Evaluations Specialist (Environment) at Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Job Description    

• The purpose of the role is to lead environmental evaluations assessing the sustainability and environmental impact of the Bank’s projects and programmes, and to ensure that environmental evaluation frameworks support the Bank’s broader development impact goals. The role ensures that environmental insights are integrated into institutional learning, compliance, and strategic decision-making.

Key Responsibilities    
Key Performance Areas:

Environmental Evaluation Design & Methodology

• Lead the design, development, and refinement of environmental evaluation frameworks, methodologies, and tools to enhance quality, consistency, and relevance.
• Integrate climate change, biodiversity, and broader sustainability considerations into evaluation design.
• Provide independent advisory input on evaluation approaches and indicator design at both concept/design and implementation stages.
• Support the development and review of sectoral, regional, project, and programme-level indicators and performance measures.
• Incorporate spatial and geospatial analysis tools where appropriate to strengthen evidence-based insights.
• Monitor alignment of evaluation frameworks with the Bank’s development impact objectives, sustainability priorities, and green finance principles.
• Contribute to knowledge management by capturing and synthesising lessons learned from evaluation findings for continuous improvement.

Evaluation Execution and Compliance

• Lead and execute environmental evaluations of infrastructure and development projects, ensuring robust, evidence-based assessments.
• Apply established environmental assessment tools and methodologies, including Environmental Impact
• Assessments (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA).
• Comply with applicable national regulations and international environmental and climate standards across all evaluation activities.
• Monitor and assess adherence to environmental safeguards, sustainability requirements, and green finance principles throughout the project lifecycle.
• Translate evaluation findings into actionable insights and recommendations to drive programme improvement and enhance development impact.
• Stay abreast of emerging developments in climate finance, biodiversity policy, and global sustainability frameworks to ensure evaluations remain current and relevant.

Reporting, Analysis & Stakeholder Engagement

• Prepare and submit high-quality environmental evaluation reports and present key findings to governance committees, management and various stakeholders.
• Analyse environmental and development data to identify trends, generate insights, and inform strategic and operational decision-making.
• Provide actionable recommendations for integrating environmental evaluation insights into investment planning, strategic planning processes, strengthening decision-making and enhancing development impact.
• Maintain accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality across all evaluation processes.
• Represent the Bank in environmental learning forums, industry platforms, and development impact discussions to strengthen thought leadership and collaboration.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to support the delivery of evaluation activities and enhance cross-functional alignment.

Key Measurements of Outputs:

• Delivery of evaluation reports and presentations on time and of a high quality.
• Production of concise, practical and implementable evaluation recommendations.
• Number and quality of environmental evaluations conducted
• Alignment of evaluations with DBSA’s development impact and sustainability objectives
• Compliance with national and international environmental and climate standards
• Integration of climate, biodiversity, and sustainability dimensions into evaluation frameworks
• Timeliness and accuracy of evaluation reports and recommendations
• Stakeholder feedback on the usefulness and clarity of the evaluation findings
• Quality and relevance of environmental data analysis and trend identification
• Effectiveness in assessing key environmental metrics, safeguards and performance indicators.
• Contribution to institutional knowledge management and continuous improvement based on evaluation insights.

Expertise & Technical Competencies    

Qualifications and Experience:

Minimum Qualification

• Postgraduate degree in Environmental Science, Sustainable Development or any related qualification.

Minimum Experience

• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in environmental evaluation within development or public sectors and the application of monitoring and evaluation concepts, tools and methodologies.
• Proven experience in conducting evaluations on climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental impact, integrating findings into institutional decision-making.
• Strong understanding and practical application of environmental evaluation tools and methodologies such as EIA and SEA.
• Knowledge of national, provincial, and local environmental legislation and regulatory frameworks, including the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and South Africa’s commitments to international development priorities (e.g., SDGs, Paris Climate Agreement).
• Demonstrated proficiency in using GIS and spatial analysis tools for environmental analysis.
• Proven knowledge of environmental-related risks (includes climate, water, and air quality risks).
• Demonstrated experience in independently leading evaluations, while also collaborating effectively in multidisciplinary teams.

Desirable Requirements

• Certification in Evaluation, Environmental Management or Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Experience and training in indicator development and understanding.
• International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) qualification.
• Cost-benefit analysis and economic modelling.
• Experience working in development finance institutions, municipal environment or multilateral development banks.
• Exposure to ESG frameworks and sustainability-linked evaluation methodologies.
• Participation in international environmental forums or evaluation networks.
• Experience integrating environmental evaluation into broader Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems.

Deadline:22nd May,2026