Research Fellow/Lead (Policy And Governance), Energy Program

Research Fellow/Lead (Policy and Governance), Energy Program

Who we are and what we do?
WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. WRI India’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being.We are inspired by and associated with World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organization. Currently over 250 researchers are working with WRI India in our offices at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Program Overview for Energy
The objective of the WRI India Energy Program is to inform and guide India’s transition to cleaner energy. The program focuses on three inter-related aspects of this energy transition: enhancing energy access, scaling renewables among specific consumer categories, and achieving higher levels of energy and buildings efficiency. Our energy access work is specifically aimed at ensuring access to affordable and clean energy so as to improve socio-economic development in rural and remote regions of India. Through strong research, ground-level implementation experience, partnerships with key stakeholders and communicating our work, we seek to achieve impact at scale.
About your role:

WRI India is seeking a research fellow/ lead to focus on issues of Policy and Governance for its Energy Program. The program aims to inform and guide India’s energy transition through research and analysis on equitable Energy Access and more broadly India’s energy transition across utilities, industry, cities and other aspects of energy governance.

Our energy governance work focuses on key themes around legal, Policy and regulatory enablers and barriers to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency on the supply and demand-side. Our work is across multiple scales of governance and involves diverse stakeholder groups. We engage with electricity regulators and utilities in identifying and implementing strategies to promote renewable energy through innovative tariff mechanisms, and other approaches.

The ideal candidate for this role should have a background in law and have the interest and aptitude to navigate the legal, regulatory and policy landscape of the energy sector. The primary responsibility of the role will be to serve as the go-to person in the team for understanding nuances in energy law, regulations, and policies. He/she must be able to apply their knowledge and research to identify emerging challenges in the sector, for example- geopolitical issues in energy transition, the supply and demand for critical minerals, promotion of new clean energy generation technologies like green hydrogen, decarbonization of demand-side sectors like industries and buildings and others.

The candidate is also expected to contribute their expertise on topics related to energy governance more broadly to assess the issues of reliability and affordability of energy for developmental needs and opportunities for equitable energy transition.

How your day will unfold:

Research and program delivery (50%)

• Conduct in-depth research and analysis on legal, policy, regulatory, institutional reforms and market-based mechanisms to increase supply and demand for renewable energy, integrating energy storage, electric mobility, promotion of green hydrogen, end-use decarbonisation and other topics as determined by program leadership.

• Conduct in-depth research (qualitative and quantitative) to understand the linkages between reliable electricity and socio-economic development, multidimensional consequences of renewable energy, governance of electricity and allied sectors and its impact on the acceleration to clean energy, distributive impacts of the clean energy transition on various socio-economic groups and institutions.

• Through high quality research, analysis and critical thinking help the program develop a position on policy issues, how these issues will impact the different stakeholders the program engages.

• Develop templates and frameworks for analysing and studying electricity regulations, tariff orders, and simplified approaches for understanding contracts, procurement orders and similar documents related to the energy sector.

• Collaborate with colleagues from the Energy Program, across WRI and our partners for research and project execution.

Writing (30%)

• Reading and creating the summary of Policy and regulatory documents (including important regulatory petitions, filings and reports), knowledge papers and reports produced by other think tanks, consulting organizations and associations to share and disseminate within the team.

• Write about present and anticipated legal, Policy and regulatory challenges facing the energy transition in India.

• Support the team with disseminating key messages from our research findings to audiences in the most appropriate manner.

• Identify relevant topics for knowledge products. Lead and write knowledge products, particularly flagship reports for the program on energy Policy and Governance.

Training and building team capacity (20%)

• Train program staff in reviewing and understanding regulations, including regulatory filings, petitions and orders.

• Serves as a technical resource to program staff by promoting knowledge transfer and learning opportunities.

Qualifications and requirements we seek:

• Post graduate degree in law (environmental or energy) and / or energy policy.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in environmental and or energy policy.

Key skills:

• Knowledge of energy sector in India and the region. Prior experience and background in working in energy law, regulatory and policy landscape is necessary.
• Intellectual curiosity. Stay on the top of current on legal and regulatory issues related to the energy transition in India and come up with new ways to think about and address these issues.
• Analytical skills. Use qualitative and quantitative research methods. Apply analytical skills when they collect, evaluate and interpret data and research.
• Critical-thinking skills.Ability to examine and process available information and research on key Policy and regulatory reforms (present and anticipated) and draw logical conclusions from their findings.
• Communication skills. Expertise in clearly explaining policies, policy impacts, and recommendations in both spoken and written formats to many different audiences, including colleagues in the program, external stakeholders, team members and policy makers.

Salary and Benefits: 21,00,000 INR to 24,00,000 INRCTC Per annum
Salary shall be commensurate with experience and skills. WRI offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package.

Duration: 2 years as term hire extendable based on performance and project requirements.

Location: New Delhi/Remote

Start date: As soon as possible.

List of Documents to be attached:

• Cover Letter
• Resume

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview purpose.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) @WRI India

WRI India values and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion across all areas of our work and workforce. Integrating these values into our actions fosters a progressive and collaborative culture and can also enhance our impact. It is our responsibility to create a welcoming working environment for people of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experience to learn together. We are responsible for fostering a safe and inclusive workplace where questions, concerns and information about diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our ongoing dialogue and development.

Learn more about WRI India’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Click Here

People-centric to the core:

We keep our people at the centre of everything we do - from a welcoming work environment to benefits and a culture that encourages staff to stay healthy, happy, engaged, and growing.

Some of the non-monetary benefits that our staff get:
Health benefits: We cover health insurance for you and your loved ones for up to INR 8 lakhs

Term Insurance: Our term insurance policy covers life coverage of 50 lakhs per staffmember

Employee Assistance program: Promoting mental well-being and supporting staff in achieving a satisfying work-life balance

Health & Nutrition: Personalized diet recommendation from a certified dietitian based on the physical health condition and lifestyle

Flexible work schedule: Alternative work arrangements for all who are eligible by nature of their job

Learning culture: Workshops and trainings to empower staff, encourage new learning opportunities

Rest and Recharge weeks: We encourage staff to take time off to rest, rejuvenate, upskill, and pursue their interests.

Our leave policy: Avail personal time off at 36 per year, along with public holidays, maternity, paternity, and adoption leaves.

Click here to know more about our benefits Careers | WRI INDIA (wri-india.org)

Equal employment @WRI India

We believe in equal employment, it is our policy to recruit, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to caste, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability.