Senior Associate, Green Industrialization

Title: Senior Associate, Green Industrialisation

Job Level: Mid-Level

Department: Country Delivery, Africa

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reports directly to: Managing Director, Business Development and Partnerships

Matrix/Dual Reports: South Africa Country Lead

EMPLOYMENT DETAILS

Employment type: Fixed term contract (24 months – full programme period)

OVERVIEW

The Global Energy Alliance (GEA) is an organization operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes working to unlock green energy access to secure an inclusive and resilient future for all. Formed in a spirit of radical collaboration, GEA brings together philanthropy, governments, development partners, and the private sector. Established at COP 26, our common mission is to support low- and middle-income countries’ shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that ensures universal energy access and unlocks a new era of inclusive economic growth, while enabling the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. The Alliance in our name reflects a fundamental aspect of GEA’s approach: committed partnerships. Together with our Alliance members we aim to enable 150 million new jobs, reduce four gigatons of future carbon emissions, and expand clean energy access to one billion people.

The Programme Manager will lead the full 24-month delivery of the Global Energy Alliance’s Inclusive Green Industrialisation initiative. This includes overseeing market analysis, feasibility studies, policy alignment, prototype design and launch, and the preparation for a scaling-up of proven models. The role is the central coordination backbone for government, donors, industry, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and skills partners, ensuring the initiative moves from research to real enterprises with measurable jobs and localisation impact.

This is in support of South Africa’s green transition which presents a pivotal opportunity to both decarbonise the economy and support black-owned SMEs as we address persistent unemployment. As the country moves away from fossil fuels, the challenge is not only to expand renewable energy infrastructure, but to do so in a way that drives industrialisation, supports inclusive enterprise development – with a focus on women, youth and other previously disadvantaged persons, and creates meaningful, long-term jobs. Without deliberate action focused on addressing barriers, South Africa is at risk of losing the window of opportunity to develop critically important new skills that can make a significant difference in the country’s persistent employment crisis.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

A: Programme Mobilisation, Governance & Full-Cycle Delivery

• Establish and manage the governance structure, and reporting frameworks across the full 24-month programme.
• Translate strategic objectives into detailed work plans, timelines, and risk/issue logs.
• Coordinate funder compliance requirements, budgeting, contracting, and quarterly reporting.
• Ensure seamless progression from research and partnership development, and to pilot implementation and scale-up.

B: Market Scan & Feasibility

• Lead a market scan across several value chains, delivering a prioritised shortlist of value chains and opportunities identified.
• Developing and maintaining an opportunities dashboard.
• Manage techno-economic feasibility studies, the identification of localisation pathways, skills mapping, and SME identification.
• Coordinate policy and institutional alignment with the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM), the Presidency, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), the Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE), and DFIs, among others.
• Assess existing policies for inclusivity and identify areas of improvement.
• Deliver: feasibility reports and roll-out plans for prioritised opportunities.

C: Prototype Design & Launch

• Oversee design of 1–2 inclusive enterprise prototypes: SME due diligence, ESG and standards support, business model design, and commercial viability checks.
• Coordinate partnerships with offtakers (e.g. OEMs/utilities) and funders/financiers.
• Deliver: prototype blueprints; prototype launch + initial incubation support.

D: Recommend Prototype Expansion & Scaling Pathways

• Lead refinement and recommend expansion of prototypes into additional sites, enterprises, or value chain segments.
• Identify sources of capital (grant + concessional + private) for scale-up and facilitate engagements between capital providers and businesses.
• Recommend complementary enabling environment reforms for scale-up, if necessary.
• Support development of fundable scale-up modules and partnerships for long-term industrial growth.
• Deliver: recommendations for prototype/pilot scale-up, package of lessons learned for potential investors, update scale-up roadmap.

E: Alliancing & Stakeholder Engagement

• Convene regular technical working groups, bilateral meetings, and partner roundtables across government, industry, donors, SMEs, and skills actors.
• Manage South–South learning exchanges with Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, and others.
• Serve as the programme’s central relationship manager across GEA, funder(s), and external partners.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• A bachelor’s degree in the following fields (master’s advantageous): Business sciences. Project management, Economics, or Engineering
• 7–10+ years in programme management, economic development, industrialisation, or green economy.
• Demonstrated experience delivering multi-year, multi-stakeholder programmes.
• Strong knowledge of industrialisation and localisation policy, DFIs, and SME ecosystems.
• Proven ability to turn research into operational pilots and scalable delivery.
• Sector familiarity with energy/electricity value chains (BESS, steel, hydrogen, solar), or manufacturing ecosystems.
• Excellent project management, structuring, and problem-solving abilities.

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

• Exhibits excellent interpersonal skills, fostering open communication and trust to drive progress.
• Strong stakeholder and alliance-building skills across government and industry.
• Ability to synthesise technical and economic information for decision-making.
• Comfort working in evolving, collaborative environments, and with a complex stakeholder set.