SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- Senior Energy Advisor
- Notice Date
- 6/27/2014
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 812990
— All Other Personal Services
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Ethiopia USAID-Addis Ababa, Dept. of State, Washington, District of Columbia, 20521-2030
- ZIP Code
- 20521-2030
- Solicitation Number
- Re-663-S-14-001
- Point of Contact
- Tamirate Fekadu, Phone: 251111306002, Ferehiwot, Phone: 0111306035
- E-Mail Address
-
ftamirate@usaid.gov, fali@usaid.gov
(ftamirate@usaid.gov, fali@usaid.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Competitive 8(a)
- Description
- JOB DESCRIPTION: A. PURPOSE The Senior Energy Advisor will be charged with managing and developing a range of projects designed to increase energy access, competitiveness, and food security in Ethiopia. S/he will also be charged with providing technical leadership to USAID/Ethiopia, to ensure that U.S. Government (USG) foreign assistance programs are economically viable and fulfill the mandate of Power Africa. The position reports directly to the USAID/Ethiopia Private Enterprise Officer or his/her designee and directly supervises one staff: an FSN Energy Advisor. The Energy Advisor will also work closely with the resident Transaction Advisor. 12. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES: B. MAJOR DUTIES & RESPONSIBLITIES OF THE POSITION: The major duties and responsibilities inherent in the position include: Facilitating high-impact energy projects in Ethiopia, while guiding appropriate systemic reforms being made by the government, which will serve as a strong catalyst for greater investment in energy infrastructure in Ethiopia. Overseeing bilateral coordination with the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MOWIE), East Africa Power Pool (EAPP); other regulatory bodies; and, regional governments on actionable next steps to provide enhanced opportunities for U.S. investment in energy. Arranging for the collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant energy, trade, private sector development, and economic governance information to Office Directors, the USAID Mission Director, the U.S. Ambassador, partners, clients, and others. Liaising with technical officers in other USAID operating units, other donor organizations, Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and private firms, and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. She/he will also represent the Mission's Economic Growth &Transformation Office in meetings and fora deemed important to energy, trade and private sector development, and economic governance, such as the Energy Donor Working Group. Preparing and approving activity designs, creating results monitoring plans, and drafting annual reports. For the Power Africa Initiative, the Senior Energy Advisor will play a key role in developing and designing new energy, trade, private sector, financial services and economic governance activities. In successfully carrying out these duties and responsibilities, the Senior Energy Advisor will exhibit: 1. Technical Leadership 50% Responsible for ensuring that USAID development assistance programming with respect to energy in Ethiopia reflects best practices and state-of-the-art knowledge about international competitiveness, grid and off-grid energy generation and transmission; utility management; rural and isolated energy systems; and their application to food security goals and objectives. Lead USAID program execution with regard to Power Africa to strengthen and deepen engagement with the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MOWIE), Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), Ethiopian Electric Services (EES), the Ethiopian Electricity Agency (EEA), the East Africa Power Pool, Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility and other national and regional organizations on issues of regional energy, infrastructure, finance, food security, and governance. Responsible for maintaining strong and supportive relations with USAID technical offices in Washington; other U.S. Government agencies involved in energy development policy such as U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the State Department, the Department of Treasury; and other donors such as the UK Department for International Development (DfID), Germany's Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Union (EU). Technical leadership to ensure that USAID/Ethiopia Economic Growth and Transformation office (EG&T) energy methodologies represent best practices in the field and the best interests of the USG. Well-practiced mentorship, coaching, and guidance to EG&T and Embassy Power Africa staff and Points-of-Contact (POC) with diverse backgrounds to ensure that the Power Africa Initiative in Ethiopia is producing high quality results in a timely manner. Supervision support to Power Africa staff as necessary including developing individual training plans, identifying work assignments which offer opportunities to challenge and develop individual skills; and providing timely feedback on performance. 2. Program Design and Management 30% Responsible for effective management of one or more USAID assistance agreements, contracts and/or grants, discharging the full range of Assistance Officer's Technical Representative (AOTR)/Contract Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)/Activity Manager responsibilities. Accountable for high performance in all program management functions including planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and managing for results. Work to complete submissions for the Mission Strategic Resource Plan (MSRP), the Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ), Congressional Notification (CN), the Operational Plan (OP), the annual Performance Plan and Report (PPR) and other budget-related documents as required. Contribute to completion of required monitoring and evaluation efforts relevant to the Mission's Power Africa Initiative, as well as the designing and monitoring of Performance Monitoring Plans (PMPs). Ensure completion of data quality assessments; and completion of Portfolio Reviews. Lead and contribute to other M&E efforts in the EG&T office that are designed to set baselines for and measure the impacts of our programs. 3. Ability to Promote USG Interests 15% Responsible for effective outreach and coordination with partners in Ethiopia including the Ambassador, Mission Director, other senior USG Agency representatives, national level counterparts, bilateral and multilateral donors, and corporate executives. Maintain close relations with private industry, international and regional research institutions, centers of excellence, and a wide network of professional colleagues, to assess, analyze, and identify trends and policies related to energy, competitiveness and food security in Ethiopia and in the East Africa region. 4. Perform Other Duties 5% Respond flexibly and capably to a wide range of work-related requirements such as: 1) responding to congressional inquiries; 2) supporting VIP visits; 3) responding to Washington policy and operational requests; and 4) carrying out ad hoc assignments as dictated by unforeseen operational requirements at the discretion of USAID/ Ethiopia's Mission Director, Deputy Director, EG&T Office Director and Power Africa Coordinator. C. POSITION INFORMATION: 1. Supervision Received: The Senior Energy Advisor will be supervised by the USAID/Ethiopia Private Enterprise Officer. The incumbent works within broad policy and professional guidelines. The work is complex, requiring continuous exercise of expert judgment and professional discretion. The incumbent is responsible for discerning work objectives, priorities, constraints, and using all resources available to reach satisfactory work outcomes. The supervisor reviews work for adherence to broad operational objectives of development results and customer service. •2. Degree of Responsibility for Decision-Making: The Senior Energy Advisor will rely on his/her professional knowledge and integrity, and in-depth experience in gathering and interpreting analytical data and reviewing published data on the performance of the relevant energy sector in the region. Such information and conclusions will factor prominently in determining the level of effort required for carrying out the assessment and diagnostics phases of designing and implementing bilateral programs. •3. Level of Complexity of the Work Environment: The Advisor will represent USAID with a wide range of public and private sector officials, civil society and community leaders, local institutions and donors on factors that affect the performance of the energy sector and also on identifying and developing innovative and technically feasible approaches for promoting effective adaptation responses to climate change impacts. Within USAID/Ethiopia, the incumbent is the principal point of contact for providing technical expertise and advice, and informational updates and briefings on energy promotion efforts. The Advisor will be expected to interact regularly with Mission teams, Office Directors and Mission Management, especially with regard to any ongoing or planned energy, climate change and natural resource management activities that directly or indirectly impact their programs. Thus, the Advisor will have an excellent understanding and grasp of climate change adaptation approaches as related to energy sector development and USAID's policies, procedures and processes related to the climate change sector. He/she must have excellent verbal and written communication skills and must be able to speak eruditely and persuasively on the characteristics of and distinguishing features of all aspects of USAID's programs. Level and Purpose of Contacts: The Advisor will be required to establish and maintain professional contacts/relationships with senior government authorities and private sector leaders as well as with senior people in regional, multilateral and donor institutions. He/she will equally develop and maintain professional and productive relationships with counterparts in African regional organizations, host governments, donor institutions, civil society and the private sector, and relevant stakeholders. The incumbent will maintain regular contact with various USAID Washington Offices, USAID Mission staff and Embassy staff on the inter-agency Power Africa Team. The purpose of these contacts is to ensure widespread ownership in decisions affecting strategic program direction and USG support for energy activities. Supervisory Controls: The Senior Energy Advisor will be supervised by the USAID/Ethiopia Private Enterprise Officer. Products, deliverables and recommendations submitted by the incumbent are expected to be of a high technical quality, displaying quality control and consistency with the work plan. Supervision/Oversight Over Others : The Advisor will supervise one FSN technical and/or administrative staff, and work closely with the Transaction Advisor. Available Guidelines: The Advisor will be expected to be quickly become familiar with USAID processes, procedures and rules as documented in the ADS - 200 Series. In situations where the incumbent's judgment points to a need for additional clarity or guidance, his/ her supervisor may provide such guidance with the assistance of the USAID/Ethiopia support offices as appropriate. The Advisor will be required to be proactive in keeping abreast of evolving guidelines and policies, including but not limited to the Automated Directives System (ADS), Mission Orders/Notices, USG Procurement regulations, and USAID Program Strategy and Policy Documents. In addition, technical and support staff and counterparts in USAID/Washington are available as resources to provide advice and guidance. If the Advisor has not yet taken any Contract/Assistance Officer's Technical Representative (COTR/AOTR)) training, as well as Phoenix Accrual training, s/he will be required to do so within six months of execution of the PSC contract governing his/her activities. •8. Exercise of Judgment: The Advisor will be required to exercise independent judgment and ingenuity to interpret and develop applications and guidelines in devising innovative approaches to resolving technical, administrative, managerial and/or policy problems. Excellent (balanced) judgment must be exercised in setting priorities. The use of initiative, discretion and patience is expected from the incumbent in dealing with USAID office personnel as well as representatives from other donor organizations to resolve problems that arise during the course of work for which there is often no clear or immediate solution. In addition, considerable judgment is required in working effectively and coordinating multi-sectoral efforts in support of USAID's development objectives, and in collecting, analyzing and reporting on progress of activities and recommending project actions. The Advisor will be required to follow and adhere to USAID's Code of Ethics and Conduct. •9. Authority to Make Commitments: The Advisor will have no independent authority to commit U.S. Government (USG) funds on behalf of the U.S. Government. •10. Nature, Level and Purpose of Contacts: The Advisor will be required to maintain solid working relationships with USAID/Ethiopia personnel and with staffing other offices and Missions to function effectively. The Advisor will be required to work closely with: 1) USAID/Washington, USAID Missions, State Department offices and other US government staff, national governmental officials (at the Senior Level and below) and non‑governmental officials (such as Directors of NGOs and community organizations), private sector representatives, regional institutions, international donor institutions as well with African regional and national organizations, NGOs, and the private sector. D. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SELECTION CRITERIA: The scope of work described above requires the following qualifications and professional experience each of which will be assessed as part of the selection criteria highlighted below: Applicants are encouraged to provide a cover letter (no more than four pages total) addressing how they meet the requirements of each of the criteria below. Applicants should provide this information in the same sequence as indicated below. WORK EXPERIENCE (45 Points): Ten (10) years of progressively more responsible experience implementing programs in energy policy, grid and/or off-grid energy generation and transmission, rural and isolated energy systems, and utility management. Three (3) years of substantive previous experience directly managing USAID or similar other donor operational programs. USAID Contracting /Agreement Officer's Technical Representative (COTR/AOTR) experience or certification is desirable. Demonstrated experience in advancing private sector advocacy to increase regional, bilateral, and multi-lateral energy and competitiveness. Demonstrated experience in directly managing and achieving significant results in business development and energy capacity building programs in the developing world. Demonstrated experience in working with senior government officials on private sector development and policy in the context of regional, bilateral, and multi-lateral energy promotion. Demonstrated ability to consistently perform in a complex institutional and multi-cultural environment. •2. EDUCATION, TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ABLITIES (25 points): Degree in discipline relevant to international business, international economics, international law, or energy development or related field is required. Demonstrated knowledge of relevant development problems and strategies in the areas of energy, competitiveness and food security. Ability to generate new assistance methodologies and policies relevant to regional and international energy and business competitiveness. Ability to utilize advanced applications in Microsoft Software including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint in preparation and presentation of reports and other official documentation (e.g., policy documents, project descriptions, taskers, MOUs and Agreements). Demonstrated superb public presentation and communication skills in English. Proficiency in Amharic is desired but not required. Knowledge of USAID development assistance program processes and practices. 3. BUILDING STAFF CAPACITY (15 points) Five (5) years of previous supervision experience. Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor and lead a high-performing team. •4. INTERPERSONAL and TEAM COOMMUNICATION SKILLS (15 points): Strong oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills. Proven ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships across cultures, on teams, and with a broad range of development partners. Proven ability to work under pressure and produce professional results quickly. Proven ability to manage a team efficiently and productively.
- Web Link
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FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/AID/OM/ETH/Re-663-S-14-001/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: USAID/Ethiopia, Ethiopia
- Record
- SN03409653-W 20140629/140627235537-bf4f35209069bf55cf386983eec8c7f7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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