UNOPS

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development. UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources. 

UNOPS Global Portfolios bring together a range of expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and expert teams operating across regions, we lead complex, multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, peacebuilding and climate action.

We work in close collaboration with the UN family, governments and other local and international partners. Our work ranges from supporting mine action in some of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected contexts, to expanding access to healthcare and clean water, to helping protect the environment.

From Geneva, UNOPS strives to facilitate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade.

UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

UNOPS provides quality services, integrated solutions and management support to UN agencies, initiatives and partners in a strategic, cohesive, cost-effective and results-oriented manner. Geneva is also home to UNOPS Europe and Central Asia Regional Office.

Sustainable Energy for All has a global mandate to accelerate progress on the energy transition in emerging and developing countries. Hosted by UNOPS, we work at the intersection of energy, climate and development, partnering with governments and organizations worldwide to end energy poverty, double energy efficiency, significantly expand renewable energy and combat climate change.

Our vision is a world where everyone, everywhere, can lead a dignified life on a healthy planet, powered by sustainable energy. We promote this vision by pushing for higher ambitions, stronger policies, greater finance flows, increased localization and green jobs, and faster results toward an energy transition that leaves no one behind. 

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2011. Since then, our CEO has served as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

As part of the Global Portfolios Office, UNOPS Geneva provides comprehensive solutions in secretariat hosting, operational support, and fund management. We manage global programmes, including the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) Portfolio, offering project management, procurement, HR, and financial services. Geneva hosts the secretariats of nine global partnerships focused on health (RBM, Stop TB, ATscale), nutrition (SUN), water/sanitation (SHF), sustainable energy (SEforALL) humanitarian leadership (GELI), urban development (Cities Alliance), and disaster displacement (PDD). We also provide fund management for EIF and UN Water, and operational support to Geneva-based partners like the Global Fund and UNHCR.

At the 2024 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, the World Bank Group (WBG) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) made a historic commitment to deliver electricity access to 300 million additional people across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. To achieve this transformative goal, a Joint Working Group (JWG) has been established, comprised of the WBG, AfDB, The Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and the Planet (GEAPP), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). This coalition will leverage public, philanthropic, and private capital, ensuring comprehensive support across the energy sector value chain.

SEforALL has established a dedicated ‘Secretariat’ team to support the implementation of Mission 300. This team plays a crucial role in driving collaboration and provides both strategic and technical support to the WBG, AfDB, The Rockefeller Foundation, and GEAPP, as well as Mission 300 countries. SEforALL’s neutrality, global expertise, and deep partnerships make it uniquely positioned to lead this effort, additionally leveraging the parallel roles of our CEO as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative (SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy to facilitate high-level political engagement and cross-border collaboration, ensuring that political will and policy frameworks support the initiative's success. Complementary to this role, AfDB and the WBG nominated SEforALL to be the ‘Secretariat’ of the Compact Working Group for the Compact Delivery and Monitoring Units (CDMUs) in April 2025- which are country led teams dedicated to the implantation of their energy compacts. This working group is focused on tracking progress and providing technical support to Mission 300 countries to establish tactile units driving the implementation of National Energy Compacts. 

At the request of the African Development Bank (AfDB), SEforALL has been requested to support Mission 300 countries in the effective delivery of their national Energy Compacts. This will be done through targeted capacity building for CDMUs to support these units in effectively serving as national central delivery hubs—coordinating across government, guiding implementation, and tracking progress against national Energy Compacts. Based on consultations with Mission 300 countries and newly established CMDUs, SEforALL will deliver on specific areas for support to strengthen and build sustainable CDMU structures, including 

1. improved inter-ministerial collaboration and partner alignment within CDMUs

2. building technical capacity on Compact implementation tracking and delivery models

3. providing greater operational guidance and knowledge exchange on CDMUs across Mission 300 countries at various levels of Compact implementation to promote scalable, consistent implementation by CDMUs

supporting monitoring approaches by CDMUs and the use of the Compact Progress Report. 

The key purpose of the role of Energy Officer, Mission 300 is to:

• support the M300 team in providing central oversight, expertise, and capacity building to facilitate the increased efficiency and capacity of the CDMUs.

• Guide coordination across Mission 300 partners to support the establishment of their CDMUs and implementation of National Energy Compacts.

• Review and analyse energy access data sets to support progress reporting

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in in energy, engineering, business management, policy, economics, sustainable development or related fields with 2 years of relevant experience OR

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above or related fields with 0 years of relevant experience is required

Required

• A minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience in the clean energy sector is required. 

• Experience engaging key stakeholders (government agencies, development partners and private sector actors) is required.

Desired

• Experience with the African Power sector across regions, Mission 300, core partners operations, priority projects and implementation framework is desired

• Experience of working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing country is desired
  

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities. 
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.