Consultancy Humanitarian Energy Advocacy Advisor/ All locations
Description
Location: Remote / All locations globally
Background:
Mercy Corps is a global team of humanitarians working together on the front lines of today’s biggest crises to create a future of possibility, where everyone can prosper. In more than 40+ countries around the world, over 5,400+ team members work side by side with people living through poverty, disaster, violent conflict, and the acute impacts of climate change. We’re committed to creating global change through local impact — 84% of our team members are from the countries where they work.
We bring a comprehensive approach to every challenge, addressing problems from multiple angles. And we go beyond emergency aid, partnering with local governments, forward-thinking corporations, social entrepreneurs, and people living in fragile communities to develop bold solutions that make lasting change possible.
Purpose / Project Description:
The Humanitarian Energy Advocacy Advisor will be embedded in the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access (THEA) program, which will deliver transformative action on clean energy access in humanitarian settings, working with the FCDO’s Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform to mainstream energy access in humanitarian settings and provide expert advice on the energy needs of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) for UK and international energy access partners. The programme aims to build and share evidence of existing best practices for replication and scaling, support new refugee-inclusive policies and partnerships, outline key barriers to scaling energy access in refugee settings, test innovations, and helps raise additional funding/finance for delivery of sustainable energy solutions in humanitarian contexts. The action-oriented research will be used to advocate with key donors, UN humanitarian and development agencies to remove barriers for quicker deployment of sustainable humanitarian energy solutions. Targeted research is planned to enable more inclusive financing, policies and partnerships, working directly with refugees and displaced communities to meet community energy needs through localized business and delivery models. THEA is delivered by Mercy Corps, in partnership with Refugee Led Organizations, Ashden and the Coordination Unit of the Global Platform for Action (GPA CU) on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (hosted at UNITAR).
Consultant Objectives:
Reporting to the THEA Program manager and coordinating with the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Coordination Unit team management, the Humanitarian Energy Advocacy Advisor will advise the THEA consortium on influencing the uptake of alternative business models for inclusive energy access in situations of displacement. The Advisor will engage with key stakeholders across the humanitarian and energy spaces, highlighting entry points and bridging opportunities. The aim is to drive systematic change in how energy access is delivered in displacement settings and how operations are powered within the UN system and among other humanitarian partners, through strong collaboration with private sector stakeholders. The Advisor will work closely with the GPA Coordination Unit hosted at UNITAR, which is recognized as the humanitarian energy convening body to advance SDG 7 – access to sustainable energy for all – in forced displacement contexts. Under this close collaboration, the Advisor will ensure that all data-driven research and consequent advocacy are aligned to strengthen and maximize impact.
Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will:
- Lead on the delivery of key sector-wide research outputs on the topic of humanitarian energy, such as the Humanitarian Energy Update Briefing Notes and the State of the Humanitarian Energy Sector report
- Lead on stakeholder mapping exercises, consultations and engagement activities
- Support advocacy and partnership development efforts and represent THEA at conferences and events
- Lead on the establishment of a Humanitarian Energy advocacy group and act as co-chair
- Produce a research report and deliver a workshop series on procurement barriers for clean energy systems for humanitarian agencies
Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultant will achieve the following deliverables:
Y1 and Y2 deliverables (December 2024 – December 2025)
- WP 1 (Research): Leading on establishing an impact reporting framework developed for the yearly Humanitarian Energy Update briefing notes (with MEL specialists)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Initial consultation with 10 GPA Steering Group organisations to determine synergies and connections with THEA and ongoing humanitarian energy programming
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Setting up the systematic consultation with TEA partners – stakeholder engagement and analysis on humanitarian mainstreaming opportunities within the TEA portfolio (output being a briefing to CT/FCDO on humanitarian mainstreaming opportunities, gaps, recommendations into TEA)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Advocacy or partnership development either at a relevant energy, climate, or humanitarian sector event, or through intentional stakeholder meetings (e.g. with Geneva-based UN organisations)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Lead on Mapping and engagement with key stakeholders (humanitarian, development, donor and refugee-led partners) to establish the “THEA: Evidence to Action” group
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Lead on setting up the “THEA Evidence to Action” group with FCDO, meeting twice to share programme evidence updates (1 in person at TEA forum, 1 online)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Lead on delivering recommendations and strategy development for TEA partners to extend work into humanitarian settings, as identified through consultations in 2024 (targeting 1 TEA partner for 2025)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Consultation and partnership development with national and global UN and INGO humanitarian partners to map out existing processes, bottlenecks and opportunities for switching to sustainable energy delivery models that meet energy needs at scale, including the plan for workshop delivery and research outputs in 2025
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Based on the consultations, lead a 2-part technical workshop series (to be held online) and produce a subsequent research report with key UN and INGO humanitarian partners to: 1) validate systemic barriers to scaling inclusive sustainable energy business models as identified in initial consultations, and 2) co-create solutions that could enable scaling of a sustainable model
Y3 Milestones (January – December 2026)
- WP 1 (Research): Lead on establishing the Scope of Work and consultancy selection (with the GPA Coordination Unit) to deliver the State of the Humanitarian Energy Sector (SOHES) Report 2026 - Global Humanitarian Energy Access Figures update, report and project map (substantive analytical report)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Recommendations and strategy development for TEA partners to extend work into humanitarian settings, as identified through consultations in 2024 and subsequent partner engagement in 2025 (targeting 2 TEA partners for 2026)
- WP 3 (Advocacy): Co-lead “THEA Evidence to Action” Group with FCDO, meeting twice to share programme evidence updates (1 in person at TEA forum, 1 online)
Timeframe / Schedule:
1 December 2024 – 30 September 2026
The Consultant will report to:
Megan Taeuber – THEA Programme Manager
The Consultant will work closely with:
Global Platform for Action (GPA) Coordination Unit (hosted at UNITAR), GPA Steering Group members, TRaQ Energy Team, other TRaQ teams, Program teams, Regional Teams, other HQ support teams, other THEA partners.
Required Experience & Skills:
- Proven expertise in advocacy vis-à-vis UN and INGOs is required.
- Previous experience working with UN and INGOs in procurement, energy or humanitarian teams is highly recommended.
- 6+ years required providing technical support in the field of humanitarian response and/or sustainable energy access that includes:
- Grant writing, research, and proposal development.
- Writing and publishing articles and blogs.
- Stakeholder engagement and influencing.
- Combining strong theoretical and applied knowledge of the field of expertise.
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning.
- Familiarity with integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
- Bachelor’s degree required. A Master’s degree or equivalent in a field related to humanitarian response, international development, sustainable development, energy access, and/or energy or environmental engineering is preferred.
- Familiarity with major donors such as USAID, DFID, the EC and relevant foundations and corporations required.
- Fluency in English is required; fluency in another language preferred.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.