Senior Energy Specialist-Clean Cooking, Washington, United States
Organization: The World Bank
Country: United States
City: Washington
Office: World Bank in Washington, United States
Closing date: Friday, 24 March 2023
Senior Energy Specialist-Clean Cooking
Job #: req21619
Organization: World Bank
Sector: Energy
Grade: GG
Term Duration: 4 years 0 months
Recruitment Type: International Recruitment
Location: Washington, DC,United States
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s): French, Spanish
Closing Date: 3/24/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. Visit www.worldbank.org.
The Infrastructure Practice Group
Globally, 840 million people live more than 2 kilometers from all-weather roads, 1 billion people lack electricity, and 4 billion people lack Internet access. Access to basic infrastructure services is critical for creating economic opportunities for the poor. The Infrastructure (INF) Practice Group is charged with developing sustainable solutions to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/infrastructure
INF Vice Presidential Unit (VPU) currently consists of four global practices (GPs): Energy & Extractives (EEX), Transport, Digital Development (DD) and Infrastructure Finance, PPPs and Guarantees (IPG).
Energy and Extractives Global Practice (EEX)
Energy is at the heart of development. Energy makes possible the investments, innovations and new industries that are the engines of jobs, inclusive growth and shared prosperity for entire economies. Universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable and modern energy - Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 -- is essential to reach other SDGs and is at the center of efforts to tackle climate change. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy
There are around 300 staff professionally mapped to the Energy and Extractives Global Practice, of which about 90 mapped to EEX global units. Remaining staff is within regional energy units. EEX has an annual lending program in the order of US$5-7 billion a year, an active portfolio of some $40 billion, and a rich program of Advisory and Analytical Work. Regional energy units oversee and develop lending and non-lending energy operations in different subsectors including renewable energy, energy efficiency, utility performance, grid and off-grid access, regulatory and policy reforms. The EEX GP focuses on: providing affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to meet the needs of fast-growing economies and to ensure universal access to modern energy services for people in client countries; and, strengthening policy and institutional frameworks to promote transparent and equitable growth of the extractives sectors for public benefit. There is a strong emphasis on private sector resource mobilization and catalyzing financing from commercial and other sources of development and climate finance.
There are three global units for EEX: (a) the Infrastructure Energy Extractives Industry Unit (IEEXI) oversees and contributes to lending and non-lending activities in mining and hydrocarbon development with particular emphasis on transparency, governance, capacity building, and gender opportunities together with the regional units; and takes the leadership on global extractives initiatives; (b) the Infrastructure Energy Global Programs (IEEES) oversees mobilization and deployment of trust funds (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the climate funds); and (c) the Infrastructure Energy Global Knowledge & Expertise (IEEGK).
Energy Global Programs Unit (IEEES)
The Energy Global Programs Unit harbors the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Energy Climate Finance Team. The ESMAP is a donor-funded global knowledge and technical assistance program, administered by the World Bank. It provides analytical and advisory services to low- and middle-income countries to increase their know-how and institutional capacity to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth. Supporting over a hundred activities in countries around the world at any given time, ESMAP is an integral part of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice of the World Bank.
The Energy Climate Finance Team coordinates and manages the demand of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice for climate funds, including the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs, such as the Clean Technology Fund), Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and others.
Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
The ESMAP’s Business Plan FY21-24 focuses on supporting client countries on two overarching objectives: (i) Achieving universal access of energy by 2030 (SDG7) and (ii) achieving decarbonization across the energy sector in support of international commitment on climate change. The Business Plan is structured around four pillars (clean cooking, electricity access, renewable energy and accelerating decarbonization), and two cross-cutting or foundational programs (Foundations for the Energy Transition and the Energy Data and Analytics Hub). ESMAP provides a combination of self-managed analytical work in order to further scale-up the energy access and transition agendas, monitoring of grants to regional operational units to support regional and country-specific analyses and capacity building, and operational support for country-specific projects in the six Bank regions.
The Accelerating Decarbonization pillar consists of five programs, including the zero carbon public sector; efficient and clean cooling; industrial decarbonization; geothermal direct use; and green hydrogen.
Background
About 733 million people still live without electricity and 2.4 billion people still rely on solid fuels and traditional cookstoves for their cooking, with serious impacts on the health of millions of people and on the climate (CO2 emissions, deforestation, Short-Lived Climate Pollutants). Without universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services, it is impossible to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce poverty, broaden education and improve public health. Achieving universal access by 2030 is one of two identified ESMAP Business Plan FY2021-FY2024 objectives together with advancing decarbonization across the energy sector in support of international commitments on climate change.
ESMAP’s energy access objective is supported by two interlinked programs Clean Cooking Fund and Electricity Access which are underpinned by two cross-cutting programs on Foundations for the Energy Transition and Energy Data and Analytics.
Clean Cooking Fund. As a response to the need to scale up global efforts to accelerate access to clean cooking, ESMAP launched its US$500 million Clean Cooking Fund (CCF) at the UN 2019 Climate Summit. The CCF aims to scale up public and private investments in the clean cooking sector by co-financing with Multilateral Development Bank (MDB)‘s lending operations, catalyzing technology and business innovation, and linking incentives with verified results. The CCF is organized into two pillars of intervention. Pillar 1 is the Country/Regional Investment Program, which co-finances investment projects of the World Bank Group (WBG) to scale up public- and private-sector investments in the clean cooking sector. Pillar 2 is the Global Platform for Knowledge, Innovation, and Policy Coordination, which works with development partners to mobilize high-level political commitments for the clean cooking sector at both global and country levels, generate and disseminate knowledge, promote ongoing technology and business innovations, and improve policy coordination. More information about the CCF can be found from the ESMAP’s website https://esmap.org/clean-cooking-fund.
Duties and Accountabilities
ESMAP is seeking a highly motivated senior energy specialist to lead the overall implementation of the Clean Cooking Fund and provide support to country and regional teams. The selected candidate will undertake the following responsibilities.
A. Lead CCF co-financed investment projects‘ identification, preparation, and implementation
Since its launch, the CCF’s pillar 1 Country/Regional Investment Program has supported the preparation of six approved investment projects (in Chad, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) which are now under implementation with CCF co-financing of over US$40 million. The CCF is also administering the disbursement of 19 country and regional grants and providing just-in-time technical support to the country/regional teams which have contributed to market assessment, technical design, and development of national strategies to improve the ecosystem for the clean cooking sector. The selected candidate will
i) Engage with country/regional operational teams to develop CCF pipeline projects which would involve identifying co-investment opportunities, sharing CCF operational procedures, and providing technical guidance on project design and preparation.
ii) Lead review of CCF funding proposals (for Bank-Executed Trust Fund grant and/or Recipient-Executed Trust Fund) which would involve providing technical design inputs, sharing examples to enhance quality at the entry, and incorporating inputs from the review team.
iii) Provide technical guidance to CCF co-financed investment projects to ensure their quality implementation which would involve providing operations advice, sharing relevant country experiences, and advising/assigning relevant technical experts to support project implementation.
B. Lead CCF global platform for knowledge, innovation, and policy coordination
The CCF’s Pillar 2 works with development partners to mobilize high-level political commitment both at the global and country levels and increase knowledge, innovation, and policy coordination. The selected candidate will
i) Lead the CCF’s own-managed work program, fundraising, and reporting which would involve developing, delivering, and disseminating own-managed knowledge products, tracking CCF portfolio and results, preparing progress reports and sector briefs, and engaging and collaborating with donors and partners.
ii) Lead the clean cooking team (including mentoring junior staff), coordinate cross sectors within the World Bank, and manage a Clean Cooking Community of Practice.
iii) Contribute to the WBG corporate and global dialogue on clean cooking.
C. Cross support to regional/country operations
The selected candidate is expected to spend up to 50% of his/her time to provide cross-support to regional/country analytical and investment projects to enhance their design and implementation.
Selection Criteria
Master’s degree in Economics, Engineering, Public Policy, Business Administration, or equivalent areas relevant for energy sector development with a minimum of 8 years of relevant working experience in the World Bank, other international institutions, companies, and/or government agencies with demonstrated track record of successful engagement with relevant developmental programs and projects, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated strong understanding of the clean cooking/energy access sector.
Excellent communication skills and demonstrated ability to lead high-level dialogue.
Demonstrated capacity to lead teams but also act as an effective team member.
Experience working with large global teams, to produce high-quality results and outputs with minimal supervision is required.
High level of motivation, ability to work independently, and taking initiative.
Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to build strong partnerships with clients, different stakeholders and colleagues across units and departmental boundaries in a multi-cultural environment with virtual teams located in different countries.
Experience in results-based financing and catalyzing uptake of new approaches and technologies is preferred.
Experience in managing the World Bank lending operations and knowledge products is preferred.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.
Link to the organization’s job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1678223383481
