Energy Lab Coordinator, Geneva

Terms of Reference

Post Title: Energy Lab Coordinator

Duty station: HQ based with travel to the field

Duration of assignment: 12 months

General Background

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State.

While UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, our ultimate goal is to help find durable solutions that will allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity. There are three durable solutions pursued by UNHCR for 6.4 million refugees in protracted situations: voluntary repatriation; local integration; or resettlement to a third country. While pursuing durable solutions UNHCR additionally tries to increase the selfreliance and livelihood opportunities of refugees.

Context for the Post

Globally, sustainable energy is linked to facilitating economic development; enhancing livelihood opportunities and improving access to basic services such as clean drinking water, health care, and education. Likewise, in humanitarian contexts, sustainable energy is a crosscutting issue with broad implications for, inter alia, protection, health, education, livelihoods and environment, and necessitates collaboration amongst a wide variety of actors in governmental, nongovernmental, and private sectors.

For refugees, sustainable access to energy reduces fuel costs, freeing resources for essential services and reducing tensions with host communities and governments caused by environmental degradation. Providing reliable access to light can lengthen days; to study, to work, to socialise. Furthermore, sustainable lighting and fuel alternatives can greatly contribute to reducing refugees' vulnerability by eliminating the need to walk long distances to collect firewood, reducing exposure to crime at night, and by reducing the possibility of illnesses or harm caused by smoke or fire at home.

Providing access to sustainable energy for refugees is a priority for UNHCR, but limited resources have presented challenges to progress. UNHCR Innovation and the Energy & Environment Unit, in collaboration with other units at UNHCR, currently provide limited support to field-driven challenges related to energy. Specifically, the Innovation Energy Lab, has so far examined diverse technologies, consulted for field offices, and contributed to ongoing discussions in-house on new approaches to sustainable energy.

The Innovation Energy Lab, however, requires a Lab Coordinator to match the increasing demands related to energy from the field. UNHCR Innovation and the Energy & Environment Unit are therefore looking to strengthen UNHCR's capacity to match these requests, manage crosscutting conversations, initiate exciting partnerships, and explore solutions to improve the well-being of refugees.

The Energy Lab Coordinator will be based within the Innovation Unit, and will report to both the Innovation Unit and the Energy & Environment Unit, bridging the work of the two. The Innovation Energy Lab will focus specifically on exploring innovations in the field of renewable energy to improve energy access and quality for Persons of Concern (PoCs). Particular areas of concern include domestic fuel, and powering and lighting households, camps, and settlements. The Innovation Energy Lab, in line with Innovation's methodology and field-based approach, will support the UNHCR Strategy for Access to Energy, ensuring a comprehensive, contemporary, and consistent approach to renewable energy at UNHCR.

UNHCR Energy and Environment: In line with its mandate, UNHCR is committed to ensuring adequate sustainable energy access and environmental management in its operations, in an effort to improve the protection and wellbeing of Persons of Concern (PoCs). In this regard, the Energy & Environment Unit at UNHCR in Geneva oversees a broad range of related projects, supporting environmental management and energy-related activities, in the field through technical guidance.

UNHCR Innovation: UNHCR's Innovation Unit is a vocal advocate and curator of creative thinking, positive experimentation, and unconventional partnerships. The unit builds upon the existing innovative spirit within UNHCR by providing space for the discussion of needs, problems and ideas for solutions; empowering UNHCR staff to think creatively; casting issues to a broader community of support; helping design and develop concrete and tangible solutions; and mainstreaming an innovative mind set into the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Drafting a 'visioning' document on innovative energy advancements at UNHCR that can improve access to and quality of energy resources for refugees and other PoCs, and ensure that energy activities at UNHCR are cutting-edge.
• Managing a variety of pilot projects (some to be developed, others are on-going), in collaboration with the Energy and Environment Unit, designed to test pioneering approaches, and establish good practices that may be scaled up.
• Providing technical support, in collaboration with the Energy and Environment Unit, to operations that are using energy as an approach to improve the protection and well-being of refugees, IDPs, returnees, and stateless persons.
• Actively employ the Innovation Unit's three-pronged approach by:
• 'Amplifying' energy innovations using the Innovation Unit media platforms
• 'Connecting' potential energy partners as opportunities emerge or needs are identified by Country Offices
• 'Exploring' with Country Operations to help identify appropriate energy tools and assisting them to pilot or adopt them within the country operation plan

Qualifications

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in a field related to sustainable development, renewable energy or economics
• 6-10 years of experience in energy, particularly renewable energy, in humanitarian/developmental settings
• Strong interest in and exposure to humanitarian and development issues, especially in the area of renewable energy and innovation
• Demonstrated experience with advocacy; excellent communication/networking skills; fluency in English necessary
• Ability to coordinate and manage budgets and multiple projects
• Experience in problem definition, solution design, and project implementation desired
• Experience with change management desired, but not essential

Duration

Initially for 12 months (starting 1 January 2014) with the possibility of extension.

Enquiries/How to apply

Please send an email with your CV, motivation letter, and a completed and signed P11 form (www.unhcr.org/recruit/p11new.doc) before 1 December 2013 to innovation@unhcr.org.