Qualifications:

• Education to degree level, preferably a Masters or higher in a relevant discipline (e.g. climate science, development, urban planning, engineering, architecture)
• Technical qualification in a relevant discipline (eg. Registered / Chartered Professional)