Technical Secretary /Impact Assessment Specialist

Due to an expansion of our international programme, we are looking for new technical secretaries / impact assessment specialists for our international department for 4-5 days a week. Our office is in Utrecht and the job requires regular visits abroad. If you are interested, let us know. In the selection process we take a slightly different approach. Below you can read how this works under ‘interested’.

The organisation

The NCEA is an independent Dutch foundation that works both in the Netherlands and abroad. In the Netherlands, the focus is on advising government authorities on the content of environmental assessment reports. Abroad, the NCEA supports developing countries with advice and capacity development in strengthening their environmental and social impact assessments. As a result of the NCEA's work, government authorities have the necessary knowledge on environmental, social and climate change issues when making decisions. Consequently, these decisions are of improved quality, better substantiated and more widely supported. The NCEA has approximately 40 employees and a network of over 200 external experts.

What you will do

Due to subsidies from the Dutch government, we are able to work as an independent knowledge centre with primarily low-income countries to improve their Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) practices. In the position of technical secretary/ impact assessment-specialist, you will make an important contribution:

As technical secretary of working groups, you select and support experts who independently advise government authorities on behalf of the NCEA, on the quality of their ESIA and SEA processes and reports.
As an impact assessment specialist, you analyse strengths and weaknesses of ESIA and SEA systems and where necessary work towards strengthening these systems. For example, by coaching government authorities, training NGOs, co-writing regulations or strengthening local knowledge centres.

What we offer ....
We offer you a challenging job, with the Netherlands as your base and the world as your working area, currently focusing on Africa and the Middle East. You will travel regularly to the countries where your programmes are running. You will become part of our close-knit team of currently 15 people who run their programmes independently and in regional teams. As a team we like to share our experiences and enjoy sparring to improve. So be prepared for a steep learning curve! Due to the multidisciplinary nature of our work, this job offers you the opportunity to develop yourself broadly.

.... and what we are looking for
As a person, you are sociable and a good communicator. Together with others, you enjoy working towards a goal, while being flexible in the way you achieve it. Your approach is analytical. You are curious and attentive to recognise and handle interests and relationships. You easily create an overview, work efficiently and have an eye for detail. You are an excellent networker, invite specialists to contribute and you are not afraid to ask critical questions. You enjoy working and making decisions independently, and at the same time know when to consult with your colleagues and management. You are seen by those around you as responsible and having integrity. You find it easy to empathise with others and are helpful. You like a challenge and have energy to tackle problems and achieve solutions. You are able to listen, formulate quickly and concisely and speak and coach inspiringly.

You have developed the following competences well: social awareness, result-orientation, cooperation, management of interests, quality-orientation, listening, analytical skills and independence.

You supplement this with the following: you have an academic degree and at least some years of experience in development cooperation. Preferably you also spent some time working in a low-income country. As a result, you know both the context of Dutch international cooperation and that of low-income countries. You have experience in setting up and implementing capacity development. A legal background in a subject relevant to impact assessment would be an added bonus as we want to strengthen legal knowledge in our team.

Your languages
In our organisation, the working language is Dutch, but other languages are more important in your work. Therefore your English and French writing and conversation skills must be of a high standard (CEFR proficient user level C1 / C2). A good level of writing and conversation skills in Arabic, Portuguese or Spanish (B2) would be very welcome too. In view of your role in our organisation, it is important that you can read and understand Dutch well and can express yourself to some extent in Dutch. We are willing to support you in this and give you time if you do not yet master the Dutch language sufficiently.

Practical
We are looking for someone for 4-5 days a week. Depending on your knowledge and experience, your salary will be between €4300,- and €6150,- gross per calendar month based on a 40-hour working week, including a non-contributory pension. After a trial period of one month, we will start with a one-year contract. If you do well, we offer you a permanent contract.

Interested?
Is this position to your liking and do you meet our requirements? Then let us know before the 17th of April by sending an email to personeelszaken eia.nl with ref: 'Application Technical Secretary Development Cooperation'. You will then receive a number of specific questions from us, which we would like you to reply to. Based on your answers, we will decide on the continuation of the procedure, consisting of one or more interviews, followed by (presentation) assignments. For questions about the content of the position, please contact Selma Berndsen (HR). Interviews for this position will take place at our office in Utrecht.