Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Manager

Job Description

Location: Accra, Ghana, with regular travel to farms, aggregation points, fulfilment centres, warehouses, suppliers, partner sites and operating communities.

The ESG Manager will build and operate the company’s integrated environmental, social and governance management system so that company commitments are translated into practical controls, accountable action plans, evidence and measurable improvement across the agricultural value chain. The role owns the ESG obligations register, implementation roadmap, due-diligence coordination, site assurance, training, management reporting and impact narrative that allow the company to demonstrate compliance to its Board, investors, lenders, buyers, employees, growers, communities and other stakeholders.

This is an implementation and assurance role, not a policy-writing or communications-only position. The manager must understand how ESG risk appears in farm production, aggregation, procurement, fulfilment, transport, export operations, employment practices, community relationships, technology and corporate governance. The role must convert applicable law, financing and investment undertakings, buyer requirements, certifications, policies and approved company commitments into clear site controls, training, owners, deadlines, evidence standards and escalation paths.

Functional and site leaders remain the first-line owners of compliance within their operations. The ESG Manager defines the control framework, enables implementation, tests conformance, records findings, governs action closure and escalates material risk. The role may require interim containment or a pause through the approved escalation process when there is a credible risk of serious harm, illegality, fraud, retaliation or breach of a non-waivable commitment. It may not waive a legal, contractual or policy obligation, accept material residual ESG risk, approve unbudgeted expenditure, or publish an external claim without the required authority.

The challenge is to embed responsible practice while teams face delivery, revenue, cost, and working capital pressure. The ESG Manager must therefore design controls that are risk-based, field-practical, and integrated into normal operating workflows while remaining independent enough to report inconvenient evidence. The 90% overall compliance goal is a minimum enterprise target; it is not permission to miss a critical legal, safety, safeguarding, human-rights, integrity or financing obligation.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
• Three to five years of progressive ESG, environmental and social risk, sustainability, responsible sourcing or impact-management experience within agricultural supply chains, food export, agribusiness or agricultural value-chain operations.

• Demonstrated hands-on experience implementing ESG programs across operational sites, suppliers, growers, contractors or value-chain partners rather than experience limited to research, policy writing or corporate communications.

• Proven ownership of ESG action plans, including converting findings into accountable tasks, coordinating cross-functional implementation, verifying evidence, and escalating overdue or ineffective action.

• Experience leading or materially coordinating investors, lenders, buyers, certification or transaction ESG due diligence, site assessments, audits, data-room evidence and remediation plans.

• Evidence of embedding controls under commercial, time, cost or working-capital pressure without hiding risk, weakening evidence standards or treating ESG as separate from normal operations.

• Experience with agricultural environmental and social risks such as labour, worker safety, safeguarding, community impact, land, water, agrochemicals, waste, biodiversity, climate, responsible sourcing and traceability.

• Demonstrated ability to build accurate ESG dashboards and reports and translate verified data into clear management insight and credible impact stories for different stakeholders.

• Strong field judgment, integrity and courage to investigate inconvenient evidence, protect confidentiality, resist retaliation or misstatement, and escalate credible risk despite limited direct authority.

Qualifications and professional requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science or management, Sustainability, Agriculture, Agronomy, Engineering, Occupational Health and Safety, Development Studies, Social Science, Economics, Law, Business or a closely related discipline.

• Practical working knowledge of environmental and social management systems, responsible agricultural supply chains, human rights and labour due diligence, stakeholder engagement, grievance management, corrective action and sustainability reporting.

• Familiarity with frameworks and standards relevant to the company’s approved commitments – such as lender or investor environmental and social requirements, buyer codes, GRI or ISSB-aligned reporting, and ISO 14001/45001 management-system principles – is strongly preferred; formal auditor or sustainability training is advantageous.

• Strong numerical and analytical capability, including metric definition, baseline design, sampling, trend analysis, data reconciliation, action ageing, and evidence-based interpretation of performance.

• Clear written and spoken English and the ability to write concise audit findings, management reports, due-diligence responses, policies, training materials and stakeholder narratives; French and relevant local language capability are advantageous.

• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to farms, rural communities, aggregation sites, fulfilment centres, warehouses, ports and partner operations and to work safely in variable infrastructure and connectivity conditions.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
1. ESG management systems and controls: Connect legal, financing, buyer, certification and policy obligations to risks, controls, owners, evidence, action plans, training, assurance and reporting.

2. ESG risk and materiality: Identify, assess and prioritize environmental, social and governance risk by severity, likelihood, affected people, reversibility, leverage and business exposure.

3. Environmental management: Assess and control material land, soil, water, agrochemical, waste, pollution, energy, emissions, climate and biodiversity risks in agricultural operations.

4. Social due diligence and engagement: Assess labour, safety, safeguarding, inclusion, community, land-access and vulnerable-person risk; coordinate engagement, grievance handling, prevention, protection and remedy.

5. Responsible sourcing: Design risk-based screening, contracting, monitoring, traceability, corrective action and consequence for growers, agents, suppliers, contractors and 3PLs.

6. Assurance and corrective action Plan interviews, observation, document review, sampling and evidence tests; grade findings and govern containment, root cause, ageing, escalation and verified closure.

7. Due diligence and data rooms Coordinate authorized information requests, controlled evidence, site visits, responses, findings and remediation without material omission or overstatement.

8. Training and behaviour change Create role-based, field-practical training and verify learning through knowledge, observed practice, audit and incident outcomes.

9. ESG data and reporting: Define metrics, boundaries, source ownership, calculations and controls; reconcile dashboards and disclosures to auditable evidence.

10. Impact measurement and storytelling: Connect quantitative outcomes to consented stakeholder experience, disclose limitations and prevent unsupported, selective or misleading claims.

11. Cross-functional influence Secure action across senior and field teams without direct reports, preserve first-line ownership and escalate decisions with evidence and practical options.

12. Commercial judgment and integrity: Design proportionate controls, explain business consequences and refuse pressure to waive, conceal, falsify or exaggerate a material ESG requirement.