Senior Energy (Finance) Specialist at World Bank Group

The responsibilities of the selected candidate will include:

The Sr Energy Specialist/Sr Energy Finance Specialist, based in Nairobi, Kenya, will lead part of the Bank’s energy engagement in East and Southern Africa with primary responsibility to assist in mobilizing finances. This will involve liaising with potential investors, multilateral or bilateral donors, and financial institutions to secure funds for electrification, particularly those related to Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE). The Sr Energy Specialist would be expected to:

• Leverage knowledge of regional financial markets to identify potential sources of funding and investment opportunities. This includes understanding the investment climate and structuring deals to attract both domestic and international investors.
• Develop and implement innovative financing strategies and mechanisms to support the growth of DRE projects. This could involve exploring and promoting non-traditional forms of financing such as green bonds, blended finance, and crowd funding.
• Advise a range of Governments on energy policy and strategy as well as reform dialogue, with particular focus on acceleration access to electricity through a comprehensive approach (grid, mini grid, off-grid); (co-)lead the supervision and implementation support of the existing portfolio;
• Lead analytical work on DRE access, especially on financing aspects
• Build a pipeline of new investments supported by quality analytical work;
• Build on existing partnerships with development partners and other stakeholders (like AMDA, GOGLA, EREA, RERA, COMESA), to drive the broader electricity access agenda including improving conditions for access expansion in fragile states and core sector structural and financial sustainability reforms, and
• Liaise with the CMU, other GPs, and WBG on energy Access as well as climate change and resilience aspects.

Other responsibilities will include technical support to lending and non-lending programs, in particular in relationship to the DRE sector and with focus on finance:

• Lead or co-lead energy sector strategy development and policy dialogue.
• Lead the development of new lending, preparation, and supervision of investment operations in the energy sector with the aim to enhance quality, efficiency and pro-poor focus and accelerate implementation.
• Lead the preparation of analytical and advisory reports and studies on country and regional market analysis for electrification; geospatial planning; policy and regulations; mobilizing (semi) commercial financings; attracting mini grid and off-grid companies and progressive utilities; as well as skills development.
• Lead the drafting and inputs for sector and country briefings, analytical and advisory reports and studies on electrification, DRE acceleration, utility reform, transmission and distribution, renewable energy; energy efficiency, and other programs within the AFR Energy portfolio.
• Support the unit’s analytical agenda on improving access to energy services in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Assume an active role in the Kenya based DRE 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 etc.; and
• Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector (including AMDA and GOGLA) in order to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.
• Develop strong working relationships with the staff of other donor and financing agencies and co-operate with them in the preparation and supervision of projects.

Selection Criteria

• Master's degree in engineering, finance, business administration, economics, environment or equivalent areas relevant for energy sector development.
• At least 8 years of combined experience in the World Bank, other international institutions and/or companies, government agencies, and/or power sector utilities with demonstrated track record of successful engagement with relevant developmental programs and significant portion of this experience in the DRE (Distributed Renewable Energy) field.
• Seasoned professional with a broad understanding of the DRE/mini-grid space financial markets, investment climate, and structuring. This includes a deep understanding of financial markets, investment climates, and structuring of deals.
• Strong knowledge of operational challenges faced by mini-grid companies and power utilities in the region, and experience in designing solutions to address these challenges.
• Demonstrates proven understanding of energy policies, technologies or strategies, private sector participation, utility reform, and institutional development needed to support development and for the success of project and analytical work.
• Experience leading and/or playing key roles in policy dialogue with clients and stakeholders.
• Experience working on/with World Bank or other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) I) lending and non-lending operations is desirable.
• Track record in the development and implementation of innovative financing strategies and mechanisms. Experience with non-traditional forms of financing, such as green bonds, blended finance, and crowd funding, is highly desirable.
• Demonstrates active listening skills and the ability to influence the audience (such as counterparts in government, international partner organizations, academia, and Bank colleagues, senior staff and managers).
• An excellent track record in carrying out high quality and timely analytical reports and activities would be advantageous.
• Experience working with large global teams, to produce high-quality results and outputs with minimal supervision is required;
• High level of motivation, ability to work independently, taking initiative, and flexibility in quickly adjusting to changing work program requirements;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to build strong partnerships with clients, different stakeholders and colleagues across units and departmental boundaries in a multi-cultural environment with virtual teams located in different countries;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, able to communicate complex issues in simple terms and to engage in evidence-based dialogue with clients; French language Skills required, and
• Demonstrates strong understanding and able to translate technical analyses into policies, operations and/or research of at least one of relevant thematic business lines such as Energy Access; Economics, Markets & Institution; Oil & Gas; Energy Efficiency; Renewable Energy; Energy Finance; Hydropower; Power Systems & Technologies.