Senior Energy Specialist job vacancy at World Bank Group Full Time

Background & General 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. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Eastern and Southern Africa

Home to about half a billion of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The subregion boasts of some of the world’s richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.

The subregion harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continues to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

The World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,207 staff, mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities:

* Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.
* Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030 – a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
* Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.
* Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities.
* Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption:  In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure.
* Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.
* Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Bank is a dedicated partner for Eastern and Southern African countries, helping them deliver strong development outcomes for their people. A brighter future for Africa is a better future for the world.

UNIT CONTEXT

The Energy & Extractives Global Practice of the World Bank Group is made up of more than 300 professionals, a 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. 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 extractive 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.

The Africa energy sector grouping consists of four Units across two regions of East and Southern Africa and newly created VPU of West and Central Africa. The position is based in Kampala, Uganda supporting the East Africa unit (IAEE1).

The Bank is engaged in all aspects of the energy sector development in Uganda, covering electricity generation, transmission, regional integration, and distribution including last-mile electrification; support for accelerating energy access for households, commercial enterprises, industrial parks, and public institutions using both grid and off-grid electrification; promoting initiatives for clean cooking solutions for household and public institutions; promoting productive uses of electricity for income generating activities; technical assistance on energy policy, regulatory, and institutional framework, and capacity building of sector institutions; and interconnection with neighboring countries as part of the efforts to enable Uganda to be connected to the regional electricity network and improve the conditions for trade and resource optimization. The current portfolio in Uganda’s energy sector comprises of three projects under implementation with over US$810 million IDA/GEF/CTF/ESMAP financing, focusing on scaling up both on-grid and off-grid electricity connections, as well as extension and strengthening of the distribution and transmission infrastructure.

This position is based in Kampala, Uganda to support the design and implementation of existing and pipeline projects in Uganda. The focus will be across the entire energy sector portfolio including the electricity value chain and the broader electrification and regional integration agenda, and the related policy dialogue. As a member of the Uganda energy team, the selected candidate is expected to play a key role in design and implementation of the on-going and future World Bank support in energy in East Africa in general and in Uganda in particular.

Duties & Accountabilities

The East Africa unit (IAFE1) of the World Bank seeks a Senior Energy Specialist to work with Government, donors and partners while leading/coordinating World Bank’s Energy program in Uganda. The work entails strategic, advisory, and operational work in the energy sector. The main responsibility of the candidate will be to support the ongoing sector dialogue, implementation of the investment lending operations, preparation of pipeline, as well as analytical work Uganda’s energy sector. The candidate will also be required to provide support to other country and regional teams in East Africa, including the supervision of Southern Africa Power Pool transmission interconnection projects that are linked to Uganda. The selected candidate will also lead teams, provide guidance and mentoring to junior staff on operational, policy dialogue and analytical activities.

The responsibilities of the selected candidate will include:

• Lead or co-lead energy sector strategy development and policy dialogue with Government and development partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention.
  • Lead or co-Lead the preparation and supervision of investment operations in Uganda, including energy access (both grid and off-grid), improved cookstoves, productive uses of energy, and transmission and distribution network strengthening and expansion, including regional integration projects.
  • Contribute to the Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD) approach. The Africa Energy Team is a key contributor to the WBG strategy for MFD with the objective to help countries maximize their development resources by drawing on a range of financing sources and sustainable private sector solutions. You will work with IFC and MIGA for the ongoing and new WBG collaboration on existing and potential PPP opportunities in Uganda.
  • Contribute to the preparation of analytical and advisory reports and studies on strategic energy sector issues, including the second generation of power sector reforms, transmission and distribution, renewable energy, climate change, energy efficiency, and potentially other regional energy programs, as well as inputs to report management.
  • Lead the drafting and inputs for sector and country briefings, analytical and advisory reports and studies on utility and power sector reforms, transmission and distribution, renewable energy; energy efficiency, and other programs within the AFR Energy portfolio.
  • Assume an active role in the Uganda Energy Team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the energy development agenda in core Bank products, including the country partnership framework, strategic country diagnostic, country economic memorandum, and climate agenda.
  • Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts, internally with other practices and WBG and externally with other donors and partners, to optimize complementarities with Bank supported projects and program;
  • Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.
  • Draft and provide timely contributions to project documents and follow-up of official missions, including the drafting of Aide Memoires, official correspondence, and project completion reports.
  • Develop strong working relationships with the Government agencies (i.e., Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda Energy Credit Capitalization Company, Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited), and work with them in project preparation and supervision, ensuring implementation according to project design and to a high technical standard, identifying potential problem areas and proactively recommending appropriate measures to resolve issues and ensure that project implementation remains on schedule.
  • Develop strong relationships with the Country Management Unit, providing inputs to operational products/outputs for sector and country briefings, analytical and advisory reports and studies, portfolio performance and monitoring reviews, and acting as liaison with the country unit on energy issues.

Selection Criteria

– Master’s degree in engineering, energy planning/economics, sustainable energy, business administration, or equivalent areas relevant for energy sector development;
– At least 8 years of experience in the energy sector in the World Bank, other international institutions and/or companies, government agencies, and/or power sector utilities with track record of strong performance;
– Understanding of energy policies, planning, regulations, technologies or strategies, private sector participation, and institutional development needed to support development and for the success of project and analytic work;
–  Experience in any part of the energy value chain (planning, generation, transmission, distribution, or regulation), and sector reforms and experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa. Experience in working in Uganda energy sector will be an added advantage;
–  Experience in working in World Bank or other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) lending and non-lending operations is desirable;
–  Ability to think strategically, work independently, and multi-task complex projects effectively;
–  Ability to develop, analyze and articulate project issues and to diagnose problems and propose reliable solutions;
–  Demonstrated maturity and aptitude to represent the World Bank in high-level policy dialogue;
–  High level of excitement, ability to work independently, taking initiative, and flexibility in quickly adjusting to changing work program requirements;
–  Active listening skills, excellent interpersonal skills, able to influence the audience and build positive relationships with clients, different partners and colleagues across units and departmental boundaries in a multi-cultural environment with disperse teams located in different countries;
–  Excellent oral and written communications skills, including demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with clients and colleagues at different levels of the organization and in a multi-cultural environment;

Technical competencies

–  Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena – Translate technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level;
–  Policy Dialogue Skills – Anticipate needs and requests in the field and conduct independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners;
–  Integrative Skills – Understand relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations;
–  Energy Sector Technologies – Experience of applying technical knowledge (hydrocarbon, power generation, transmission and distribution, renewables, and energy efficiency) to projects as well as policy-related decisions and advice;
–  Energy Policy, Strategy and Institutions – Proven understanding of energy policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.

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