Energy and Climate Advisor

Focus of the Role

The Institute’s Energy Practice has provided Advisory support to Senior Government officials since 2012. This support, largely delivered though long term embedded advisors, covers strategy and policy development, investment, sector reform, and delivery in areas such as power trade and energy access. In addition, the Practice leads on external engagement around our energy work including business and partnership development as well as external publications aimed at influencing policy more widely.

Climate change is becoming an increasingly important component of the Institute’s Energy Advisory work specifically helping Government plan and deliver their energy transition and work though the opportunities and risks that climate change presents (such as climate finance and carbon taxes). Climate is also an important consideration in our Advisory work more widely in areas such as Agriculture and Economic planning.

Within the Institute, climate change is coming under sharper focus. This is both through the prioritisation of “Net Zero” in the work of our Policy Futures division and a focus on green technologies through our recently launched Tech for Development initiative. This initiative will work in close partnership with leaders, Governments, and industry to accelerate innovation and scalable technologies to catalyse 10X improvements for the lives of citizens.

The primary objective of the Energy and Climate Advisor is to complement, and build on, the initiatives mentioned above by supporting the advisory work of the Energy Practice and, in particular, establishing the Institute’s Energy and Climate Advisory offering. This work can be considered in three parts:

1. Providing advisory support to TBI partner Governments in the area of energy and climate change: Initially this work will focus on supporting the Government of Kenya to develop a strategy to best leverage their abundant Renewable Power to drive economic growth and decarbonisation of the economy. Beyond this, the advisor will be expected to provide energy and climate related support to other TBI partner countries;

1. Strategy and Partnerships: Support the Energy Practice’s ongoing and future engagement with potential partners and funders and expand this through developing the Institute’s climate change advisory offering in a way that complements and supports other work of the institute such as that of the Energy and Agriculture advisory practices, our Net Zero policy work, and our Tech for Development Programme. This will include identifying partners and potential funders for our Climate Advisory work; and

1. Communicating and influence: Communicating externally on Energy and Climate issues as they relate to our partner Governments in developing countries to influence the global agenda. Potential areas include the efficacy of climate finance, balancing the energy transition with the need for economic growth, and the role of technology in climate mitigation and adaptation. This will include convening and presenting at important fora.

Key Responsibilities

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The responsibilities of this role will include:

• Managing a team of consultants to lead the development of a strategy to link Kenya’s abundant renewable potential to economic growth
• Providing climate change relevant support to TBI’s wider advisory work, for example in supporting our Energy and Agriculture engagements
• Developing and delivering on a strategy to establish the “Climate” component of TBI’s Energy and Climate Practice
• Advancing partnerships with stakeholders who can support our Government partners in Energy and Climate related matters such as those in academia, the private sector and global policy makers
• Identify potential funders for TBI’s Energy and Climate advisory work and, in partnership with the Energy and Climate Practice Lead and Fundraising team, secure additional finance
• Provide thought leadership on energy and climate issues as they relate to developing countries both within and outside the Institute

Person Specification

Applicants should have:

• At least 8 years’ of experience in policy, investment or planning in both the energy sector and climate related fields
• Experience working with Governments in developing economies and a proven ability to engage at senior political levels and lead / influence strategy and policy development particularly in energy and climate
• Strong modelling and analytical skills
• Proven ability to articulate technical expertise with analytical and communication skills to produce high quality advisory deliverables
• Strong political acumen to navigate in complex environments
• Work collaboratively with colleagues and perform other duties as reasonably required to achieve the goals of the country and program teams
• Fluency English is required, French an advantage

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a mission-driven not for profit organisation. We exist to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies. We work hard, every day, to make a difference. When governments work well they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We work relentlessly to support leader and governments with the challenges they face. Giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people  

We do this within two connected divisions: 

 Government Advisory 

Our Advisory Practice works directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia. We are currently in a rapid expansion phase from c. 18 countries at present, to 30 by December 2022.

 Policy Futures 

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas: 

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics; 
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and 
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world. 

As an organisation, the core beliefs we all embrace are: 

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork 
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity 
• Optimistic Changemaker: you’ll be focused on results 

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you\'re successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.