Expert in Green and Circular Economy (m/f/x)

Background

Enabel is about to start the implementation of a new cooperation portfolio for Palestine. This program will on the one hand build on the successes of governmental cooperation over the past decade and on the other hand, also provide a response to the Palestinian and global challenges of this decade. 

Belgian development cooperation has supported the Palestinian territories since 1993 - initially through delegated cooperation. Direct governmental cooperation was started in 1997 for an amount of 15 million euros and the fourth and provisionally last agreement (2011) evolved to 71.6 million euros (2012-2015). This program was extended in December 2020 with an additional budget of 10 million euros. The new portfolio is proposed for a period of 5 years (2022-2026). An indicative budget of 70 million euros is allocated for the new 2022-26 portfolio.

The new portfolio has the motto “Empowered youth in a green Palestine” and focuses on 2 pillars, namely:  

1. The empowerment of youth based on a continuum between developing competencies, skills, access to employment and entrepreneurship. 

1. Dedication to climate action, based on support to the development of an emerging green and circular economy and the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), with the view to contribute to a sustainable and inclusive Palestinian society, and reduce environmental hazards and dependency on non-renewable natural resources.  

The thematic priorities are: 

• Development and the strengthening of selected value chains and opportunities for socio-economic entrepreneurship and job creation in an emerging green economy; 
• Development of sustainable cities, public services and territories;  
• Focus on niches such as waste management, reducing, recycling and reuse, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.   

In addition to the new Portfolio, Enabel is in the process of formulating a new program in Gaza under the title of SAWAII, which is expected to include a number of Green and Circular Economy (GCE) activities.  

Job description

Your tasks and responsibilities

• You coordinate the realisation of the GCE activities with a view of achieving both projects objectives and smooth articulation between them; 
• You create opportunities for coherence with activities under Pillar 1 of the Portfolio focussing on training, employment and entrepreneurship in the West Bank and in Gaza; 
• You coordinate the learning process on how a project contributes to the development of the GCE in Palestine; 
• You ensure that relevant results information is available for monitoring and evaluation in order to allow monitoring of performance, decision-making, learning and reporting in GCE; 
• You support the set-up of the 3 Green Hubs around the selected value chains and the development of their activities; 

• You facilitate the dialogue with the related technical partners institutions; 
• You contribute to capacity development of various partner organisations; 
• You favour research and innovation for GCE in the selected value chains, privileging green technologies especially for energy production, energy efficiency and reuse and recycling of industrial waste;  
• You promote appropriate norms and standards as well as labelling process, including through linkage with Belgian and international expertise; 
• You promote recycled materials in other project activities e.g. in the construction of green buildings and public spaces (including infrastructure activities foreseen under Pillar 1); 

• You support the involvement of Enabel in GCE sector and platforms in Palestine, in particular the sectoral technical dialogue with both the national institutions and the international community; 
• You facilitate dialogue and collaboration with other development actors as well as related Belgian technical expertise both public and private. 

Partners institutions 

Partnerships will be developed with the Palestinian actors of the selected regions, including the Local Government Units (LGUs), representatives of the civil society and the private sector, as well as the related administrative bodies.  

Both projects will have for main strategic partner the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) as well as Environmental Quality Authority (EQA) and the Ministry of National Economy. The other ministries involved are Ministry of Housing and Public Works (MoHPW), Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of energy and Natural Resources.  

Specifically for the project in Gaza, Municipal/Local Governments Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) has been identified as a potential third party to take care of the negotiations with the municipality and to facilitate the implementation of the activities in order to be in line with the no contact policy.  

Regarding the project in the West Bank, some administrative bodies will also play an important role, such as the Palestinian Standards Institute, Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority (PENRA), Energy service companies (ESCos), the Municipalities of the four main cities (Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and Tubas) in the West Bank, the chambers of commerce and private Sector federations of the selected value chains, the Palestinian Federation of Industry (PFI), the Centre of Excellence in Renewable Energy (CERE), the Palestinian Contractor Union, and Electricity distribution companies.

Your profile

Note: international staff working for Enabel in Palestine must be of Belgian nationality in order to obtain a working permit as staff member of the Belgian Consulate-General.

Required qualifications and experience 

• You hold a Master’s degree in engineering, energy, environment, and/or in economy;   
• At least 7 years of relevant experience in green and circular economy; 

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in steering international development projects; 
• A relevant professional experience outside your country of origin; 
• Experience in several projects is an asset. 

Required skills and knowledge 

• Good knowledge of aspects of international development (context, challenges, application, partners, functioning…); 

• In-depth knowledge of project management methodologies ; 
• Sound understanding and experience of governance frameworks in supporting change processes, action research and capitalization of development results; 
• Thorough knowledge of one or several specific areas of expertise related to green and circular economy with a focus on energy efficiency, optimization in the use of raw materials and waste recycling in production processes; 
• Monitoring and evaluation competences; 
• Strategic leadership and good conceptual thinking skills; 

• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills;     
• Comfortable with leading groups dynamics in an inter-cultural environment; 
• Pro-active results-oriented management; 
• You are fluent in spoken and written French and/or Dutch. Considering the working language of Palestine and the international environment in which you work, excellent knowledge of English is required. Notions of Arabic is an asset. 
  

You commit to the vision, mission and values of Enabel (https://www.enabel.be/content/enabel-vision-mission-values).

We offer you

• An exciting job in an international environment and a warm team. 

• A contract of 48 months. You are based in Jerusalem. You mainly work in Ramallah and Gaza with regular travels inside the country. 
• A salary package that comprises the monthly gross salary, in accordance with our salary scales (Class 6), and Enabel expat benefits such as a remoteness, assignment and hardship allowance, (capped) coverage of housing expenses, a moving compensation, an installation compensation, (capped) coverage of school expenses for children accompanying, an insurance package for the whole family, including repatriation insurance, and an annual round-trip flight ticket for each family member. 
• In case of expatriation without the (dependent) members of the family, up to six additional round-trip flight tickets to the country of origin or another destination (capped in accordance with Enabel rules). 

The various amounts vary in function of relevant recognised experience for the function and family composition.

Following this recruitment procedure a shortlist of successful applicants may be constituted which may be sourced in the next three years for similar job openings. 

Every person who fulfils the conditions listed in our job advertisements may apply. Enabel is committed to equal opportunities and diversity in its workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability status or any other factor other than competence. 

Are you interested?

Apply here at the latest by 01/06/2022 and include your application letter and updated CV. 

Only applications submitted via the above link will be considered.