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Project Manager Consultant – County Energy Planning

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Delivering Performance – 60%

• Planning, monitoring, and reporting of the project field activities.
• Overseeing the effective implementation and delivery of project activities; ensuring quality delivery and performance in line with project objectives and the broader organizational strategies and in close coordination with project partners and other project staff.
• Serve as the budget holder for the project, manage and support delegated sub-budget holders for grants and individual contracts where applicable.
• Contribute to development of tools and methodologies for integrated energy planning.
• Work with the support team to ensure that the project activities are implemented in line with the grant agreement and work schedules in a timely manner and within the budget.
• Lead in the execution of work plans, budget plans, monitoring, evaluation and learning plans, communication plans, and documentation plans.
• Work closely with Impact and Influence team to ensure systematic and gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation and ensure findings are recorded and escalated to guide the continued successful implementation of the project and inform the development of new initiatives.
• Identify project risks, monitor, and update the risk register, as well as execute mitigation plans to minimize the effects of the identified risks.
• Take the lead role in project reporting, ensuring that timely project reports are prepared and shared as per donor requirements.

Coordination and communication-15%

• Coordinate with the national and county governments, partner’s team to deliver agreed technical outputs towards the preparation of the county energy plans, Organize meetings, workshops, and other information dissemination events with different stakeholders as appropriate.
• Coordinate the engagement between energy and nexus sectors for the achievement of integrated planning with energy as an enabler of other sectors.
• Contribute to awareness raising and influencing the public and private sector on the role of energy as an enabler and the need for effective community and private sector engagement during the energy planning process,
• Coordinate and collaborate with other relevant actors for mutual sharing and learning.
• Managing Relationships – 10%
• Establish and strengthen key relationships with the donor, national and county governments, private sector, other implementing partners, community networks and other professional contacts outside the organization and explore opportunities for the development of synergies with other ongoing initiatives around a just and inclusive energy transition.
• Maintain relationship with County and National level stakeholders ensuring that transparency at all levels is maintained and project information is communicated to relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.
• Collaborate and contribute to networking with other PA programme partners for learning and adoption of innovative interventions to improve project delivery.

Lead People – 10%

• Supervise, manage and build a motivated project team of Project Officers and consultants to achieve their maximum productivity to ensure the project -outcomes are met.
• Proactively ensure the well-being of team members and ensure they are aware of policies to help manage insecure environments.

Strengthen Organizational Profile – 5%

• Contribute to the visibility/positioning of the project, including representing Practical Action to share project outcomes during national, regional, and international forums.
• Ensure compliance to Safeguarding Policy, Diversity and Dignity in the Workplace Policy, Code of Conduct, Financial Crime Policy and Global Complaints.
• Ensure beneficiaries whom we work with are aware of the safeguarding policy including the reporting lines when appropriate.
• Ensure our ethics and values, as set out in our Code of Conduct and related policies, including safeguarding, are embedded in team culture, and well modelled by others.
• Responsible for overseeing gender responsive behavior in all actions and decisions related to the project.

PERSON PROFILE

• To be successful in the role, the ideal candidate should possess the following:

Experience & Knowledge

• Minimum of a Masters degree in a field related to renewable energy, environmental planning, environmental studies, natural resources, social sciences/ development studies
• At least seven (7) years demonstrated experience and expertise in gender-responsive project design and implementation, particularly in the energy sector.
• Proven track record in energy planning, policy, strategy development and building networks with relevant stakeholders including County and National Governments, private sector, CSOs and development partners.
• Excellent analytical, report writing, and communication skills.
• Excellent networking and communication skills
• Good presentation and adult training skills
• Excellent advocacy and influencing skills, demonstrated through prior work experience.
• Leadership capacity and an ability to make decisions and participate in setting strategic direction.

Senior Energy Consultant for County Energy Planning (CEP) Project

CONSULTANCY OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this consultancy is to:

• In collaboration with the county governments (Kajiado, Tana River and Machakos) and the Sustainable Energy Technical Assistance(SETA ) project provide technical support in conducting baseline survey activities that serve as a basis for the development of CEPs
• To conduct assessment studies on the status of clean cooking at county level, in relation to specific fuels and technologies.
• Conduct an analysis of key nexus sectors that have been chosen by respective counties as a focus for the CEP solution development
• Provide thematic expertise in key areas of Least Cost Electrification, clean cooking, gender and Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency

CONSULTANCY SCOPE

• The consultants will each be assigned to a county to provide technical leadership in the development of a County Energy Plan. The work to be conducted by the consultants is described in five work packages below:

Work package 1: Literature review and context analysis for county energy planning

Under this work package, the consultant will:

• Conduct literature review and analysis of key national and county energy policies and acts, county energy profiles, The County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), census reports and other such documents that serve as a basis for energy planning
• Assess current energy use and supply.
• Identify potential future energy supply.
• Analyse the existing energy activities, projects, plans, programmes and policies of the national government, county government, development partners, private sector stakeholders and non-governmental organizations.
• Identify available human and organizational resources to help implement County Energy Plans.
• Identify priorities and focal areas; and select short-term and medium-term priorities.

Work package 2:Baseline survey execution
Under this work package, the consultant will:

• Collect primary data through a sample survey in the county to understand the status of energy access for households, community facilities and enterprises. Primary data gathering will be used to fill any data gaps remaining after the literature review, and to help triangulate findings, for example, where secondary data from the literature is less recent.
• Carry out qualitative surveys too get deeper insights on the context opportunities and challenges within the focus sectors through a range of data gathering activities on the ground including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs).
• Conduct an in depth survey to understand the status on cooking energy in the county focusing on the market for both cooking technologies and fuels
• the county to complete baseline analysis and prepare for community needs assessment
• In conducting these activities, the consultant shall pay attention to ensuring inclusivity of minority and marginalised groups(special interest groups) e.g., people with disabilities, youth, religious communities, female headed households.

Work package 3: Stakeholder Engagement and needs identification at community and sector level
Under this work package, the consultant will:

• Work with the county CEP team to assess and establish the true needs and expectations of the local community in terms of development, welfare economic activities, health care, education etc and the role of energy in meeting these needs. This will be done through.
• Key informant interviews with actors from key sectors while taking a value chain wide approach to include producers, aggregators, transporters distributors end users…
• Focus group discussions on specific sectors to further scrutinize the views and priorities from the perspective of energy as an enabler
• Sectoral workshops to further interrogate the priorities derived from KIIs and FGDs linked to wider sectoral priorities and plans

Develop a long list of priorities based on the baseline survey findings. The long list will be based on the following structure:

• Needs at household level focusing on lighting, cooking, heating, productive use in cottage activities, education for children, security
• Needs at the community level for a range of community services such as health, education, access to credit, or community services related to economic activities (access to water, street or marketplace lighting, storage capacities, to training and sensitisation)
• Needs at the County level focussing on the macro-economic development (e.g agriculture, trade and industry) and the resulting need for development of energy sources. This shall help the counties to develop a vision for the energy plan and priorities to be implemented for the next 10 years. It will also identify the short-term priorities to be developed for the next 3/5 years and the medium-term priorities to be sketched and included in CIDP/ADPs

Work package 4: Development of energy solutions including mainstreaming of clean cooking in the CEPs

• Under this work package, the consultant will guide the county to draft solutions that respond to the priority needs identified particularly those ones to be developed/answered by the first generation of CEPs. Other priorities will be developed in subsequent versions/revisions of the CEP (after 3 years). The process of solutions development will be guided by the INEP Frameworks stages 6-10
• The solutions should cover the following aspects:
• Electrification for households, institutions and businesses(Grid and off grid options)
• Clean cooking
• Bioenergy
• Energy efficiency and conservation

Solutions development will further include:

• Identifying policies, programmes, and projects to be implemented in order to achieve the county vision and energy goals
• A financing strategy showing the financial requirements for different types of actions, potential financing sources and mechanism (grants, debt, Results Based Financing.
• Establish operational responsibilities.
• A risk analysis framework
• A plan for performance measurement and reporting.

Work package 5: CEP write up
Under this package the consultant shall;

• Coordinate the write up of the CEP involving compilation of inputs from different work streams and aligning these to the CEP template provided under the INEP framework.
• Present the draft CEP for review and validation by the County CEP Technical committee

TIME FRAME AND KEY DELIVERABLES

• Overall, the assignment shall be undertaken and completed within 8 months upon signing of the contract.

SELECTION PROCESS

• The bidders shall submit a technical proposal responding on the following:
• The profile and experience of the bidders including demonstration of the eligibility criteria.
• Maximum 15 pages technical concept and approach excluding annexes on how the tasks listed in the section above (section 2) shall be delivered and achieved.
• Consultant’s CV showing relevant experiences.
• The county of preference to work in. (Kajiado, Tana River or Machakos)

EXPERT REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of a Masters degree in a field related to renewable energy, environmental planning, environmental studies, natural resources, social sciences/ development studies
• At least 7 years’ experience in clean cooking and bioenergy, renewable energy, energy planning, research
• Demonstrate experience in energy planning (demand assessment, solution design, modelling) and research and analysis.
• Experience with energy delivery model approaches(desirable)
• Experience in developing tools and templates.
• Experience engaging with counties governments is an advantage.

Junior Energy Consultant for County Energy Planning (CEP) Project 

Consultancy Objective
The main objective of this consultancy is to:

• In collaboration with the county government and the Sustainable Energy Technical Assistance(SETA ) project provide technical support in conducting baseline survey activities that serve as a basis for the development of CEPs
• To conduct assessment studies on the status of clean cooking at county level, in relation to specific fuels and technologies.
• Conduct an analysis of key nexus sectors that have been chosen by respective counties as a focus for the CEP solution development
• Provide thematic expertise in key areas of Least Cost Electrification, clean cooking, gender and Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency

Consultancy scope/ Key Deliverables

• Working under the supervision of the project manager and senior energy planning experts, the junior consultant will be responsible for the following duties:
• Conduct literature review and analysis of key national and county energy policies and acts, county energy profiles, The County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), census reports and other such documents that serve as a basis for energy planning
• Undertaking stakeholder mapping in the counties
• Support primary data collection in the counties including household surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. This will include supervising field enumerators to ensure timely quality data collection
• Support in data cleaning and preliminary analysis
• Provide support to the county planning teams in the organization of community engagement workshops and other convening activities
• Taking notes and minutes in technical meetings
• Under the guidance of the Impact and Influence teamseam,Support in monitoring evaluation, learning and communication activities
• Any other relevant duties that might be assigned by the PM or senior energy consultant from time to time

Time Frame and Key Deliverables

• Overall, the assignment shall be undertaken and completed within 8 months upon signing of the contract.

Requirements

• A graduate in Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Climate change, Business Development, or other relevant fields.
• Post graduate qualifications may also be considered.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in both English and Kiswahili, with the ability to conduct research and analysis as well as stakeholder engagement.
• Prior experience in similar roles will be an added advantage.
• Mastery PowerPoint, Word and Excel experience.

Method of Application

Qualified and interested candidates should send their application (including a detailed CV with similar or related assignments in the past and cover letter) to recruitment@practicalaction.or.ke with the subject line “Position applying for ” to reach Practical Action on or before 14th August 2023.