Regional Policy Coordinator for Francophone West Africa

The Climate Parliament is a global network of legislators, dedicated to combating climate change by accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Our global secretariat works to help MPs understand the threat of unchecked climate change, as well as the many other risks associated with fossil fuels, including health impacts. We support legislators in taking political, legislative and budgetary initiatives to promote solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal and other forms of renewable energy. 

We have established networks of legislators in national parliaments in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East & North Africa, in addition to the European Parliament. The successful candidate will be joining the Climate Parliament at an exciting time as we embark on a new global project building on the considerable successes of the last three years, in which we leveraged over $1 billion in new public support for renewable energy. 

Sub-Saharan Africa has vast – and currently largely untapped – potential for renewable energy. We work together with legislators in national parliaments to advocate for more ambitious national targets for renewable energy, and stronger policy, legislative and financial incentives for the sector. We also stress the importance of new grids to enable the transition to renewables. For off-grid villages, mini-grids can enable people to harness local energy resources such as solar, biomass and small hydro.  A large-scale regional supergrid can connect everyone who is on the grid to the areas with most abundant renewable resources. 

Around the world, Climate Parliament has had substantial success in initiating policy interventions for renewable energy. Could you help us to continue and expand our work in Francophone West Africa?

ABOUT THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE:

Essential:

• A personal commitment to urgent action on climate change.
• Robust knowledge of the renewable energy sector, and experience working on energy policy issues.
• Strong communicator with a self-confident personality and proven networking skills.
• Highly organised, self-motivated, and self-sufficient administrator
• Cooperative team player, with a willingness and ability to provide administrative and logistical support as necessary to MPs in our network and assist with logistical planning and execution of workshops, meetings and international events.
• Fully fluent in English and French, both written and spoken.
• Good university degree in a relevant discipline.
• Familiarity with policy-making processes at a high level.  
• Proven research and writing skills.

Desirable:

• Experience working with parliamentarians or in public-facing roles, building and maintaining relationships with key figures via face-to-face meetings as well as telephone contact
• Some familiarity with politics, government, or the energy sector of  Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, and / or Senegal.
• Proven administrative or logistical competence in events organisation
• Confident and autonomous user of web-based technologies, including online applications and smartphone apps (most of our team collaboration is managed online).

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Based in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, or Senegal, and reporting to the UK-based Global Team, the Policy Coordinator will:

• Co-ordinate Climate Parliament’s work in Francophone Africa, with a particular focus on Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal.
• Research and prepare policy briefs, papers and materials on the development of the renewable energy sector in the target countries.
• Working with expert advisers, identify opportunities for parliamentary action to develop renewables in Francophone Africa.
• Assist MPs in taking action on renewable energy by drafting Parliamentary Questions, letters to Ministers or policy proposals.
• Lead on administrative and logistical tasks in the region, including the organisation of workshops, briefings, and international meetings for key stakeholders
• Liaise with partner organisations on research and policy initiatives.
• Help raise funds from development agencies, business leaders and foundations to expand the Climate Parliament's work in Francophone Africa.
• Carry out any other tasks the Climate Parliament may require.

To apply, please send a CV (resumé), as well as a covering letter explaining your suitability for the position (both as .PDF attachments), to recruitment [at] climateparl.net, with “West Africa Policy Coordinator” as the subject line of the email. Please ensure your CV contains full contact details, including a telephone number. Please state where you first saw this job advertised.

Kindly note that we cannot respond to questions from individual applicants - if you believe you meet the person specification, please submit an application as directed above. If you are shortlisted, we will contact you by email in the first instance. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, you may assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. Thanks for your understanding.