Junior Professional Officer (gn) - World Energy Transitions

Junior Professional Officer (JPO)

Chiffre Nr. 2025-2-51

Job Title: JPO Associate Programme Officer (gn) – World Energy Transitions

Division / Section: IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC)

Duty station: Bonn, Germany

Duration: 2 years with possibility of extension for another year. The extension of appointment is subject to yearly review concerning priorities, availability of funds, and satisfactory performance.

Please note that for participants of the JPO-Programme two years work experience are mandatory! Relevant work experience can be counted. In order to assess the eligibility of the candidates, we review the relevant experience acquired after obtaining the first university degree (usually bachelor’s degree).

Organisational context and organisational setting

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an inter-governmental organisation mandated with the widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy. At present, IRENA has 168 Members (167 States and the European Union) that acceded to its Statute, and 16 additional States in the process of accession and actively engaged. IRENA supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.

The Agency implements its mandate with the view to sustainable development, increased energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity. IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC) is responsible for the provision of the means for an accelerated renewable energy technology uptake, considering national conditions of resource endowment, social and economic frameworks. In accordance with the IRENA Statute, activities in this field include analysis of renewable energy technology policies; dissemination of information and increased awareness; technologies and equipment overview and assessment of success-failure factors; improved pertinent knowledge and technology transfer, and joint RD&D and provision of information about the development and deployment of national and international technical standards in relation to renewable energy.

In close cooperation with the other IRENA divisions, IITC’s work on energy transformation covers, among others, the areas of renewable energy roadmaps, energy planning and modelling, power system transformation, flexibility studies, project development and facilitation, innovation, standards, patents and quality assurance, as well as costing and competitiveness of renewables. Within the IITC, IRENA’s REmap (Renewable Energy Roadmap) programme determines the potential for countries, regions and the world to scale up renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low carbon technologies. The programme assesses technology potential assembled from the bottom-up, starting with country analyses done in collaboration with country experts, and then aggregating these results to arrive at a global picture.

IRENA’s REmap team continually engages with experts by means of detailed country, regional and global analysis and reports. In order to do so, an extensive set of country- specific information need to be collected, harmonized and maintained. That includes country background information, general information about the economy, energy statistics, energy plans and projections, resource availability, energy policies, energy pricing, etc. From the analysis of that information using the REmap analytical framework, the REmap team is able to explore options for renewable energy and low carbon technology uptake in countries, regions and globally.

IRENA Sekretariat

In addition to this ongoing effort, the REmap programme is also strengthening its analytical capabilities relating to long-term decarbonization and power system analysis and understanding of renewables in the end-use sectors of transport, industry and buildings. The result of this expanded focus will be a more thorough examination of the types of technologies on sector level that will be needed to enable an effective Global Energy Transformation.

IRENA has published six editions of its annual flagship global energy transition reports since 2017. The latest 2023 edition named “World Energy Transitions Outlook” outlined a pathway for the world to achieve the Paris Agreement goals and halt the pace of climate change by transforming the global energy landscape. This report presented options to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and bring CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050, offering high-level insights on technology choices, investment needs, policy framework and the socio-economic impacts of achieving a sustainable, resilient and inclusive energy future. The preparations for 2025 edition of the report are ongoing and will bring an updated analysis on G20 countries with consideration of national updated energy policy and plans, COP announcements and further policy interventions to deliver the net zero pathway by 2050.