Overview
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government agency that provides time-limited grants to developing countries to reduce poverty through economic growth. MCC works in close partnership with host governments and focuses on policy and institutional reform alongside infrastructure investment, with an emphasis on rigorous analysis, country ownership, and sustainable results.

MCC's Social Analysis (SA) Practice Group is engaged in due diligence and compact development support for Liberia's second compact, which includes a significant mining governance component focused on modernizing Liberia's legal and regulatory framework for the sector and attracting responsible investment in critical minerals. Banyan Global is providing technical support to MCC SA to ensure that social and community dimensions are substantively embedded in the mining governance workstream, including in the design of new legislation, regulatory instruments, and mineral development agreement (MDA) frameworks.

The senior mining governance expert will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team that includes MCC staff and consultants and senior Government of Liberia counterparts. The expert's primary contribution will be on the community-facing dimensions of legal and regulatory reform – ensuring that new frameworks establish obligations that are technically sound and operationally realistic and enforceable.

Objective

To provide targeted technical support to MCC SA's mining governance workstream in Liberia, drawing on substantial hands-on experience developing operational guidelines and regulations governing mining sector engagement with and accountability to communities. The expert will contribute directly to the development of provisions for the new mining law, model MDAs, and related operational guidelines, with a focus on community consultation, benefit-sharing, local content, social compliance, and grievance management.

Tasks, Deliverables, and LOE

1. Review draft mining law text as it develops and provide advisory inputs on provisions governing: community consultation requirements; community development fund (CDF) structure, governance, and accountability mechanisms; local content obligations and enforcement; social compliance requirements and their relationship to IFC Performance Standards; and ASM formalization and integration into the regulatory framework. Inputs should reflect practical knowledge of what provisions mining companies implement effectively versus what gets papered over, and should be framed to support MCC SA's engagement with the broader country team.
2. Develop a structured set of recommended provisions for Liberia's model MDA covering: community consultation and engagement obligations; CDF contribution levels, governance structures, and community accountability mechanisms; local content requirements and verification; social performance obligations linked to applicable IFC Performance Standards; company-level reporting requirements on local employment, procurement, grievances, compensation, and CDF fulfillment; and grievance mechanism design and accessibility. Provisions should be accompanied by brief annotations explaining the rationale and flagging implementation risks based on practical experience.
3. Develop practical operational guidelines to accompany the new legal framework, addressing one or more of the following areas as prioritized with MCC SA: structured community consultation process requirements for exploration and development phases; CDF operational guidelines covering fund governance, disbursement, community access, and reporting; a framework for company social performance reporting under the new law; and/or guidelines for monitoring and enforcement of MDA community obligations by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and relevant agencies. Guidelines should be grounded in what has worked in comparable country contexts and calibrated to Liberia's current institutional capacity.
4. Attend MCC team meetings, Government of Liberia engagement sessions, and other relevant calls as requested, and provide readouts, talking points, or follow-up analytical support as needed. Support MCC SA in translating technical inputs into materials that resonate with MCC's internal process and team dynamics, including briefers and review comments on concept notes and investment memo sections.
5. If requested, conduct an in-country mission to Monrovia to support stakeholder consultations on community-facing provisions of the new law and model MDA, including engagement with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, community representatives, civil society, and/or mining companies operating in Liberia. Mission scope and timing to be confirmed with MCC SA.

Level of Effort and Period of Performance: Up to 45 days between July 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will bring substantial hands-on experience developing and implementing operational guidelines and regulations governing mining sector engagement with and accountability to communities. S/he will have experience working directly on the design and implementation of these frameworks in practice, either in addition to or in lieu of advising on international best practices. Candidates who have held roles inside mining companies with responsibility for ESG or social performance implementation are particularly well-positioned to meet this standard, though strong candidates from regulatory, multilateral, or civil society backgrounds with comparable implementation depth will also be considered.

Specific qualifications include:

• Demonstrated experience developing and/or implementing operational guidelines, regulatory instruments, or community-facing provisions of mining legislation or mineral development agreements, with a focus on social performance and community accountability.
• Familiarity with IFC Performance Standards as applied in mining sector contexts, including community engagement, grievance mechanisms, and benefit-sharing.
• Experience with or strong knowledge of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) governance and formalization.
• Sub-Saharan Africa experience required; West Africa experience preferred; Liberia-specific knowledge a bonus.
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team that includes government officials at senior levels, bringing technical authority while remaining diplomatically effective, persuasive without being prescriptive, and responsive to the political and institutional dynamics of the engagement.
• Familiarity with MCC's frameworks and processes helpful but not required; must be willing to work within MCC's institutional culture and process requirements.
• Availability for intermittent remote engagement on reasonably short notice, with possible travel to Liberia.