Overview of position

Office / Unit / Project Description:

Protracted conflict in Yemen has not only caused widespread damage & displacement but also significantly reduced livelihood opportunities & food security. Weaknesses within community institutions & local authority have eroded the social contract between them, whilst marginalization of communities’ further limits access to services & social cohesion. Local & community institutions are under resourced & under capacitated, limiting access to basic services. Communities are also subject to environmental shocks & threats at a time when coping mechanisms, strategies & assets are significantly depleted. Exposure to environmental stressors exacerbates the existing precarious situation & requires risk reduction strategies to mitigate the potential for further disaster. The combination of these hardships not only leads to increased vulnerability to the point of famine but also further weakens social cohesion & leads to inter community conflict. With critical levels of acute malnutrition, Tai’z lowland & Hajjah lowland were in IPC AMN phase 4 during the period of January to July 2020. While these 2 zones remained in IPC AMN phase 4, the acute malnutrition situation was projected to further deteriorate & the following zones were projected to move to IPC AMN phase 4 during the period of January – March 2021: Abyan lowland, Lahj lowland, Hodeidah highland, Hodeida lowland. Over 2.25 million cases of acutely malnourished children are estimated to require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition in 2021. The 4 zones with the highest numbers of global acute malnutrition cases are respectively: Hodeidah lowland, Taiz highland, Sana’a city & Hajjah lowland. These 4 zones account for over 40% of the total expected cases of acute malnutrition in the country. In terms of severity based on the prevalence of global acute malnutrition, the following 7 zones are the worst affected: Hodeidah lowland, Hodeidah highland, Abyan lowland, Lahj lowland, Taiz lowland, Hajjah lowland & west Dhamar. The combined global acute malnutrition prevalence is at or above 20% in these 7 zones. The combined global acute malnutrition prevalence in the Hodeida governorate (both lowland & highland) exceeds 30%, indicating very severe conditions. Given the projected trends of the contributing factors & other contextual information, the situation is likely to further deteriorate. Income generating activities, small businesses & both formal & informal employment opportunities continue to be profoundly impacted by the conflict, as well as the impact of Covid-19. Many households, especially female headed, the poorest, IDPs & the marginalized, lost their source of income due to damage to infrastructure, the collapse of the local economy & the closure of businesses, including but not limited to the agricultural sector which the World Bank (using ILO data) identifies as employing 28% of target communities (42% for women) & 48% of the population in vulnerable employment. Employment & care services are affected for women workers in general & particularly for informal & domestic workers. The Covid-19 outbreak profoundly impacted women’s ability to maintain their livelihoods, quarantines significantly reduce economic & subsistence activities & disproportionately affect employment generating sectors that are predominately female, such as care services & trade. In this context, the risks of social & domestic challenges that women & girls face increase exponentially. As per our clients study on the “impact of Covid-19 on MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises)”, women who own MSMEs face challenges in sustaining their enterprises; more than 37%of female owned MSMEs experienced revenue losses of 40 – 60%. In terms of the access to markets, the general pattern from the findings shows a stronger association between Covid-19-related restrictions & sales constraints than with input constraints. Our client in Yemen seeks to hire a Renewable Energy Officer (ERRY III) based in their country office in Sana’a to support the solar component implementation to promote & provide access to clean / sustainable energy to most needy people in Yemen. The Officer would also support renewable energy initiatives of the country offices in various targeted locations by providing technical assistance, developing operational guidance, & standard operating procedures for the project team & specialists. The expertise of Renewable Energy Officers can also be harnessed by program units such as governance & rule of law, economic resilience & recovery unit & peace support facility. The ERRY III interventions are designed to contribute to the below goals & outcomes: The overall objective (goal) of the program crisis affected communities are better able to manage local risks & shocks for increased resilience & self reliance. Specific objectives (outcomes) include:

Outcome 1: Community institutions are strengthened & capacitated on gender sensitive resilience planning, conflict resolution & social cohesion.
Outcome 2: Vulnerable communities benefit from equal access to clean energy solutions, environmental protection & climate adaptive capacity in a sustainable manner.
Outcome 3: Sustainable livelihoods for women & men are created through improved production, food security & income opportunities.

Role objectives

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Project Analyst – Renewable Energy will be based in Sana’a & will lead the coordination & implementation of outcome 2 activities. Following are the specific roles & responsibilities of the Officer.

Summary of key functions:

Lead on project implementation, including delivery of technical, operational, financial & administrative outputs & tracking the progress of the project by monitoring & reporting of solar energy, renewable energy intervention.
Act as a principal focal point & technical expert for the waste to energy project implementation.
Ensure knowledge management / development & provision of technical advice to relevant project stakeholders on solar energy applications, including waste to energy project implementation.
Development of strategic partnerships.
Development of technical & financial designs for all renewable energy interventions including solar for health, education, local offices, productive associations, drinking water, irrigation, solar & wind micro & mini grid, waste to energy, water desalination etc.
Ensure gender mainstreaming within the project.
Lead on youth innovation activities to promote local production of sustainable solutions in the field of renewable energy such as solar Tuk – Tuk, automatic production machines, solar cooling solutions & other related applications.
Lead on the local assembly activities of solar pico / small scale & household solutions & clean smokeless cooking stoves.
Support our clients projects on solar energy intervention & provides technical assistance as & when required.
Support our clients country office on renewable energy initiative, such as waste to energy to support Aden, Hodeidah & Sana’a offices.
Work closely with Project Manager to support solar working group established at the national level.
Lead on renewable energy innovation initiatives for ERRY II project.
Support Participating UN organizations (PUNOs) & provide technical assistance on solar & renewable energy initiatives under ERRY joint program.
Provide technical assistance & hand holding support to implementing partners, public institutions (health, education & local offices) on solar energy intervention.
Support project team to carry out the baseline, end line, market assessments.
Support project team to carry out micronarrative studies.
Develop manual & guidelines for the solar & renewable energy initiatives in Yemen.
Support project team to carry out solar mapping in Yemen.

Specific tasks & responsibilities:

Lead on project implementation, including delivery of technical, operational, financial & administrative outputs & tracking the progress of the project by monitoring & reporting:

Act as focal point for all solar energy activities led by our client, both internally & externally.
Oversee the contracting process of implementing partners & contractors, including budget, work plans & capacity assessments, according to our clients rules & regulations.
Support the implementation of M&E framework for the solar energy activities, in close coordination with our clients M&E Officer, according to their rules & regulations & standards for donor reporting.
Conduct spot checks & field visits to project location sites.
Prepare reports in English & Arabic on renewable energy activities, for internal & external audiences such as our clients management & donors.
Record issues, risks & lessons learnt before, during & after projects completion.

Act as a principal focal point & technical expert for the waste to energy pilot initiative & other innovative startups:

Support project team in building rapport with private sector on WtE initiatives.
Facilitate feasibility study on waste to energy.
Support implementing partners to initiate dialogues with private sectors, local authority & communities in consultation with technical specialists.
Responsible for the implementation of WtE pilot initiatives including gasification & plastic recycling plants.
Design low cost start up business models to improve access to decentralized energy services.

Ensure knowledge management / development, communications & provision of technical advice to relevant project stakeholders on solar energy applications:

Identification & synthesis of best practices & lessons learned into project goals.
Develop the capacities of stakeholders including implementing partners & PUNOs on key technical & managerial areas where our clients support would be beneficial (such as & not restricted to solar energy applications, market mix, maintenance, relationships between different solar energy actors, etc).
Ensure the synergy with other ERRY components as well as with PUNOs.
Develop the capacities of our clients staff in the area of solar energy, with a focus on field staff in targeted governorates.
Contribute to timely communication & outreach, in close coordination with the Communications Specialist, through social media, success stories, blogs & press releases.
Share relevant & substantive & operational experiences with other colleagues & counterparts (develop knowledge products to be shared with the project partners).

Development partnerships:

Develops strong relationships with the implementing partners / contractors.
Liaise with relevant actors to promote linkages between solar energy & the different economic restoration activities & other participating UN agencies to the ERRY joint program to maximize impact.
Establish effective linkages with other cient projects & with other initiatives in the sector with a view to developing substantive partnerships & generating synergies.
Prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for joint initiatives, recommend approaches to the management team in terms of recommended activities with potential for scale up & replicability.
Closely liaise with the Entrepreneurship Specialist to embed renewable energy activities in enterprise recovery & support to the private sector.

Support PUNOs in technical assistance:

Provide technical & supervisory support to PUNOs for the implementation of solar programming.
Support World Food Program “WFP” in the implementation of solar program in Sana’a target areas.
Support International Labour Organization “ILO” in the development of training materials related to vocational training in the field of renewable energy interventions.
Support Food & Agriculture Organization “FAO” in the solarization of dairy production groups & Water User Associations “WUAs”.

Support private sector capacity building on waste to energy business model development:

Support private sector to tailor made the gasification model suiting to Yemen needs.
Work closely with private sector in developing the energy model from the waste.
Identify & support private sector in scaling up the waste to energy model in Yemen.

Support in the diversification of renewable energy approaches through innovation model:

Develop PAY AS YOU GO model for relevant sector.
Develop waste, water & wind model under the ERRY & support country office in the replication.

Project reporting

This Project Analyst Renewable Energy reports to ERRY III Project Manager.

Key competencies

Master’s Degree in Power Engineering, Renewable Energy, or any related field or Bachelor’s Degree in a related field with additional 2 years of relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of a Master’s degree.
Minimum 2 years with Master’s degree or 4 years with Bachelor’s Degree.
Experience in implementing solar & preferably in wind micro & mini grids.
Preferably experience in developing & implementing the WtE model, gasification plant, plastic recycling plants.
Preferably experience in developing & implementing solar water desalination plants.
Experience in the development of operational guidelines, good practices, capacity building & vocational training materials in the field of solar / renewable energy.
Experience in the designing & implementation of solar energy solutions for the health sector including the vaccine cold chain.
Experience in financial modeling of renewable energy projects.
Experience liaising with local authorities, institutions, NGOs & the private sector is an advantage.
Experience in implementing / managing / coordinating solar / renewable energy projects, rural development particularly in the rural areas
Strong planning & organizational skills, ability to handle planning & budgeting or multiple concurrent projects / activities.
Strong knowledge of the potential environmental impact, GHGs of conventional energy & climate finance.
Previous experience in the UN system & cooperation with the INGOs / NGOs is a strong asset.
Proficient computer skills & use of relevant software & other applications.
Experience in the establishment of MSMEs in the field of renewable energy.
Proficient user of Helioscope, Homer & other energy analysis & financial modeling software.
Knowledge of UN program management procedures & policies, including experience in procurement procedures is an asset.
Experience in the promotion of local production & assembly of clean energy solutions.
Experience in designing PV, wind & biogas systems both on & off grid & hybrid with / without storage.
Excellent computer literacy excellent communications, report writing & analytical skills.
Discretion & sound reasoning in dealing with sensitive matters, ability to independently solve complex & challenging problems.
Experience in the implementation of a youth innovation project for promoting sustainable & clean energy solutions.
Experience in implementing energy need assessments for large scale facilities is an asset.
Ability to work under pressure & meet deadlines.
Proficiency in English & Arabic both oral & writing.
Professional Certification from accredited entities on energy management, renewable energy & financial modelling of energy business models is an asset.
Look beyond conventional approaches & established methods.
Open minded & curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.
Be flexible in handling change & adopt new ideas, approaches & ways of working.
Demonstrate focus on achieving quality results & impact.
Treat all individuals with respect, consider ethical implications & respond sensitively to all differences among people.
Knowledge of evaluating businesses, projects, budgets & other finance related transactions to determine their performance & suitability.
Energy efficiency concepts, renewable energy, access to energy, technologies & practical application.
Energy access in crisis settings knowledge of energy access concepts & / or issues & the ability to apply to strategic & / or practical situations of climate change.