Integrated Energy Planning Consultant

Job Description

Context and Objective of Assignment: There is now broad recognition within the development community that integrated energy planning – covering grid, mini-grid and off-grid solutions as well as clean cooking – is key to achieving universal access, and that geospatial modelling provides a low-cost, dynamic and data-driven means of energy prioritization and planning. With the overall goal of helping to deliver universal access to electricity and clean cooking, SEforALL has prioritized the development of Integrated Energy Plans as one of its key pillars in its new 3-year Business Plan.

Through its new Universal Integrated Energy Plans (UIEP) initiative, SEforALL seeks to accelerate the development and adoption of ‘world class’ integrated energy plans (IEPs) as a way of helping high energy access-deficit countries gain a more integrated and data-driven understanding of the technologies and spending required to achieve universal energy access. To do this, SEforALL is working to ‘set the standard’ for what a world class IEP should be and is advocating for the widespread adoption of integrated energy planning to guide universal energy access efforts. SEforALL is also working with governments to showcase, learn from, and commission IEPs.

Under the overall supervision of Director International Relations and Special Projects, and general direction from the SEforALL’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief of Staff, and support from the Lead, Integrated Energy Planning and Powering Health Care, the Consultant will lead SEforALL’s UIEP initiative, ensuring that it is well managed, achieves its objectives and is responsive to changing client/partner needs.

The assignment combines project management and technical support and back-stopping in the field of energy access planning, particulary around Geographic Information System (GIS) and energy modeling. The position requires a dynamic and highly motivated professional with excellent problem-solving capabilities and analytical skills, management and coordination skills, high-level stakeholder engagement and management, sound judgment, communication skills and the capacity to deliver under tight deadlines.

Duties and Accountabilities

The role involves the day-to-day management of Universal Integrated Energy Planning (UIEP) initiative, and responsibility for the functional focus of the discipline. The Consultant will also manage a small team of IEP professionals. The main responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Creates standards, guidance and tools that define what a ‘world class’ IEP is and how it should be used and developed; this will involve convening experts and documenting and sharing lessons and best practices among energy planners and modelers.
• Provide tailored advisory support to countries that have developed or are developing an IEP to help them better utilize their IEPs and translate them into policies, finance and action;
• Support governments in developing/enhancing IEPs. This will involve:
  • Identifying opportunities to support countries based on where IEPs may not exist or where they could be improved upon (including clean cooking).
  • Establishing and managing partnerships with governments and other relevant stakeholders.
  • Developing scopes of work based on country needs and opportunities.
  • Identifying and evaluating analytical partners to provide geospatial modeling and other technical services.
  • Managing and overseeing analytical partners, including providing quality control, technical backstopping and ensuring outputs are delivered according to plan.
  • Facilitating stakeholder buy-in and commitments and representing SEforALL in different stakeholder meetings, as needed.
• Build demand for and knowledge of IEPs by organizing high-level events and South-South learning workshops.
• Oversee and manage staff, workplans, budgets and monitoring and reporting related to the
• Consult with the CEO and other Results Offer leaders such as directors and programme managers as appropriate.
• Contribute by representing UIEP topics in other working groups.
• Coordinate different UIEP topics, projects and timelines.

Qualifications and Experience

• Completed relevant Master’s degree in energy, geography, engineering or another related field.
• Longstanding or extensive relevant work experience on energy, particularly energy access, of which at at least 3 years must be expertise in electrification planning and/or modeling.
• Preference for candidates with demonstrated knowledge of and experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial analysis and visualization; prior use of these tools and techniques in developing integrated energy plans is an advantage.
• Experience working in Africa and/or Asia, specifically with off grid/mini grid actors, energy utilities, energy ministries, local governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Experience in a fast-paced environment that requires high flexibility and a commitment to results.
• Experience in operating across multiple time zones and with distributed teams.
• Complete fluency in English with strong written and verbal communication skills are required. Knowledge and ability to work in French is an advantage.

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 below 2° 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.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2011. 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 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. The new SEforALL 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