Principal Power Engineer at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/461
Location: Kenya
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50065416

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s TYS High 5s priority of “Light up and Power Africa”. The complex’s objectives are (i) to develop policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector technical expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted for their expertise on complicated transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) act as spoke person to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on all aspects of “Light Up and Power Africa”. The Complex will focus on areas of Power systems, policy and regulation, renewable energy; and, Climate and Green Growth.

The Hiring Department

• The Power Systems Development Department has the broad objective of supporting the Bank’s Regional Member Countries, and African sub regions, to develop and improve their own Power Systems and the performance of their utilities

The Position

• The Power Engineer will ensure the technical strength of the Bank’s activities in the support of transactions linked to private sector investments in the electricity sector. He/She will provide deep sectoral expertise related to the planning, development, structuring and financing  of national and regional power systems, including power generation, transmission and distribution / retail. The job contributes to the delivery of flagships as required.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Manager, National and Regional Power Systems, the Principal Power Engineer will perform the following:

Business Development and Client Management:

• As per the guidelines of the New Deal on Energy for Africa, contribute towards developing a strong pipeline of good quality investment opportunities through leading business development missions, anticipating market trends and employing sector/country knowledge;
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, especially regional IPP developers and sponsors, utilities, service providers, banks, multilateral partners, regulators and government officials  to develop and execute specific investment opportunities;
• Have a thorough understanding of the power and utilities industry, including markets, major contractors / operators and technologies and provide advice to PEVP team members in the regional hubs concerning the processing of transactions linked to IPP / PPP investments.

Project Finance tasks:

• Contribute to the delivery of flagships as required to ensure delivery of the New Deal on Energy objectives;
• Act as in-house advisor to investment staff in appraising new private sector proposals for investments in the power sector.
• Liaise with client’s technical staff, project engineers and lenders’ engineers and participate in due diligence missions and other project meetings, as necessary.
• Review major contracts, including PPA, EPC, FSA, O&M, GCA, and other project agreements and advise on alignment of performance obligations; and adequacy of buffers, procurement mode and risk allocation.
• Assess investment programs and project capital costs, and advise on value for money.
• Provide financial analysts with key performance and expenditure (operational and capital) assumptions and scenarios; for incorporation in financial models.
• Assist in the supervision of African Development Bank’s portfolio of power sector investments, review of relevant M&E Reports and field inspections as necessary; and in resolving operational weaknesses.
• Hire and supervise specialized engineering agencies as necessary.
• Assist with the development of new power projects, particularly those using renewable energy.
• Support and provide advice on utility performance management systems.
• Develop suitable industry knowledge and performance benchmarks to share within African Development Bank and with external clients.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's Degree or its equivalent in Electrical Engineering or Business Administration or related disciplines.
• Have a minimum of six (06) years of relevant professional experience in power sector project finance.
• Broad range of responsibilities within the industry in several of the following areas: Thermal generation, hydro generation, systems planning, distribution operations, commercial operations, transmission, tariff setting, renewable generation, power plant construction and environmental compliance.
• Up-to-date knowledge of capital costs and operating parameters of diverse generation technologies and T&D networks.
• Experience in Africa and emerging economies.
• Professional engineer with advanced degree.
• Significant work experience in the private sector.
• Experience as Owner’s or Lenders’ engineer will be a plus.
• Experience with regional power pools / projects will be a plus.
• Proven ability to interact competently with the staff of project sponsors, government and donor agencies on issues relating to aid coordination, as well as with the private sector;
• Proven ability to work within a team of professional staff, and utilize talent and expertise of team members in a productive way;
• Capacity to initiate and manage innovations and change
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Client orientation
• Team working and relationship management.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) and knowledge of SAP.