Background:

RTI International, a non-profit research and international development project execution -was - awarded the East Africa Energy Program (EAEP) Task Order which was the second task order to be released under USAID’s Power Africa extension mechanism.  It involves regional technical support to Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania with possible additional advisory support for Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

The Power Africa East Africa Energy Program is tasked with expanding affordable and reliable electricity services throughout the region with the goal of supporting development priorities including inclusive economic growth, security, and improved health and education outcomes. RTI International is implementing this activity designed to address critical opportunities across the following major program objectives: optimization of the power supply, increased grid-based power connections, strengthened utilities and other power sector entities, and increased regional power trade.

An important part of this project is helping the electrical distribution utilities in Ethiopia and Tanzania connect additional customers across all three customer classes: residential, commercial, and industrial.  The project is tasked with characterizing existing processes, procedures, and materials currently used to identify and connect new customers and provide service improvements.  Additionally, the project is supporting the implementation of these new procedures to facilitate the expeditious connection of 4 million new customers over the life of the project. Power Africa East Africa Energy Program seeks a Tanzanian as a technical advisor to support TANESCO in Tanzania.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Electrical Distribution Utility Customer Connection Specialist will be responsible for overseeing the characterization and analysis of existing utility processes for connecting new customers and developing improved connection practices. This includes all procedures, practices, and software systems, as well as all mechanisms used to identify new customers and prioritize their connection, i.e. scheduling, performing, inspecting, and managing the supply chain for meters, service drops, and all other required materials.

 She/he will be responsible for identifying and rectifying bottlenecks in the current processes and procedures.  These bottlenecks may be shortcomings of materials, poorly trained personnel, or inefficient or missing procedures. She/he will identify and characterize changes to be made to existing practices, prioritizing them based on cost, ease of implementation, and expected impact. She/he will identify any training requirements of existing staff and any need for additional staff, if necessary. The candidate will support staff training and provide oversight of utility teams in the implementation of improved procedures.

Qualifications and Experience:

• University degree in engineering, energy, or related field
• A Master’s Degree will be a significant advantage
• Minimum 10 years of general professional experience, with at least 4 years in electrical distribution systems.  
• Experience in Distribution system dispatch operations, network management, smart metering and smart grids
• Experience in electricity smart management and metering systems, knowledge of energy efficiency policies and regulations

• Experience in customer connections, supply chain management, scheduling, project management and oversight
• Demonstrated international experience in utilities outside of Tanzania, as well as knowledge of best practices, norms, and standards required
• Prior experience with donor project management policies, procedure and reporting requirements, particularly USAID is highly desired.
• Strong writing and communication skills in English are required.
• Oral and written communication skills in Kiswahili is highly desirable.
• The ideal candidate will possess excellent interpersonal, cross-cultural communication skills, and the ability to interact professionally with culturally and linguistically diverse staff, clients and consultants. A demonstrated ability to set and deliver on priorities as well as strong computer skills are required for contributing to written and visual documents, reports, presentations, and project debriefing meetings.