Chief Investment Officer / Renewable Energy Specialist at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).

The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 - 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Chief Investment Officer / Renewable Energy Specialist

Reference: ADB/17/467
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL-3
Position N°: 50078329

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Years Strategy, High 5s priority of “Light up and Power Africa”.
• The complex’s objectives are (i) to develop policy and strategy; (ii) to 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) to develop new financing instruments; (iv) to act as spokesperson 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 Department/Division

• The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department has the broad objective of promoting the development of renewable energy - both large and small scale - and promoting energy efficiency along with clean cooking.
• It is the responsibility of the Director to build an organization to help deliver these objectives for the Bank and for the Regional Member Countries.
• The department comprises of two divisions: Renewable Energy Division and Energy Efficiency and Clean Cooking Division.
• The Renewable Energy Division has overall responsibility of developing renewable energy and off-grid access throughout Africa.

The Position

• The Renewable Energy Specialist will be responsible for ensuring the technical strength of the Bank’s renewable energy activities so as to place the Bank in a leading role in Africa with respect to the development, financing and deployment of renewable energy projects.
• The job holder will focus on the preparation and implementation of bankable renewable energy generation projects led by both public and private sector clients.
• The incumbent will also be responsible to support Regional Member Countries (RMCs) and private sector tapping into the renewable energy potential across Africa.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Division Manager – Renewable Energy,  the Chief Investment Officer / Renewable Energy Specialist will perform the following:

• Contribute to the delivery of flagships as relevant to ensure delivery of the New Deal on Energy objectives;
• Engage with relevant stakeholders in regional member countries to set up conducive enabling policy and regulatory environment for the development of renewable energy and off-grid access, including setting up quality standards ;
• Take a leading role, along with Hub based personnel,  in assisting regional member countries in structuring and obtaining funding for renewable energy projects from internal and external climate finance facilities;
• Mobilize technical assistance resources from various internal and external sources for Renewable Energy enabling environment technical assistance projects;
• Work with the Power Systems Department and regional member countries in establishing standardized procurement frameworks for procuring utility-scale renewable energy through Independent Power Producers;
• Support regional member countries to ensure the effective implementation of renewable energy components of their nationally determined contributions;
• Play a leading role with regional member countries / private sector sponsors for the development/financing of specific large-scale renewable projects;
• Take a leading role, along with Hub-based staff, in the process of identification and preparation of renewables related operations (policy, advisory, investment) whilst ensuring country ownership;
• Provide deep sector expertise for quality assurance of sector studies related to the development of renewable energy projects: preparation of terms of reference, review and validation process of feasibility studies and power sector analysis;
• Review and quality assurance of project preparation and appraisal documents vis-à-vis technical requirements;
• Liaise with the Energy Solutions Directorate for the design of innovative financing approaches and the mobilization of resources to develop renewable energy;
• Contribute to the preparation of knowledge and analytical work to inform country strategic work as well as new operations in renewable energy, and to the delivery of economic and sector work related to the renewable energy sector;
• Undertake any other task that the Division Manager or Director may assign.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's Degree or its equivalent in Energy, Renewable Energy, Engineering, or related subjects;
• Have a minimum of eight (8) years professional experience at project level, broad knowledge of all energy sub-sectors, of which at least five years in renewable energy business development and/or policy advisory;
• Additional qualifications in specific renewable energy technology (e.g. wind, solar, biomass, geothermal) project and climate finance, development;
• Experience in private sector operations, in particular with financial institutions
• Proven experience in renewable energy  structuring and advisory (e.g. business models, financial structuring, fund-raising, technical development, community engagement) is advantageous;
• Experience of working across multiple institutions and ensuring collaboration across public, private, and civil society sectors;
• Proven ability to interact competently with, as well as to assess and provide technical advisory services to, both public and private sector stakeholders in the renewable energy space;
• Proven ability to lead renewable power project development and financing in the region;
• In-depth knowledge of power utilities operation as well the legal, policy and regulatory frameworks governing renewable energy projects, particularly in developing country context;
• Full knowledge of the principles of project cycle and project implementation;
• Innovative thinking;
• Client orientation;
• Ability to listen and communicate effectively with counterparts;
• Team player;
• Interpersonal skills;
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).

Application Closing Date
22nd November, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online