GIS Analyst, Energy Access Explorer at World Resources Institute (WRI)

This is a full time limited term position ending 31/12/2022

Job Summary

In this role, you will have the unique opportunity to learn from one of WRI’s high impact initiatives to improve how we create, publish, analyze, visualize, and share data to advance sustainable development. You will join a team of highly motivated individuals, including members of WRI’s senior leadership, to support data and analytical work to link energy access and socio-economic development. More specifically, you will work on advancing WRI’s integrated geospatial energy planning work in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and the enhancement of Energy Access Explorer, an online, open, collaborative platform of actionable data to facilitate access to energy in unserved and underserved areas.

You will carry out GIS based modelling assignments and develop further Energy Access Explorer by incorporating spatial data layers on demand (such as demographics and socio-economic activities), supply (such as energy resource availability and infrastructure), environment and access to finance among other. To ensure the platform reflects user needs, you will build on and expand WRI’s engagements with key international partners and local stakeholders in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

WRI is committed to promote gender and social inclusion across our program portfolios. As such, the GIS Analyst will support the collection and integration of relevant geospatial data into the Energy Access Explorer.

Job Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the GIS Analyst will include the following:

Research & Knowledge (70 % of time required)

• Collecting, harmonizing, processing, integrating geographic datasets and documenting their metadata in Energy Access Explorer
• Building geospatial least-cost electrification models and conducting geospatial assessments to support the development of energy plans at both national and subnational level
• Tracking and incorporating case studies and user stories in Energy Access Explorer
• Supporting the development of capacity building and training material on Energy Access Explorer and geospatial electrification assessments and participating in relevant training workshops
• Supporting the development and write up of audience specific knowledge products
• Supporting the development of data standards for geospatial electrification tools to facilitate data sharing and its reuse

Administrative (30 % of time required)

• Engaging with local stakeholders (planning institutions, clean energy enterprises, development finance institutions, development organizations in the health, education, agriculture sectors) across countries
• Supporting the preparation of outreach material
• Organizing internal and external meetings, workshops, conferences, capacity building and other dissemination activities
• Liaising with WRI colleagues across programs and countries 
• Supporting the development of project proposals 

Job Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Energy Engineering, Energy Economics, Development Economics, Human Geography, or a related field
• Minimum 2 years of relevant full-time work experience 
• Demonstrated experience in one or more energy system modelling tools (e.g. OnSSET, Network Planner, Reference Electrification Model, Homer, LEAP etc.)
• Solid understanding of the international energy access space and demonstrated experience in handling energy related geographic datasets
• Proficiency in GIS software including QGIS, ArcGIS Desktop 10.x 
• Experience in spatial analysis (e.g., use of ArcGIS Spatial Analyst tools, Model Builder, Python scripting, or equivalent)
• Experience in handling publicly available GIS datasets, from global and national databases, crowd-sourcing platforms such as Open Street Maps and remote sensing databases
• Strong statistical and analytical skills
• Experience in multi-criteria decision analysis
• Exceptional research skills and experience in evaluating research methodologies
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent written skills with the ability to express complex concepts clearly and concisely
• Highly organized and attentive to detail
• Willingness to work effectively under pressure and take on new challenges as required

Preferred Qualifications:

• International work experience and good cross-cultural and interpersonal skills
• Confidence and independence to take initiative, with the awareness and judgement to seek help when needed
• Experience with cloud services such as GCS or AWS
• Experience with web development including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Mapbox