Senior Economic Advisor (Technical Specialist Environmental) - Armenia (Retainer Homebased)

A Senior Economic Advisor embedded in the Ministry of Economy will implement the following tasks:

• Advise the Ministry of Economy in identifying, mapping and prioritizing a subset of investment projects in a programmatic approach aimed at promoting Green and Sustainable Economic Development Agenda and addressing relevant gaps in the NDC Partner Coordination Support Plan. Preliminary identified priority sectors are climate-smart agriculture, management of agrifood system, e-mobility (including transport infrastructure), renewable energy and industry, management of natural resources, addressing capacity building, policy and institutional framework development;

• Work plan agreed with the government and a short inception report summarizing the status of the government’s ongoing and planned measures for the implementation of the Green and Sustainable Economic Development Agenda and addressing relevant gaps in the NDC Partner Coordination Support Plan

• Develop and package concept notes (the number of notes will be defined at the mapping phase), including support in navigating the range of financing sources, engaging stakeholders to fulfill funding proposal requirements, and assessing financial instruments to structure investments;

• Perform financial, economic, and regulatory analysis throughout project concept and design stages in collaboration with the country teams and government counterparts, including designing and recommending suitable financial structures;

• Based on developed concept notes, conduct (pre)feasibility assessments of 2 green investment projects/programs, engaging all relevant stakeholders (selection of 2 projects for (pre) feasibility assessment will be coordinated by the leadership of the Ministry of Economy in liaison with the government counterparts);

• Coordinate between line ministries and implementing/development partners to accelerate projects through the investment pipeline;

• Where possible, pursue opportunities to finance projects through domestic resources as a means of enhancing country ownership;

• Develop a concept note for Armenia to establish institutional and technical measures for the implementation of carbon accounting in the private sector;

• Upon request from the Ministry of Economy, draft guidelines for the private sector to understand climate obligations deriving from the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM);

• Provide feedback and recommendations on governmental strategies and concept papers regarding green economy, renewable energy, agrifood systems, climate-smart agriculture, climate change, and related sectors;

• Upon request of the Ministry of Economy, participate in conferences, workshops, meetings, official events, and negotiation processes;  

• Design and deliver mentorship programme for the Ministry of Economy, and line ministries and other in-country stakeholders (2 groups of mentees) to ensure knowledge transfer to local staff;

• Carry out any other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as may be requested by the Ministry of Economy and the NDC Partnership Support Unit.

The Senior Economic Advisor will work under the guidance of the Ministry of Economy and in close collaboration with other relevant government agencies in the country. However, the advisor will formally report to the Partnership Development Specialist of the NDC Partnership Support Unit. 

• Master Degree preferably in environmental economics, environmental management, development economics and/or finance, or related fields is required.

• Bachelor's degree in related discipline in combination with an additional 2 years (7 total) of relevant work experience is required.

Required

• 5 years of experience in national or international public, or private sector institutions with a special focus on coordination and articulation of different actors, preparation and implementation of multi-stakeholder work plans, resource mobilization, preparation of proposals for climate actions, crisis response and recovery, project management, monitoring and evaluation

• Experience and knowledge of green and sustainable economic strategies and policies.

Assets

• In-depth knowledge of the national plans, strategies and policies related to climate change in the country

• 3 years of international experience (link to qualifications relevant to financing mechanisms, dealing with bilateral and multilateral financing institutions) is an asset

• Experience and relevant skills in the use of the Office suite (e.g. MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint), virtual communication tools (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype) and other tools and packages for project management purposes

Fluency in written and spoken English and Armenian is required.