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.

This position is located within the Integrated Energy Access Planning Team. The Integrated Energy Access Planning Team aims to develop and scale best practices for energy access planning from both a technical and an institutional perspective by:

• Developing strong partnerships with governments, development partners, private sector, and academia

• Setting replicable country planning examples

• Filling sectoral data and knowledge gaps with context-appropriate innovations, methodologies, and tools 

• Building planning capacity in governments and the Global South

SEforALL is supporting the Unidade Integrada de Planificação e Coordenação de Electrificação (UIPCE) within the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Mozambique (MIREME) to sustainably achieve its energy planning mandate with the implementation of an Integrated Energy Access Planning framework. Integrated Energy Access Planning (IEP) is a framework designed to help governments use planning as an effective decision-making and coordination tool to accelerate energy access. IEP is needs-driven and focuses on identifying planning needs and equipping governments with sustainable skills and tools that are fit-for-purpose, without advocating for any specific modeling or data management tool. 

The Mozambique IEP project runs from Q2 2024-Q2 2027, and is designed to:

• Develop UIPCE technical capacity on an ongoing basis 

• Provide coherent, flexible, long-term support across multiple energy access planning initiatives using geospatial data analytics and techno-economic modelling, including electrification and demand side planning such as productive use of energy or clean cooking integration.

• Leverage collaboration with other projects/initiatives under the coordination of the UIPCE

• Ensure replicability, transparency and documentation of all planning outputs and results 

The Integrated Energy Access Planning project is coordinated by the UIPCE with support from SEforALL, and involves close collaboration between MIREME, FUNAE, EDM, the World Bank, Enabel, GET.Transform, and other development partners supporting the UIPCE in its mandate.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Officer, Energy Planning, the purpose of this role is to support the coordination and successful delivery of the Integrated Energy Planning project in Mozambique, and the expansion of SEforALL activities and on-the-ground footprint in Mozambique. This is a part-time retainer role, expected to contribute an average of 12-15 days per month. 

Required

• A First Level University Degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in energy, business management, policy, economics, engineering, or a related field is required.

• An Advanced University Degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in energy, business management, policy, economics, engineering or a related field is an asset and may compensate for some years of experience.

Required

• A minimum of 2 years of direct experience in energy access in the Southern African Development Community region is required. 

• Demonstrated experience engaging with key energy sector stakeholders, such as government agencies, development partners, and private sector actors is required.

Desired

• Experience in the Mozambique energy sector is desirable.

• Specific experience in energy planning, geospatial data analytics, off-grid electrification, clean cooking, or productive use of energy (PUE) deployment is desirable.

• Experience coordinating or working in complex multi-stakeholder projects is an asset.

• 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.