Senior Environmental Coordinator, Brazil

Job Title: Senior Environmental Manager - Brazil

Department: Environmental Planning

Location: Sao Paolo, Brazil       

Reporting to: Head of Environmental Planning Southern Europe & Brazil (matrix) and Country Head Brazil (dotted line)

We are Lightsource bp – and we’re on a mission to become a global leader in onshore renewables, anchored by our proven track record in solar development.

For over a decade we’ve been actively working to diversify the way our world is powered with sustainable and responsible renewable power. We work to safely deliver affordable, reliable, large-scale onshore renewable and energy storage solutions to help the world decarbonise.

Our growing business is constantly innovating and investing to help drive the energy transition. Our people and projects are focused on supporting long-term sustainable growth and energy security.

Lightsource bp operates with five core values: Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability, and Drive.

We seek to attract and hire individuals who share our commitment to creating a safe workplace, uphold the highest standards of integrity, and demonstrate respect for colleagues, communities, and the environment. Our recruitment process promotes sustainability by valuing long-term growth and responsible practices, while seeking candidates with the drive to innovate and lead in the global energy transition.

Together, these values shape how we engage, assess, and welcome talent to join us in delivering transformational solar power solutions worldwide. 

Lightsource bp was fully acquired by bp in 2024.

What you’ll do (the role)

Summary

Based in São Paulo, with regular trips to the project regions, as Senior Environmental Manager, you will be responsible for the overall environmental and social strategy of our projects, including PV, Wind, BESS and transmission lines, spanning  through development, construction and operation. You will also be responsible for developing and implementing Social Investment Strategies for our projects and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. You will play a pivotal role in achieving our pipeline development targets and should have a strategic vision, strong management capability and ability to quickly adapt in complex situations.

Duties and Responsiblities

Overall

• You will be responsible for all activities related to social, environmental and archaeological permitting for solar and wind projects, substations and transmission lines in all development stages.
• Working closely with the development, land and engineering teams, you will support the team in ensuring projects are developed and built according to the Lightsource bp´s social and environmental standards, values and goals.  
• Interface and represent the company with different entities, such as environmental agencies, communities, lenders, clients, etc. Propose and manage budgets and track project progress KPIs
• Identify and suggest opportunities for value generation (e.g. Carbon credits, RECs)
• Participate and contribute to actions of the EMEA environmental planning community

Development Phase

• Develop strategic approaches for project´s social and environmental permitting, in close coordination with the Business Development, GIS and Land Teams.
• Develop and implement Social Investment Strategies for the companies’ projects, in close alignment with EMEA´s Head of Community Engagement
• Support the Land Team and Business Development team in strategically evaluating the social and environmental restrictions of potential project areas, providing feasibility reports
• Hire, manage and approve all necessary social and environmental studies needed for the issuance of the applicable permits
• Support the Business development team in audits (due diligence) for acquisitions or sale of projects, providing social and environmental analysis and recommendations
• Support Business development, commercial engineering and EPC teams with projects DEVEX, CAPEX and OPEX

Construction Phase

• Ensure the issuance of all the environmental and auxiliary permits for construction phase in close coordination with the EPC team
• Support in the drafting of EPC and Owners Engineering agreements, ensuring compliance with project permits and conditions as well as Lightsource bp´s governance and social/environmental compliance standards
• Manage, monitor and implement all applicable permit conditions required during construction, ensuring the timely issuance of projects Operation License
• Plan and implement project´s communication Plan, with regular visits to local stakeholders and project sites, to ensure constant communication with local community and public authorities
• Implement and manage project´s social investment strategy, including marketing, communications and voluntary projects
• Ensure that all applicable monitoring and/or follow-up reports are produced and delivered to all applicable public entities, lenders, etc.
• Manage budget and track progress KPIs
• Track, analyze and record ESG indicators and performance standards, aligned with corporate Sustainability functions

Operation Phase

• Ensure the issuance and renewal of all the environmental and auxiliary permits for operational phase in close coordination with the Asset Management team
• Hire, manage and approve the services for the execution of the environmental plans, communication plans, social actions and other related actions applicable during projects operational phase
• Ensure that the necessary follow-up reports are produced and delivered to the environmental agencies, lenders, clients, etc

Who we’re looking for

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Biology, Environmental Management Environmental, Engineering or other environmental formations;
• Fluent English and Portuguese, spoken and written.

Knowledge & Experience

• Extensive experience in environmental planning in Solar PV and Wind in Brazil
• Strong experience with respect to environmental and social planning across the whole project lifecycle for solar projects (development, construction and operation)
• Extensive firsthand experience of community engagement planning and activities
• Experience building internal networks within an organization to ensure alignment with other departments
• Experience working with and within cross-jurisdictional teams
• Strong knowledge of Brazilian environmental legislation
• Advanced knowledge in Microsoft office tools
• Willingness to travel

Why you’ll make a great member of the team

Personal qualities

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to build relationships and trust with a variety of stakeholders
• Driven with a hands-on proactive approach to business, and the ability to be flexible and adapt rapidly.
• Ability to identify, evaluate and communicate risks in an effective manner
• An ability to see opportunities for improvement and execute on these
• Strong multitasking ability and capacity to meet deadlines
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written;

Why you’ll want to work for us

Our company is a place where you can be yourself and grow, a place where your ideas and opinions matter.

Be you: We pride ourselves on being an inclusive community, where every individual is valued and treated with respect.

Be responsible: Our culture is driven by our core values – from operating safely to ensuring our projects are responsible. 

Be recognized: Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits including annual bonus, retention bank, health insurance, pension and other local benefits.

Be inspired: Beyond your day-to-day working life at Lightsource bp, there’s a variety of initiatives that will contribute to your own personal development. These include our charitable causes, supporting our solar honey project, or volunteering on our VIBES committee to name a few.

Our core values: Lightsource bp truly cares about creating a sustainable future through safe, responsible and meaningful low carbon energy projects. Our core values of Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability and Drive are the guiding principles for everything we do. 

For further information on our career opportunities and life at Lightsource bp, please visit https://www.lightsourcebp.com/careers/

Why You’ll Want to Stay with us

At Lightsource bp, you’ll work within agile, cross-functional teams where diverse perspectives come together. Our culture embraces open knowledge sharing and collaboration, empowering you to learn from others and accelerate progress collectively.

Your career growth is our priority and a shared journey. We are committed to developing talent from within and prepare you for career advancement so you can shape a fulfilling and lasting journey here.

In today’s fast-changing world, a learning mindset is essential and therefore we proactively support upskilling to help you push your skill boundaries and stay ahead in your field, so you can not only keep pace with change, but confidently shape a brighter future.