Fellow - Energy Transitions

Our partner organization is an independent and non-profit research organisation that -

• Analyses issues at the frontier of addressing climate change, managing the energy transition, and limiting environmental threats in India and globally;
• Informs policymakers, stakeholders and the public about key policy and governance levers, and their implications; and
• Accelerates the transition to an environmentally and socially sustainable future by enabling strategic action for systemic change.

The role of a Fellow is to identify, develop and implement new areas of research and engagement. This includes identifying areas of national strategic importance around India's energy transition, developing a potentially impactful research and policy engagement strategy, identifying potential sources of funding, working with a team to execute the vision, and building networks with peer research organisations, governments and the media in the process.

This is a leadership position within the organization and will require a reasonable amount of time devoted to organisation building, including to coordination meetings and managing key organisational functions. It is a young and exciting organisation, and these are crucial years in its development this position is expected to play a role in that process with institutional commitments ramping up slowly over time.

The candidate must have research experience and interests related to India's energy transition. While they are flexible to candidates specific research interests within this broad field, the candidate should be able to engage
with and carry forward their existing work on governance of energy transitions, metrics and indicators of progress, energy transition and climate change, just transitions for fossil-dependent regions, sub-national electricity transitions and the changing political economy of energy.

The Fellow is expected to develop an independent policy research agenda while collaborating with other team members.
The role demands a level of comfort in publishing peer-reviewed work in top journals, writing policy briefs that speak to live issues, and writing public-facing pieces such as op-eds.

Our partner organization operates through collaborative decision-making and with key institutional decisions taken collectively. Potentially successful candidates should therefore be comfortable working in such an environment. This includes playing an active role in furthering their team culture goals, encouraging the prospects of their talented younger colleagues, and being open to (and indeed encouraging) feedback from colleagues. They have structured this organisation to ensure independent research and privilege rigorous research and high-quality outputs that drive discourse on India's policy landscape. They also care deeply about equity, both in the workplace and in their research outputs. A successful candidate will likely have the same core emphases.

• Develop new areas of work and continue to develop existing areas of work in the manner described above with a view to enable India's energy transition.
• Build relationships with partners in governments, the media and peer organisations in India and globally.
• Be able to manage a team and assist colleagues in their career development. 
• Develop a pipeline of high impact and high quality academic and policy work in tandem.
• Engage in team building and manage key organizational functions.

• Applicants must have a Ph.D. in a relevant social science discipline or applied sciences with demonstrable policy engagement and public impact. MA/MS candidates will be considered if the candidate brings a history of impact or high-quality work in the policy space and have considerable policy experience.
• A minimum of three to five years of post-doctoral work experience is essential.
• Demonstrated interest in energy transition policy and/or research is desirable.
• At least two publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals are highly desirable.
• Experience in mentoring younger colleagues and advancing their careers is desirable.
• Other evidence of being able to write and think creatively.
• History of working in or encouraging a flat organisational structure is preferable.
• Evidence of working with or enjoying a highly interdisciplinary environments is preferable.