Senior Power Engineer - RDGS1 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/18/071
Location: South Africa
Grade: LP5
Position N°: 50000992

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 will ensure 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

• 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 the Southern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office.

The Position

• The Senior Power Engineer is responsible for the origination, processing, supervision 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 Manager, Energy and Infrastructure (RDGS1), the Senior Power Engineer 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 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 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 (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 partner, 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 and internal or external follow-up. This includes, inter alia, preparation of bidding documents, bid evaluation reports, quarterly progress reports, request for extension of contracts or LDD (Last Disbursement Date);
• 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: 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;`
• 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.
• Ensure timely procurement and disbursement of active power 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 assigned by the Manager.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering or Electromechanical Engineering. Additional training in management and / or economics is an asset.
• Demonstrate at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience and proven track record and analytical skills in 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; preparation of bidding documents; project management; contract administration; costing of infrastructure projects; monitoring and supervision of work on the construction of major power plants, transmission and distribution infrastructure / electrical works
• Demonstrable analytical skills in 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; preparation of bidding documents; project management; contract administration; costing of infrastructure projects; monitoring and supervision of work on the construction of major power plants, transmission and distribution infrastructure / electrical works. 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 on issues relating to aid coordination, as well as with the private sector;
• Proven ability to build and lead a team of professional staff, and utilize talent and expertise of team members in a productive way;
• 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
• Familiarity with project management and project identification procedures in Development Finance Institutions multilateral organizations, and in particular of the African Development Bank, an added advantage.
• Good command of standard software (e.g. Microsoft Office Suite for word processing, spreadsheets, databases and presentations). Knowledge of SAP is desirable.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Good working knowledge of Portuguese and French will be an added advantage.