Background

The joint programme “Enhancing Rural Resilience in Yemen” (ERRY) is a three-year EU-funded programme which gathers UNDP (Convening Agency), FAO, ILO and WFP building on their mutual strengths and experience, expected to start in February 2016 targeting four Governorates (Abyan, Lahaj, Hajjah and Hodeida).
The recent crisis in Yemen has reached unprecedented levels of intensity which has exacerbated income losses, rising goods and commodities prices, leading to a significant decrease of households’ purchasing power endangering their abilities to meet basic needs The average monthly expenditures for each family is spent on basic needs such as staples, water, medicines and gas. Six months into the crisis, over a quarter of businesses had already closed, and half of businesses managed by women had also closed thereby highlighting an unequal impact of the crisis.
The overall objective of the ERRY joint programme is to enhance the resilience and self-reliance of crisis-affected rural communities through support to livelihoods stabilization and recovery, local governance and improved access to sustainable energy.

ERRY is an ambitious programme which will be articulated through the achievement of two outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Communities are better able to manage local risks and shocks for increased economic self-reliance and enhanced social cohesion;
• Outcome 2: Institutions are responsive, accountable and effective to deliver services, build the social contract and meet community identified needs.

ERRY’s target groups will focus on the most vulnerable such as women, the unemployed, youth, the Muhamasheen (a socio-economically marginalized group found in the peripheries of urban centers), internally displaced persons (IDPs) and stressed host communities, using inclusive, participatory and conflict-sensitive tools to mobilize and involve them in the proposed activities. Active partnerships with local authorities, the private sector, communities, the Social Fund for Development (SFD) and NGOs will be sought for the successful implementation of the programme.
By adopting an “early recovery” approach, participating UN organizations (PUNOs) can address the recovery needs related to livelihoods that have arisen during the humanitarian phase of the crisis, using humanitarian mechanisms that align with development principles, thereby enhancing resilience.
Strengthening resilience requires that the Yemen humanitarian response addresses root causes as well as immediate needs. Embedded in the humanitarian response of meeting immediate needs, the Enhancing Rural Resilience programme will focus on long-term objective of building back better, strengthening the resilience of the vulnerable rural communities and individuals in Yemen that have been affected and traumatized by the conflict from the onset of the current escalated crisis. The programme will ensure that households and communities assisted during the crisis are better prepared for future shocks and are able to cope with another crisis without external support.

A resilience approach in Yemen means focusing on:

• Building upon the benefits of humanitarian action;
• Promoting local ownership and strengthening capacities;
• Basing the proposed interventions on a clear understanding of the context to address root causes and vulnerabilities as well as the direct results of the crisis;
• Reducing risk, promoting equality and preventing discrimination through adherence to development principles that seek to build on humanitarian programs and catalyze sustainable development opportunities.

The solar energy component aims to build community energy resilience in the target areas. Through its interventions it enhances community-based access and application of sustainable solar energy across rural communities in the project targeted areas. Priority will be given to rural basic services such as health, education, communal services, market places and so forth that contribute and build community energy resilience. It also promotes application and spreading of the use of solar water pumps in the agriculture sector within a comprehensive package including use of efficient water irrigation system. Furthermore, it will encourage micro solar-based business development through supporting the UNDP 3x6 beneficiaries of the project in the target areas to venture in solar energy related businesses. As such the solar energy intervention will directly build rural community resilience complementing other areas of works undertaken through the ERRY joint programme.
To fulfil its mission and reach its objectives as set out in the relevant project document, the UNDP component of the ERRY joint Programme is recruiting a Solar Energy Specialist to support its solar energy component. a Solar Energy Specialist will be based in Sana’a but the duty station may need be changed/reconsidered taking into account the fluid situation on the ground.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the designated ERRY Project Manager (i.e. PM for Service Restoration), and the direct supervision of the Economic Restoration PM, the Solar Energy Specialist will act as the focal point for all solar energy activities led by UNDP under ERRY, both internally and externally, responsible for providing technical advice and support to the administrative and financial delivery, and effective implementation, of the ERRY’s solar component, in accordance with the UNDP standards and best practices.

Summary of Key Functions:

• Provision of technical advisory support to project implementation, including in respect to the delivery of technical, operational, financial and administrative outputs and tracking the progress of the project by monitoring and reporting;
• Capacity building and provision of technical advice to relevant project stakeholders on solar energy applications:Knowledge management/development and provision of technical advice to relevant project stakeholders on solar energy applications;
• Development and strengthening of strategic partnerships in relation to the solar component of the project;
• Gender mainstreaming within the solar component of the project;

Specific tasks and responsibilities
Provision of advisory support to project implementation, including delivery of technical, operational, financial and administrative outputs and tracking the progress of the project by monitoring and reporting:

• Oversee the contracting process of implementing partners and contractors for the solar component of the project and provide related technical advice, including budget, work plans and capacity assessments, according to UNDP rules and regulations;
• Develop an monitoring and evaluation framework for the solar energy activities, in close coordination with the UNDP M&E Specialist, according to UNDP rules and regulations, and standards for donor reporting
•  Prepare reports in English and Arabic on solar energy activities, for internal and external audiences such as UNDP management and donors;
• Conduct spot checks and field visits to project location sites;
• Record issues, risks and lessons learnt before, during and after project completion.

Capacity building and provision of technical advice to relevant project stakeholders on solar energy applications:

• Develop the capacities of stakeholders on key technical and managerial areas where UNDP support would be beneficial (such as, and not restricted to solar energy applications, market mix, maintenance, relationships between different solar energy actors, etc.);
• Develop the capacities of UNDP staff in the area of solar energy, with a focus on field staff in targeted Governorates.

Development and strengthening of strategic partnerships and linkages:

• Develop strong relationships with the implementing partners/contractors, liaising with relevant actors to promote linkages between solar energy and the different Economic Restoration activities, and other participating UN agencies to the ERRY joint programme to maximise impact
• Establish effective linkages with other UNDP projects and with other initiatives in the sector with a view to developing substantive partnerships and generating synergies.
• Prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identifying opportunities for joint initiatives, and recommending approaches to the management team in terms of recommended activities with potential for scale-up and replicability;
• Closely liaise with the UNDP Entrepreneurship Specialist to embed solar energy activities in enterprise recovery and support to the private sector.

Knowledge management/development, communications:

• Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues;
• Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt into project goals;
• Contribute to timely communication and outreach, in close coordination with the Communications Specialist, through social media, success stories, blog and press releases;
• Share relevant and substantive and operational experiences with other colleagues and counterparts; (Develop knowledge products to be shared with the Project partners).

Gender mainstreaming throughout the solar energy component:

• Ensure gender is effectively mainstreamed throughout the solar energy component, work plans, budgets, reports, researches, analyses and, where specifically relevant, analysed in detail;
• Ensure knowledge on gender equality is incorporated in the project’s knowledge management activities and products.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Shows pride in work and in achievements;
• Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter;
• Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns;
• Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges;
• Remains calm in stressful situations.

Core Competencies:

•  Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies;
•  Identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required;
•  Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work;
•  Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning;
•  Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary;
•  Actively seeks to improve programmes or services;
•  Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs;
•  Promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas;
•  Takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks "outside the box";
•  Takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things;
•  Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches;
•  Keeps abreast of available technology;
•  Understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office;
•  Actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks;
•  Shows willingness to learn new technology.
•  Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession;
•  Actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally;
•  Contributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates;
•  Shows willingness to learn from others.

Managerial Competencies:

•  Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly
•  Gathers relevant information before making a decision;
•  Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them;
•  Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization;
•  Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information;
•  Checks assumptions against facts;
•  Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision;
•  Makes tough decisions when necessary.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in renewable energy, civil engineering or social science or other relevant field;
• A relevant bachelor degree with additional two years of experience will be accepted in lieu of master degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of 4 years field and technical experience in the field of renewable energy, climate change, protection of the environment or related field;
• Experience in providing technical advisory support to resilience projects, preferably related to renewable energy;
• Experience in liaising with local authorities, institutions, NGOs, and the private sector to achieve results;
• Experience in implementing/managing solar energy, rural development and/or renewable related activities, in particular in rural areas;
• Solid understanding and ability to apply of results-based management tools;
• Excellent computer literacy, and communications, report writing and analytical skills;
• Previous experience in the UN system and cooperation with the civil society is a strong asset.

Language:

• Proficiency in both English and Arabic languages is a requirement.