Sr. Program Officer

Winrock International-Nepal

Terms of Reference¹

Position Title: Sr. Program Officer (RE Specialist -Solar)2 (Full-time position with 50% Involvement in Nepal Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) and 50% in other Winrock Projects)

Duty Station: Kathmandu with frequent field travel

Report to: Market Assessment and Development Lead for NREP and Director, Winrock International-Nepal

Position Description

The Sr. Program Officer will act as technical solar expert for NREP Project and lead assigned project implementation activities for Winrock with the support from team members. S/he will act in the role of direct project executing, implementing, planning, monitoring and reporting professional. The Sr. Program Officer will work closely with other team members and Finance & Admin (F & A) staffs. S/he may implement multiple programs/projects and will ensure program quality and smooth operation of day-to-day project activities, program function. This position will also assist to Winrock Director in new concept development and work with supervisor for new business opportunities as and when required. This is a full-time position with 50% time in NREP and 50% time in other Winrock projects.

About Winrock International

Winrock International has been working in Nepal to increase access to clean energy through public awareness raising and capacity building since the establishment of Renewable Energy Program Support Office (REPSO) in 1997. Its work focuses on project design and implementation, technology and market assessments, developing project pipelines and mobilizing investments, reforming energy planning and policy, and building capacity of governments, communities, financial institutions, and the private sector. It provides Results-Focused, Human-Cantered, Science-Based and Market-Driven technical and financial assistance. Currently, Winrock is implementing certain component of NREP funded by DFID a lead by DAI-Europe as one of the consortium partners.

About NREP

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Nepal Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) is a 4.5-year, £18m programme that commenced in February 2019. NREP was designed to support the Government of Nepal and the private sector plan and invest in Renewable Energy (RE) resulting in economic growth, poverty reduction and climate-smart development in communities across Nepal. Specific and measurable goals of the Programme include:

• An increase in installed capacity of RE by 16 MW
• Provision of RE to 95,000 households, 500 Micro, Small and Medium businesses, and 200 schools and health centres
• Leveraging of £37.2m of private and public sector investment in RE
• Strengthened institutional and policy reforms and improved compliance mechanisms—across Federal, Provincial, and Local governments
• Significant avoided greenhouse gas emissions

The Programme is operating at the Federal, Province and Local levels with focus on 2, 5, and Karnali.

Programme Implementation

NREP implements targeted activities across four Workstreams:

• Governance: To exchange relevant information through effective engagement with the public sector; facilitate, coordinate and capacitate effective energy planning, policies and regulations at Federal, Provincial, and Local Governments; and to facilitate Public/Private Partnerships (PPP).
• Market Assessment & Development: To identify, assess, and develop a pipeline of technically feasible and economically viable RE project opportunities in target markets.
• Innovative Finance: To fund proof-of-concept, and then scale up, innovative finance models including RESCO, Viability Gap Funding, Demand Aggregation, and PPPs
• Cross-cutting: To provide assistance in several important areas, including Capacity Development, to convey lessons learned and successful approaches; Knowledge Management; Gender & Social Inclusion; and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL).

To implement NREP, in February 2019, DFID contracted DAI Europe and consortium partners Winrock International; Policy Entrepreneurs, Inc. (PEI); and Samriddha Pahad (SP). NREP’s primary public sector partner is the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), a Federal government institution under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI). The required position is expected to additionally work closely with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Development (MoPID), Provincial and Local Governments, RE Associations, financial institutions amongst others.

Roles and Responsibilities

S/he will be responsible for:

Key responsibilities - NREP

Technical Oversight and Programme Management

• Identify emerging Solar-related issues and needs for consideration in periodic programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide technical support and engage in targeted advocacy with national and sub-national level actors
• Work with NREP team members to identify potential pipelines of Solar PV/Thermal projects for SECF
• Support to Local Government, private sector and financial institutions to create demand for Solar PV/Thermal products and services.
• Support to GoN, private sector and financial institutions to enable to supply of Solar PV/Ther- mal products and services.
• Support to GoN, private sector and financial institutions to provide innovative financial incen- tives for Solar PV/Thermal products and services.
• Support SECF grantees in effective and efficient implementation of the selected Solar PV/Ther- mal projects
• Actively contribute to gender mainstreaming and women’s economic empowerment through-
• out the programme.
• Assessment of Net-metering Solar PV, Roof-top solar PV, Utility Scale Solar PV in commercial institutions and industries; municipalities, etc using different design software's like PV Syst, Helioscope, SAM, etc.
• Prepare BoQ, Cost estimate and Tender documents for the identified Solar PV/Thermal op- portunities.
• Build strong, collaborative working relationship with government, civil society and private sec- tor partners.
• Prepare high-quality, accurate and detailed monthly and other reports in English, and contrib- ute to quarterly/trimester reports and annual reports.
• Other duties as assigned as per the Programme ToR

Key responsibilities – Winrock

• Responsible for overall management, monitoring and implementation of assigned projects’ activ-ities as per the project document.
• Oversee the development, designing, coordinating and implementing of projects
• Prepare equipment specifications, drawings and detailed work schedules of projects if required
• Regular visit to the project sites to monitor progress and coordinate field activities
• Prepare progress report i.e. monthly, quarterly, annually as per the project documents and submit to donors or partners
• Prepare, update and guarantee accurate documentation of the project, data of related project activities.
• Carry out energy surveys, feasibility studies, and cost estimations as per the requirement of pro- jects.
• Lead, develop and carry out training programs, workshops, meetings as per the project document and participate if relevant workshops
• Ensure a continuous cooperation from all the stakeholders including local communities, enabling them to operate and maintain their systems and to solve community energy problems by utilizing their own resources.
• Provide quality inputs throughout the project cycle in wide range of renewable energy and environment sector projects
• Ensure effective, efficient and sustainability of projects
• Recruit, coordinate and monitor consultants as required by the projects
• Coordinate, monitor, supervise the execution of project activities by the partners organization
• Develop and implement Post-construction Services (PCSs) for various RETs.
• Maintain good working relation with prime, partner and donors
• Coordinate with other related projects/programs in Nepal that has direct and indirect implications with Winrock’s projects
• Take collaborative initiative with stakeholders to maintain conducive working environment to implement the project’s activities
• Supervise other team members
• Ensure smooth coordination and communication between involved project stakeholders and with line government organization
• Willingness to work in any other assigned Winrock Nepal’s tasks according to the specific need, demand and as assigned by Director.
• Assist Director in the development of organization strategy for new business opportunities
• Assist F&A and Director to prepare project budget

Client and other stakeholder relationship management

• Develop productive working relationships with beneficiary representatives to ensure effective delivery of specific outputs.

Ethics and Security

• Comply with Winrock and DAI Ethics and Security policies, including completing ethics training annually.

Person specification

Skills and Knowledge:

• Excellent technical skills related to Solar sector with hands-on experience. Specific skills in different design tools, software is essential.
• Excellent knowledge on different business models in Solar sector that are practiced in Nepal and the worldwide.
• Ability to work under time pressure, respond to ad-hoc shifts in client priorities and unforeseen expectations to deliver.
• Extensive knowledge of climate change and renewable energy including policy and local stake- holder including through knowledge of the sector
• Demonstrated strong written and oral communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Ability to build and maintain relationship particularly interacting productively, proactively and comfortably with community leaders, government agencies, NGOs and private sector.
• Demonstrated computer skills in MS Office applications including word, excel, power point and outlook
• Ability to lead, organize and prioritize work
• Knowledge related to sub national mechanisms and policies and federal structures is essential
• Experiential knowledge on Technical design of Utility Scale Solar PV, preparation of BoQ, Cost estimate, Tender documents is must.
• Knowledge on developing markets and financial linkages is essential.
• Knowledges on GoN policies, guidelines, acts, regulations in RE sector is must.

Education and Experience:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, energy, environment or management with minimum of 7 years demonstrated working experience in Solar PV and Thermal sector in Nepal.
• Solid technical understanding of RE resources, technologies, end-uses, policies, mechanisms, strategies and planning
• Working with different RE market actors including sub national governments is essential.

To Apply: Interested candidates are requested to send a cover letter, updated CV and list of three references by April 21, 2020 to winrocknepal@winrock.org

1 This Terms of Reference may be changed to reflect changing programme needs and priorities

² This position is for NREP.

Winrock is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or any other characteristic protected by law.