The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Global Energy Alliance) The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Global Energy Alliance) works for a world where everyone has access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity and the means to use it to improve their lives. Our Alliance builds transformative public, private, philanthropic partnerships to end energy poverty and accelerate green economic opportunity. Founded in 2021 by The Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund, we design innovative projects/programs, unlock finance, strengthen institutions and transform markets, delivering progress anchored in deep community engagement. By uniting actors across the value chain, from households to heads of state, we go beyond individual projects to drive lasting systems change. With work in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, our Alliance aims to reach 1 billion people with clean electricity, prevent 4 billion tons of carbon emissions and create or improve 150 million jobs. **About The Role** The Global Energy Alliance is seeking a Managing Director to lead its Powering Opportunity work in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Powering Opportunity aims to not only expand access to clean electricity, but to make reliable, affordable energy a pathway for local economic development: helping communities, farmers and small businesses use clean energy to process, preserve and sell what they produce, and to create jobs and income. The role has two connected areas of focus: leading GEA’s strategy in Brazil, and leading the Powering Opportunity pillar across LAC. In Brazil, the role will drive progress on PODER (Powering Development and Environmental Resilience), GEA’s flagship initiative in the Brazilian Amazon, bringing together government, utilities, communities and funders to develop practical productive\-use solutions and embed them in electrification programs. Across LAC, the Managing Director will shape and grow GEA’s Powering Opportunity portfolio, bringing this approach to new countries where the conditions are right, and working alongside GEA’s other regional initiatives such as the Universal Access Coalition (UAC). This is an ambitious role for a leader who can both set the strategy and make it happen. We are looking for someone who can turn a shared vision into concrete plans, budgets and partnerships; build trusted, long\-term relationships with government, utilities, communities and funders; and keep diverse partners aligned and moving forward as the work grows from pilots to programs at scale. Reporting to GEA’s Vice President for LAC, the role will work closely and with the support of regional and global Powering Opportunity teams, alongside country and technical colleagues. **Scope of work** * Powering Opportunity strategy in LAC * Lead the design and rollout of GEA’s Powering Opportunity strategy for LAC, starting with Brazil, adapting GEA’s global approach to each local context. * Adapt models that have already worked in GEA’s other Powering Opportunity markets, and promote knowledge exchange between PODER, other LAC initiatives and GEA’s programs globally. * Ensure complementarity between Powering Opportunity and GEA’s LAC regional initiatives, including the Universal Access Coalition (UAC), and identify opportunities for joint impact. * Help define and align funding objectives and targets for LAC and Brazil's Powering Opportunity initiatives with GEA's global Powering Opportunity strategy. * Set annual objectives, budgets and targets for the LAC Powering Opportunity portfolio, and align results reporting with GEA’s global Powering Opportunity framework. * Support GEA’s communications initiatives in LAC, and particularly Brazil, to establish its reputation as a crucial energy sector convener in the country and region. * Brazil strategy, partnerships and resource mobilization * Lead the development and implementation of GEA’s strategy in Brazil, with PODER as its main vehicle. * Lead the building and growth of the PODER coalition, bringing together government, utilities, private sector, financial institutions, donors, NGOs and community organizations around shared outcomes. * Serve as GEA’s senior counterpart to federal and state government in Brazil, including acting as the main focal point for technical cooperation agreements: setting the agenda, leading regular meetings, and sharing work plans, results and lessons learned. * Build and sustain trust\-based relationships with partners, aligning different institutional priorities with diplomacy and keeping partners engaged over time. * Formalize working arrangements with PODER partners and turn them into concrete joint projects and grant opportunities. * Articulate how energy access enables the broader Amazon bioeconomy, connecting PODER to value chains, livelihoods and investment, working with specialized partners where needed. * Coordinate with GEA’s fundraising team and cons