Job Description
We are looking for a reliable and self-driven professional to join our Results-based Financing team either in our offices in New York City (USA) or in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Senior Specialist will lead the development and finalization of the Universal Energy Facility (UEF) Platform for solar systems for productive uses and clean cooking. They will hold responsibilities for various project approvals, providing technical expertise and supervising the evaluations of applications received for UEF grant funding.
The successful candidate will be a professional with relevant work experience in the energy sector, expertise in energy access, particularly decentralized energy solutions in Africa, knowledge of energy policies and energy systems in a developing country context, and excellent communication and coordination skills.
Closing date for submitting applications is February 8, 2022 at 23:59 CET.
Duties and Accountabilities
The main duties and tasks of the role include, but are not limited to:
- Hold responsibility for:
- Pre-qualification review and approvals;
- Project proposal approval
- Contract and disbursement management;
- Connection verifications;
- Project modification approval.
- Lead development and finalization of UEF Platform for solar systems for productive uses and clean cooking.
- Provide technical expertise and supervise evaluations of applications for UEF grant funding for mini grids, solar systems for productive uses, and clean cooking.
- Provide support to the SRSG/CEO for SEforALL on RBF, including assisting in developing briefings, talking points and other communications as needed.
- Serve as the Monitoring Evaluation, and Learning liaison to drive KPI development.
- Represent SEforALL in different RBF related meetings, as needed.
- Communication and outreach to different stakeholders funding or working on RBF Schemes.
- Coordinate donor management and reporting with the PM, RBF.
- 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., Salesforce.
- Other tasks and duties as may be required.
The ideal candidate would have:
- Master’s degree in energy economics, energy infrastructure, or in another relevant discipline;
- At least 8 years of work experience in the energy sector.
- Knowledge of energy policies and energy systems in a developing country context.
- Recognized expertise in energy access, particularly decentralized energy solutions in Africa.
- French language competency is strongly desired
General Competences for the Role
- Innovation and Adaptability: Has expert skills and commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities. Is flexible to evolving circumstances, as well as helps others in doing so.
- Resilience and Emotional Intelligence: Has expert knowledge in the concepts of resilience and emotional intelligence. Is able to remain calm in challenging situations, to cope with setbacks, is responsive to the emotions of others and maintains a high level of performance.
- Analytical and Strategic Thinking: Has an expert level of analytical and strategic thinking skills. Gathers and processes demanding information, develops innovative solutions and contributes by representing topics/approaches in internal and cross-functional working groups/teams.
- Collaboration and Partnership: Demonstrates expert initiative and abilities to collaborate and form partnerships in own area of responsibility, across teams and externally. Builds and maintains effective relationships at all levels inside and outside the organisation. Displays team-oriented attitude contributing to creating a positive team spirit.
- Lead and Empower: Demonstrates initiative and role model behaviour in leading and empowering others. Takes responsibility for own work activities and personal actions and carries out the commitments agreed upon.
- Political and diplomatic understanding: Has an expert level of political and diplomatic understanding.
- Communicating information: Has expert skills in communicating information and uses the skills effectively in own scope of work and in others’ work.
- Research and Analytics: Has expert skills in research and analytics. Promotes the use of data within the team and to contribute to wider decision making.
- Project Management: Has expert skills in project management. Plans and organises their own work using project management tools in support of achieving the team’s objectives.
- Client Orientation / Striving for Excellence: Has expert skills in client orientation and achieving excellency in work delivery
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
