Renewable Energy/Rural Electrification Policy Advisor (Part Time)

The Government of Botswana and UNDP are currently seeking motivated candidates with appropriate experience for the post of Renewable Energy (Solar PV) Policy Advisor for the Renewable Energy-based Rural Electrification Programme (RE Botswana).

The Policy Advisor (PA) will report to the Chairperson of the RE Botswana Project Steering Committee (PSC), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources via the Director of Energy Affairs who is the focal point for responsibility and accountability in the Government.

In performing his duties, the PA will work closely with the Project Manager (PM) who is internally appointed by BPC and responsible for day-to-day management and successfully running the project, as well as with the responsible officer(s) at the Energy Affairs Department. In this respect, it is expected that in order to facilitate capacity building and skills transfer, the EAD will nominate officers that will be responsible for each of the main areas of support and lead the respective national processes.

The post of Policy Advisor will be a part-time national or international home-based appointment of 12 months duration, renewable upon request by the PSC. It is estimated that the level of engagement of the PA will be approximately 105 working days over the 12 months contract period.

The PA will be home-based but when in Botswana will be based at the Energy Affairs Department of the MMEWR.

In general, the PA will provide expertise relating to development of policy and policy frameworks and support to address sector wide issues relating to renewable energy as required under the RE-Botswana programme.

The PA must provide guidance and advice to ensure the successful delivery of expected outputs and the technical assurance of the project. More specifically the duties of PA will include, but not limited to, the following:

• Provide advice on policy, policy development and institutional arrangements, in particular to guide the PM in project planning that will involve the implementation of monitoring and evaluation plan with indicator, baseline and target for each output, and the detailed annual work plan and budget on the basis of the logical framework. 
• Provide advice to ensure that the outputs which are to arise from the project are of high quality and meet the stated objectives.
• Serve as a source of objective advice at the planning, policy, management and implementation levels.
• Liaise with global policy community and feed the latest information and data on relevant developments and experience to the project.  
• Participate in Technical Advisor Group and attend the PSC meeting to provide assessment of the quality, quantity and timeliness of progress against the work plan.    
• Advise PM for monitoring and reporting requirements such as the preparation of Quarterly Progress Report, Annual Project Report and Project Implementation Review. 
• Capacity building of counterparts and other local staff to ensure effective skills and responsibility transfer.  

This will include direct support for the following project components:

• Component 2 (Policy and Policy Framework) – the PA will support all activities under this component; this includes finalising the Draft National Energy Policy, facilitation of the development of an integrated National Energy Strategy.

Specific deliverable will include:

• Review and provide input in the Draft Energy Policy and support the development of the High Level Policy Strategies;
• Facilitate ministerial consultation and incorporation of comments, Summarization to parliament and finalization of the White Paper on Energy.
• On the basis of white paper, support the development of a National Energy Strategy.
• Support the development the National Energy Strategy Action Plan
• Rural Energy Strategy Plan
• Urban Energy Strategy Plan
• Component 3 (Awareness Raising) – the PA will support those activities being executed by EAD which is primarily targeted at general public and decision makers.
• Component 4 (Public and Private Sector Strengthening and Training) – the PA will provide support to training needs assessment and implementation of training programmes at EAD; support EAD to facilitate institutional arrangements required to establish solar energy as part of the accredited national training programmes of BOTA, MTTC and DVET; support Solar Industry Association of Botswana to implement its business plan.
• Component 5 (Financial Engineering) – the PA will support the establishment of a Rural Electrification Fund which will provide subsidy on an integrated basis to grid and non-grid electrification programmes, including BPC-Lesedi.
• Component 6 (Learning and Replication) – the PA will oversee the establishment and implementation of a project impact assessment framework and system for EAD, with application to the RE-Botswana project.
  
  

The PA will have the following experience:

• At least 5 years work experience in a senior role in the preparation, implementation and communication of public policy, strategy and fiscal initiatives, especially relating to renewable energy and rural electrification;
• A least 5 years work experience in public and private sector strengthening in developing countries; Experience with the energy sector and particularly renewable energy in the Southern Africa region will be a distinctive advantage.
• Clear linkages with the global renewable and rural energy policy, climate change and rural development community is essential;
• Highly developed personal communication and people skills with evidence of track record in effective team work and collaboration is essential;
• Experience in design and implementation of public financing schemes for rural infrastructure, in particular, rural electrification is an advantage;
• Demonstrated track record in accessing and feeding the latest international experience and initiatives into local policy development, in particular carbon market development is an advantage;
• Demonstrated high level technical writing and communications skills in particular in the preparation of public policy and strategy documents, policy communication, cabinet submissions, and high level institutional agreements is an advantage;

The PA will have the following qualifications:

• An internationally recognised post-graduate degree in economics, international development, public policy, environmental management or other related field. Additional qualifications in a related field such as Energy Policy, Public Financing or Environmental Management would be an advantage;
• In order to minimize travel costs, preference might be given to qualified and suitable candidates based in the Southern African region.