Senior Energy Officer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/19/041
Location: Tanzania
Grade: LP5
Position N°: 50078489

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery is responsible for operational relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Bank Group’s operational programs, and activities.
• This ensures that the Bank operates successfully across its Regional Member Countries and oversee the full implementation of all aspects of the Bank’s Regional Directorates.

The Hiring Department/Division

• Within the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP), the Bank has five (5) Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery (RDIBD) Directorates, one in each region of Africa:
• North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) and is staffed with the relevant sectoral functions and administrative capabilities for rapid delivery of services to client countries. The Regional Directorates provide overall strategic direction to country offices within the regions and are responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5s of ‘Light up and Power Africa,’ ‘Feed Africa,’ ‘Industrialize Africa,’ ‘Integrate Africa,’ ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.’
• The position is situated in Tanzania, in the Eastern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery directorate.

The Position

• The Senior Energy Officer is responsible for the origination of energy projects and programs, processing of Bank financing, supervision of implementation and general portfolio management of energy sector projects.  In this work, the incumbent interacts closely with other staff members in the following complexes; Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization; Agriculture, Human and Social Development; and Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth. The incumbent is directly involved in the development cycle from identification of opportunities in line with the High 5s to their approval by the Bank’s Boards of Directors. As part of the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery (RDVP) Complex, the incumbent contributes to the delivery of the ‘Power and Light Up Africa’, ‘Integrate Africa’, ‘Improve the Quality of Life of the People of Africa’ and the ‘Industrialize Africa’ Strategies.

Duties and responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Regional Sector Manager (RDGE1), the Senior Energy Officer will perform the following:

Business Development and Pipeline Management:

• Provide support to the Regional Member Countries (RMC) and bank teams in the origination, preparation, structuring and implementation of complex and innovative energy projects.
• Work with Region/Hub-based staff and relevant governance/risk/compliance units, in the process of identification, preparation and execution of Sovereign (SO) and Non-Sovereign (NSO) operations, as well as in conducting policy/result-based financing operations and technical assistance related to the above topics;
• Contribute to solving issues related to energy sector development including advice to RMCs for  promoting policies conducive to strong growth/development of the energy sector  as well as other areas of activity of the Division (e.g. creation of an enabling environment for private sector investments in energy projects, corporate governance);
• Review the various proposals and communications sent to the Bank by its partners, clients and RMCs; and take appropriate action, including issuing of technical opinion on government submissions to the Bank, drafting of responses and/or reports/presentations as well as making internal or external follow-ups;
• Provide the required technical skills to design national and multinational projects that respond to the needs of the RMCs and regional economic communities based on their priorities and selectivity;
• Liaise with other development partners in order to identify opportunities for co-financing and other partnerships;
• Provide inputs for the power sector into the Bank’s pipeline of projects;

Portfolio Management:

• Provide sector expertise for quality assurance in the preparation of terms of reference (TORs), requests for proposals (RFPs), tender documents to procure goods and/or services in line with the Bank’s procurement rules: e.g. recruitment and supervision of expert advisors (and Bank staff) regarding execution of socio-techno-economic (pre-) - feasibility studies and utility performance diagnostics;
• Task-manage the Bank’s energy sector projects in Tanzania and carry out all regular portfolio management activities, including interaction with Project Management Units (PMUs) or Project Implementation Units (PIU) to guide, monitor and follow-up on implementation issues, review of quarterly progress reports and requests for extension of contracts or Last Disbursement Dates (LDD); Supervise all procurement and disbursement activities related to the Bank’s energy sector projects in Tanzania. This includes, inter alia, review of bidding documents, bid evaluation reports, complaints from bidders, etc.;
• Undertake the supervision of the Bank’s portfolio of power sector investments, review of relevant monitoring & evaluation reports, and field inspections as necessary; and proffer measures for resolving material operational weaknesses. This includes inter alia, providing practical solutions to ensure the portfolio complies with Bank’s directives and guidelines;
• Ensure timely procurement and disbursement of active power and energy projects in the Bank’s portfolio, liaising with government departments and project implementation units to address blockages in project execution, using the Bank Portfolio Dashboard as main monitoring tool.

Knowledge Production and Coordination:

• Contribute to the preparation of energy sector assessments and other upstream analytical and diagnostic work to inform Country Strategy Papers (CSP); provide support to country/regional departments on policy dialogue with RMCs relating to energy sector and related issues; and provide back-up to country offices to ensure provision of quality advisory service to RMCs;
• Contribute to the preparation of policy statements, papers, briefs and various reports on energy sector issues and other areas relevant to the Energy, Environment & Climate Change Department;
• Represent the Bank in national and regional partnerships, networks, conferences, workshops, and training seminars on issues related to energy sector development and related issues;
• Undertake any other tasks as may be assigned by the Manager

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or Electromechanical Engineering. Additional training in management and/or energy economics is an asset.
• Have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in the energy sector operations including, infrastructure development, power utility operations and management, and power sector planning and service delivery.
• Ability to demonstrate a broad range of previous responsibilities and analytical skills within the industry in several of the following areas: power sector strategy formulation; financing of energy projects; management and operation of power generation, transmission and distribution utilities; electrical system planning and design, including conducting energy demand and supply balance; assessment of renewable energy resources; preparation of bidding documents; project management; contract administration; costing of infrastructure projects; monitoring and supervision of transmission and distribution infrastructure, and provision of electrical services. Knowledge and understanding of project financing/ financial and economic appraisal would offer an advantage.
• Experience in implementing projects with public sector institutions and/or bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions will give an added advantage for this position.
• Proven ability to interact competently with the staff of government and donor agencies as well as with the private sector on issues relating to energy sector governance and aid coordination.
• Good listener with demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas as well as make effective and timely decisions; capacity to initiate and manage innovations and change.
• Strong team spirit and proven ability to work with people of diverse cultural backgrounds often based in different geographical locations.
• A self-starter, with an ability to work with relatively little supervision or guidance and deliver agreed results;
• Familiarity with project management and project identification procedures in Development Finance Institutions, multilateral organizations, including the African Development Bank, is an added advantage.
• Good command of standard software (e.g. Microsoft Office Suite for word processing, spreadsheets, databases and presentations).
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Good working knowledge of French will be an added advantage.