Senior Legal and Public-Private Partnership Advisor at RTI International

Responsibilities

RTI International is recruiting for a Senior Legal and Public-Private Partnership Advisor for the East Africa Energy Program under the Power Africa Initiative by USAID Under the authority of the COP, this person is responsible for the coordination of technical assistance, transaction advisory, community engagement, and institutional performance improvement activities benefitting host-country governments, regulators, and utilities. The goal is strengthening entities’ institutional capacity to engage in strategic planning, develop performance-based regulation, and design competitive market frameworks conducive to the attraction of investment capital for energy infrastructure projects. Manages a roster of legal, financial, public policy, and regulatory subject matter experts, including both full-time program staff and short-term consultants.

Specific Responsibilities

• Lead Objective 1 Team and oversee a team composed of senior advisors to KPLC and

KETRACO, a KenGen generation advisor; transaction advisors; legal and regulatory advisors; a project finance specialist; and power system planning advisors.

• Lead implementation of targeted transaction support activities such as project design validation, technical due diligence and analysis; community engagement and environmental assessments; key technical and commercial agreement negotiations; financial structuring assistance, capital raising, and securing credit enhancement instruments; and sovereign support negotiations.
• Lead the update of priority projects and transaction support activities, report on the progress toward financial close of the priority transactions in the quarterly progress reports and the annual reports.
• Provide legal support, comments, and recommendations on draft laws, regulations, and procedures related to energy sector reforms and procurement processes, such as power purchase agreements.
• Lead the development of power sector legal and regulatory due diligence analyses and advise regional institutions on the harmonization of national/regional policy agendas, rules, and regulations.
• Lead portfolio analyses and advise host-country governments, transmission system operators, and utilities on the development and use of integrated resource plans and least-cost generation, transmission, and distribution expansion plans.
• Advise host government and relevant institutions on international best practices for the development of competitive clean energy project procurement, development of a renewable energy auction framework, and development of utility reform and unbundling and/or privatization programs.
• Lead the design and delivery of electricity sector planning and regulatory and policy reform activities.
• Develop IPP and PPP models that reduce transaction costs through standardization and harmonization of program documentation.
• Assist utilities in building the capacity of their PPP units, developing bankable PPP projects, and advocating for changes in the PPP framework to accelerate projects reaching financial close.
• Provide technical assistance to the line ministries, parastatals, and rural electrification agencies on the development of policies and incentives to stimulate the deployment of off-grid energy services.
• Validate the selection of priority projects, develop SOWs for approved transaction support activities, implement targeted transaction support activities, build sustainable local and regional capacity in transaction advisory, and update the list of priority projects and transaction support activities.
• Engage high-level counterparts at energy ministries, regulatory commissions, and rural electricity agencies to facilitate the work of embedded and other technical advisors.
• Provide legal advice for power sector reforms with a focus on strengthening the independence of regulatory bodies, updating energy market laws, and refining grid codes and other market rules.
• Provide professional transaction support on large and small IPP projects and support their financial closure and high-level discussions with the government regarding the investment enabling environment.
• Support COP on ad hoc technical deliverables (slide decks, reports, etc.) requested by the client – often with short turn-around times

Required Minimum Qualification And Experience

• JD or equivalent
• A minimum of ten (10) years’ experience working on similar legal issues within the power sector; Experience in a USAID project is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Strong oral/written communication skills and ability to communicate at multiple levels in the organization: and ability to coordinate activities with officials from host country government, US Government, NGO’s, and other agencies;
• Ability to build effective relationships with all clients, peers, and stakeholders
• Ability to work hands-on, independently, and within team.
• Demonstrated success managing and leading technical and administrative teams;
• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team-oriented setting;
• Experience in general business administration and financial management
• English language proficiency