Senior Power Engineer, PESD2 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/20/094
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Grade: PL5
Position N°: 50071196

The Complex
The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy and 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 a 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 / Division

• Within this new Complex, there is a Directorate in charge of Power Systems Development. This Directorate includes the “Power Utilities” Division, which supports the Bank’s Regional Member Countries and their Utilities, Regional Economic Communities, Power Pools, Regulators and other stakeholders to develop and improve their power systems both for sovereign (SO) and non-sovereign operations (NSO).
• This Division also supports the Directorate Regional Development Business Delivery Unit (RDBU) - Central Africa Region (RDBU-C). The Regional Directorate is headed by a Director General (DG) and is endowed with relevant administrative capacities to be able to ensure rapid delivery of services to regional member countries.
• Regional Directorates provide country offices in their region with strategic direction and are responsible for operations, business development, project management and the overall effective achievement of the Bank's New Deal For Energy in Africa (NDEA) and High Five (H5) Priorities, namely : "Light up and Power Africa ", "Feed Africa", "Industrialize Africa", "Integrate Africa" ​​and "Improve the quality of life of African populations".

The Positions

• Under the general supervision of the “Power Utilities” Division Manager, the Power Engineer will ensure the technical quality of the Bank's activities in support of investment operations in the power sector.
• The incumbent will provide cutting-edge sector expertise in the planning, development, structuring and financing of national and regional power systems, including power generation, transmission and distribution.
• S/he contributes to the implementation of flagship programs as required, throughout the project cycle and the value chain of the electricity sector.
• S/he will work in multidisciplinary teams and will contribute to the delivery of the New Deal on Energy for Africa and to the implementation of the High 5 flagship programs as required.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Manager, Power Utilities, the incumbent will perform the following:

• Contribute to the preparation of the Bank Group Energy Policy and Strategy;
• Contribute to the development of national and regional strategy documents; undertake relevant studies and analyzes;
• Provide timely guidance necessary to achieve project development results;
• Be part of the teams working through the project cycle and ex post reviews of the Bank's operations, with a focus on the energy sector in the region, notably involving the RMCs in the region, Regional Economic Community (REC) institutions, Power Pools, other development partners and all relevant stakeholders;
• Provide the technical skills required to design national and multinational projects aligned with the needs of RMCs, Power pools and regional economic communities according to their priorities;
• Ensure timely review and quality assurance of project identification, preparation, evaluation and supervision documents according to technical, financial, regulatory, environmental, social and economic requirements;
• Represent the Bank in the context of national and regional partnerships, networks, conferences, workshops and training seminars on issues related to the development of the energy sector and related issues;
• Establish interdepartmental cooperation within the Bank and partnerships with other similar institutions engaged in the energy sector development;
• Undertake any other task the Director or Division Manager may assign.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related disciplines;
• Have at least five (5) years of professional experience in project design and implementation, and sector analysis;
• Demonstrated ability to interact with staff of public electricity utilities and donor agencies on aid coordination issues as well as with the private sector;
• Have proven skills to build and lead a team of professionals, and effectively use the talents and expertise of team members;
• Demonstrate proven leadership and an ability to integrate sector-specific knowledge into an operational strategy and broader research objectives;
• Demonstrate strong networking skills and good judgment required in the management of professional relationships with partners working in Africa;
• Be client oriented to understand and, if necessary, anticipate customer needs to ensure the best possible service from the Bank;
• Being able to apply innovative approaches and change working methods while remaining effective in changing working conditions;
• Excellent spoken and written English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Projects); knowledge of SAP is desirable.