Funding Opportunities

Consultant: Quality Assurance, and Policy Expert for Nepal Clean Cooking Project

The Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) works with a global network of partners to build an inclusive industry that makes clean cooking accessible to the three billion people who live each day without it. Established in 2010, CCA is driving consumer demand, mobilizing investment to build a pipeline of scalable businesses, and fostering an enabling environment to allow the sector to thrive. Clean cooking transforms lives by improving health, protecting the climate and the environment, empowering women, and helping families save time and money.

Electric Cooking in Nepal

Electric cooking plays a critical role in meeting the Government of Nepal’s (GoN) ambitious commitments and targets to mitigate climate change and, in parallel, achieve universal energy access. Building on a decade of collaboration with the GoN, CCA is kicking off an innovative project that applies revolutionary electric cookstove (EC) monitoring technology to unlock carbon finance and drive a sustainable EC market in Province 2, Nepal. The new project is informed by CCA’s work in Nepal, including foundational research on electric cooking, the development of a Country Action Plan, national electric cooking standards implementation, and the Energy Access Explorer development.

In Madesh Pradesh, this project will sell 1,000 ECs and implement coordinated initiatives, including conducting awareness and demand creation activities, ensuring ECs and related utensils are readily available in local retail stores, guaranteeing after-sales care for long-term user satisfaction, and ensuring adequate electricity access. Emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technology in EC will enable real-time data collection for accurate monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV). Using additional stove monitors to track stove stacking will also allow measurement of the real use of all household cooking devices and provide more accurate emissions reduction estimates. The project will determine feasibility of establishing a carbon finance program which will decrease the cost of implementation and enhance the affordability of ECs for marginalized consumers. The project’s core market-building activities will be underpinned by improvements to the enabling environment, including coordination with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to establish reliable infrastructure, breaker upgrades, and wiring upgrades for target households, coordination with local government for demand aggregation, and support for national policies.

This project will gather learnings to support the scaling-up of electric cooking across Nepal and position Nepal to potentially be the first developing country globally to achieve 100% decarbonized cooking through the mass adoption of ECs. Project learnings will also be shared to support the scale up of ECs throughout the region.

Position Overview

CCA is seeking a Quality Assurance and Policy Expert Consultant, to oversee the smooth implementation of the Clean Cooking Program in Madhesh province. The consultant will have experience working in the Energy sector in Nepal, preferably in close coordination with both government and non-government stakeholders, and is familiar with annual planning, monitoring and reporting processes. The consultant will be responsible for overall coordination and sharing knowledge with NEA, ADB, and other crucial stakeholders. The consultant will supervise project team members, ensuring on-time delivery of project implementation and reporting deliverables to ADB, NEA and relevant partners. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring all the project activities and the institutional arrangements are inclusive and gender-responsive. The consultant will be accountable for achieving project results and objectives.

The project is anticipated for a duration of approximately 15 months. The involvement of the Policy Expert Consultant will be approximately 75 working days, and all work will be done in close collaboration and oversight from CCA’s Chief of Staff and CCA’s Nepal Country Representative. The consultant will work closely with the project Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning expert to finalize the required reporting. The consultant will support CCA to develop a concise project report and prepare policy briefs based on the evidence from the project.

The consultant will be responsible for following Deliverables:

• Deliverable 1: Develop a detailed framework on need of relevant policies for supporting E- cooking promotion in Nepal with recommendations for Government of Nepal and relevant entities
• Deliverable 2: Create and maintain a partnership with NEA, ADB, ATEC and other crucial stakeholders including relevant government agencies through desk research and stakeholder engagement to support additional thought partnership and program opportunities.
• Deliverable 3: Provide review and oversight of detailed implementation plan and periodic reports, which will be submitted to ADB.

Skills Required

• Master’s degree in a relevant science discipline, engineering or equivalent, and more than ten years of experience in project management, research, analysis, and policy advocacy, specifically in energy and environmental issues in Nepal.
• Understanding of the clean cooking sector in Nepal, preferably an understanding of how the government and non-government stakeholders operates in the clean cooking sector.
• Practical experience in annual planning and budgeting, monitoring, and reporting.
• Familiarity and/or interest in clean cooking projects and enterprises will be strongly considered.
• Expertise in policy development with experience in working with national governments, leading the delivery of international projects, managing stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in complex project development, management, and execution.
• Ability to drive multiple aspects of initiatives and projects from inception to implementation within a limited time frame.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to leverage current, and develop new, networks to build relationships and amplify access and impact.
• Effective and active in stakeholder engagement and external representation.
• Ability to plan and participate in virtual meetings that align with EST working hours.
• Energetic and positive attitude.
• Solutions-oriented and able to manage and advance multiple task and responsibilities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Problem-solver with a proactive, no-task-is-too-small nature who takes initiative.
• Team-oriented, supportive work style, and able to work independently.
• Excellent communicator, able to synthesize and convey complex information clearly.
• Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and handle stress.
• High ethical standards and ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion with sensitive information.
• Ability to learn new systems and collaboration platforms efficiently.

Duration & budget

The consultant engagement will last approximately 75 days, during the 15 -month period. We are seeking a consultant with immediate availability. The budget for this position should be no more than US$500/day, not to exceed a total of US $37,500.

Location

Duty station will be in Kathmandu with inter-office visits for meetings.

To Apply

Please email a resume and cover letter to Jillene Connors Belopolsky (jbelopolsky@cleancookingalliance.org) with cc: to Karuna Bajracharya ( kbajracharya@cleancooking.org) with the subject line “Consultant, Quality Assurance and Policy Expert for Nepal Clean Cooking project.” The selected consultant must comply with United Nations Foundation and funder compliance requirements.

To download the Terms of Reference, click here.