The Institute for Economic Justice is recruiting for a Researcher/Senior Researcher: Energy Policy based in Johannesburg, South Africa: Apply Now
Closing Date: 22 March 2026
The Institute for Economic Justice is recruiting for a Researcher/Senior Researcher: Energy Policy based in Johannesburg, South Africa: Apply Now
Job Purpose
Lead work on South African energy policy, focusing on research and advocacy that reconfigures the (legal and institutional configuration of the) local energy system in a manner that would best support the goal of green industrialisation and diversification.
About You
The Researcher/Senior Researcher: Energy Policy should have significant research experience and expertise in energy policy and just transition, particularly in South Africa. You should also have knowledge of green industrial policy. Finally, you should be a self-starter, have good research skills, stakeholder management, the ability to collaborate with a broad range of stakeholders, and a strong ability to execute research and advocacy projects.
You should value working towards a fairer and more just world.
Main Responsibilities
Research
- Designing and undertaking primary and secondary research in the focus research and policy areas, leading to a range of outputs including Research Reports, Working Papers, journal articles and summary materials, such as factsheets.
- Leading work on transforming South Africa’s energy system.
- Reviewing, commenting on, and editing research outputs by other project teams and IEJ members, or external consultants.
- Leading on convening research and policy forums in focus areas, for example, conferences or symposiums.
- Participating in workshops and conferences.
Advocacy
- Conducting media engagement (radio, TV interviews etc.).
- Leading, representing IEJ in and participating in meetings with external stakeholders, including government and union officials.
- Leading advocacy activities related to this stream of work.
- Building partnerships and collaborating with trade unions, civil society role players, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Representing IEJ in relevant forums.
Strategic contributions
- Thinking about how to frame IEJ’s position on key political and strategic issues.
- Developing key messages.
- Developing language for the communication of research findings, including visual messaging.
Mentoring
- Assisting, when required, in building the capacity of junior researchers and researchers to produce publishable documents.
Project management and donor relations
- Contributing to the preparation and implementation of project plans
- Undertaking line management of more junior project staff (if applicable).
- Preparing reports of project work undertaken.
- Preparing donor narrative reports.
- Contributing to donor calls for applications.
Skills and Experience
Required skills and experience include:
- A PhD (for Senior Researcher) or a Master’s (for Researcher) or equivalent professional experience
- Excellent research background with existing publications.
- Training in energy policy, economics, political economy, or social sciences.
- Strong analytical and written communication skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills.
- Ability to engage with media and external stakeholders.
- Knowledge of thematic focus area.
- Project planning and staff management
- Interested in and passionate about the mission of the IEJ.
- Excellent computer literacy is essential, especially in MS Outlook, MS Word and MS Excel.
- Strategic and analytical thinker; proactive and performance-oriented.
- Organised, self‐reliant, good problem‐solving, results‐oriented multi‐tasker with management skills and judgment.
- Flexible and resilient.
- Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills.
- Presentation skills and the ability to effectively interface with all team members and stakeholders.
About the Just Energy Transition Project
The IEJ has an active area of work around the just transition. Within this, IEJ undertake project work to support an approach to climate policy that promotes human rights, gender equity, and social transformation while advancing economic policies that ensure environmental sustainability. IEJ also works with trade unions to build momentum behind alternative policy propositions that balance the urgent need for employment creation while addressing climate imperatives such as renewable energy generation.
The project will work to position green industrial policy as a central driver for transformative economic change. This involves a holistic approach that integrates structural economic shifts, the labour process, social reproduction, and the international financial architecture. A fundamental principle of this work is to ensure that workers and communities are the primary drivers, owners, and beneficiaries of the green industrialisation process.
The project also focuses on the practical implementation of green industrialisation strategies within African countries. The project will actively identify and pursue opportunities for:
- Localising Manufacturing: Building domestic capacity for the manufacturing of renewable energy components and technologies.
- Developing Green Sectors: Cultivating a broad range of environmentally sustainable sectors to drive industrial growth and diversification.
- Leveraging Critical Minerals: Strategically utilising the continent’s significant reserves of critical minerals to support and enhance green industrialisation pathways.
Finally, the project also addresses the critical need for an enabling regulatory and institutional environment. The project will undertake a thorough analysis of the energy system’s legal and institutional configuration. The objective is to design and advocate for an energy system structure that is optimally aligned with the goals of green industrialisation and broad-based economic diversification, ensuring that the benefits of the energy transition are widely distributed.
Contract
The contract will be a full-time three-year contract, with the possibility of extension depending on funding, beginning as soon as possible. The appointment could be either at the Senior Researcher or Researcher level.
SALARY (TCTC) (2026 LEVELS)
Researcher: R687 241 – R859 051
Senior Researcher: R916 321- R1 145 401
The Institute for Economic Justice
The IEJ is a non-profit activist think tank based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The IEJ’s mission is to advance economic justice by collaborating in the provision of rigorous, accessible research and policy alternatives that empower progressive social forces to create systemic change from above and below in South Africa and the continent.
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