Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced senior professional who can join SEforALL preferrably in our Vienna office.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer will work in close partnership with the CEO/SRSG and be a critical member of the SEforALL Leadership Team to provide leadership across SEforALL and ensure SEforALL achieves its organizational goals and impact. The Deputy CEO will be both internally and externally focused, representing SEforALL’s mission and direction of travel, elevating the reputation and profile of the organization and serving as an inspirational leader internally and externally.

The successful candidate will be an experienced professional with at least 15 years of progressively experience in an international organization, government or business in the energy or international development sector, and ability to convene and engage with the highest levels of government, UN, business and other key stakeholders on energy, climate and sustainable development.

Closing date for submitting applications is 27 October 2023 at 23:59 CET.

Duties and Accountabilities

Leadership and Management

• Work closely with the CEO/SRSG to implement the organization’s strategic direction and Business Plan.
• Play a key role in providing advice and strategic direction in the development of the organization’s next multi-year Business Plan (from 2024 onward).
• Oversee development and implementation of the SEforALL annual work plans and ensure that SEforALL continues to stay aligned with its mission and Business Plan to deliver on KPIs.
• Provide managerial oversight and guidance across the organization to ensure strategic priorities are reflected in all activities, in written material and in interactions with stakeholders.
• Lead development and implementation of critical and imperative changes, and strategic initiatives, across the organisation to achieve desired impact.
• Ensure efficient and effective operations of SEforALL, exemplifying best practices and ensuring execution of deliverables under our business plan, work plan and funding agreements.
• Lead and manage the allocated team of direct reports.
• Act as a leader and role model for the rest of the organisation.

External Relations

• Along with the CEO/SRSG serve as leadership representation of SEforALL to global stakeholders, building and strengthening key partnerships across existing, new and innovative sectors to achieve SDG7 and just and equitable energy transitions.
• Represent SEforALL in high-level external events and as the Head of Delegation in international fora when the CEO/SRSG is not available and ensure accurate representation of the CEO/SRSG position and the organisation’s strategic direction and priorities.
• Communicate in a dynamic, inspiring and effective manner the challenges of achieving SDG7 and a just and equitable energy transition, and the mission of SEforALL and the contribution of our work towards those goals.

Resource Mobilization and Governance

• Proactively develop and nurture relationships and conduct outreach with governments, the private sector and philanthropy to secure resources needed for SEforALL to deliver on its mission.
• Provide support to the Administrative Board, Funders Council and Leadership Council as needed to advance strategic and informed decision making.

Administration

• Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing in own work area to bring about awareness and understanding, as well as utilise SEforALL systems and process to share the knowledge. e.g. proactive and diligent use of Salesforce.
• Other tasks and duties as may be required.

The ideal candidate would have:

• A degree and graduate degree in a related field, including energy, economics, finance, public administration, natural sciences, or international relations.
• An established actor at the international level with a proven ability to convene and engage with the highest levels of government, UN, business and other key stakeholders on energy, climate and sustainable development.
• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of successful and progressive experience in an international organization, government or business in the energy access, energy transition, climate, sustainable development and/or international development sector.
• Minimum of ten (10) years as a seasoned manager, with experience in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia with large energy access gaps.
• Experience demonstrated in working in multiple geographic regions, including both developing and developed countries, and capability in leading in culturally diverse settings.
• Familiarity with the United Nations system and international financial institutions.
• Complete fluency in English with excellent communications skills, including the ability to communicate at multiple levels and across diverse disciplines and cultures.
• The knowledge and ability to work in multiple languages is highly desirable.

About the Organization

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an international organization working with leaders in government, the private sector and civil society to drive further, faster action toward achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for universal access to sustainable energy by 2030, and the Paris Agreement, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate warming to well below 2° Celsius (and striving for 1.5° Celsius).

Achieving these goals will require a radical rethink of the way we produce, distribute and consume energy. SEforALL is at the heart of this foundational shift to ensure no one is left behind. Drawing on data and evidence, we identify a critical path to success in achieving SDG7.

The 8th UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2012. Now an independent organization, we maintain close links with the UN, including through a relationship agreement, partnerships with UN agencies and with SEforALL's CEO acting as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative (SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. These roles include advising the UN Secretary General and his staff on issues relating to sustainable energy and the implementation of SDG7 and supporting the coordination of sustainable energy issues in the United Nations system.

The ambitions of SDG7 are extraordinary. Aiming to achieve them in the context of the Paris Agreement on climate change involves transformation at a scale never undertaken before. Swift action must be taken by leaders in governments, private sector companies, institutions, financiers, development banks, unions, communities, entrepreneurs and civil society. As we enter the final decade to achieve SDG7, SEforALL has strategically chosen to strengthen global agenda-setting while expanding its activities to an engagement model that prioritizes data-driven decision-making, partnerships with high-impact countries and implementation on the ground. SEforALL’s current three-year business plan outlines “results offers” that scope out our planned interventions and demonstrate to our funding partners the impact of their support. http://www.seforall.org