Utility Performance Improvement Specialist at Tetra Tech

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Do you want to do meaningful work that improves quality of life? At Tetra Tech, you will work with high-performing teams who are passionate about using their expertise to find solutions to complex problems in water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy, and international development.

Summary

Tetra Tech International Development Services is seeking a Utility Performance Improvement Specialist for the implementation of the USAID funded Power Africa East Africa Energy Program (EAEP), which aims to reform/restructure electric utility companies and improve their operational performance to make them self-sufficient and sustainable.

East Africa has the second-strongest power sector in sub-Saharan Africa (“SSA”), with impressive gains made over the past decade in utility performance, access to energy (both on- and off-grid), and available generation capacity. Yet regional trends mask the significant, individual challenges remaining across the 10 countries targeted by EAEP, national priorities, human and institutional capacity, and sophistication of systems differ greatly, as does the resulting approach required to accompany each nation on its journey to self-reliance. A far greater, lagging challenge is regional integration of the technical and human systems that permit the exchange of power: despite nominal institutions, plans, and dialogue about regional integration, East Africa is in the earliest stages of building a real energy market, with significant gaps in the required transmission infrastructure, grid codes and protocols, and market platforms for the regional exchange of power. Only when national systems are meaningfully integrated will competition drive down consumer tariffs and improve regional reliability and access to energy.

It is apparent that the main problems of the regional electricity distribution utilities are energy loss and partial collections for the electricity bills. The position of utility advisor will be supporting one of the EAEP objectives to strengthen utilities in East Africa. The ultimate objective of the project is to improve performance with more effective and efficient operational improvements, demonstrated within the utilities.

The successful candidate will work as part of Tetra Tech’s team of energy experts providing technical support and assisting utilities in East Africa in making the transition to a well-performing and self-sufficient energy sector.

This position is based in Kenya and Tanzania however, additional travel in East African countries may be required.

Responsibilities

• Carry out and lead activities in planning, design, development, and implementation of electric utility-related projects in East Africa countries focused on power distribution.
• Carry out and lead the development of resource assessments, utility management and operation due-diligence, utility performance assessment, feasibility studies, technology evaluations, market assessments, policy evaluations, and economic analyses in the electricity sector.
• Direct the development of capacity building efforts through training and workshops.
• Document and report on project activities, prepare position papers, and technical review documents to assist in sharing project successes and lessons learned.
• Interact directly with clients; work independently on complex assignment projects; and lead projects and teams.
• Identify new clients and business opportunities, prepare proposals, take a lead role in project implementation, and manage client relationships.
• Provide support in sales, marketing, and business development.
• Prepare thought leadership papers, project results, and other papers, and possibly participate as a conference presenter.
• Design commercial cycles for utilities and supporting to implement designed commercial cycles.
• Design and implement energy accounting in utilities.
• Implement the performance evaluation system.
• Design transformation/turnaround initiatives for the utilities and monitor their implementation.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the project manager (Objective Lead).

Essential KSA’s Required (experience, Skills, Education, Certification, Etc.)

• Minimum of 10 years of work experience in the electricity sector, especially in utility management positions, operation, and maintenance.
• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Economics, Finance, Law, or related.
• Experience in the implementation of power generation, transmission, or distribution technologies.
• Experience in implementing improvements in utility operations, including electricity loss reduction strategies, outages reduction, network quality improvements, etc.
• Knowledge of electricity markets and their operation.
• Knowledge of electricity regulatory environment.
• Experience in leading or managing projects.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve problems, including the ability to identify opportunities to improve systems and processes.
• Demonstrated ability to appropriately prepare feasibility studies and reports, including Annual Work Plans, Annual Reports, Technical Reports, Budgets, and reports on indicators.
• Experience working with a diverse set of clients (e.g., public, private).
• Experience working with sub-contractors and leading small to medium size teams.
• Comfortable engaging with diverse people, managing complex situations, and building consensus.
• Experience preparing reports and technical studies for clients.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English at level 5 of fluency.
• Proficient with MS Office package (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project).
• Must be willing to travel internationally to project locations.
• Ability to work effectively in a local office environment with utility employees.
• Ability to deal effectively with counterparts in both an office and field environment.
• Ability to work in the evening, overnight, and weekends as needed.
• Prior experience working in a fast-paced environment and meeting deadlines.
• Ability to complete assigned tasks independently, based on broad guidelines from the project manager.
• High level of ethics, honesty and, professionalism.

Valued But Not Required KSA’s

• International advisory experience in developing countries.
• Experience as head of a department and managing employees.
• Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills including the ability to interact effectively with people of diverse cultures.