IMPLEMENTATION MANAGEMENT UNIT (IMU) DIRECTOR

WAPP is a specialized institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that was created to integrate the operations of its member power utilities into a unified sustainable regional electricity market, with the ultimate goal of providing the ECOWAS Member States with stable and reliable electricity supply, at affordable cost, in the medium and long terms. The WAPP General Secretariat has its headquarters in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

Within the framework of WAPP, the Governments of Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Togo and Burkina are collaborating to develop in accordance with the ECOWAS Revised Master Plan for the Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy, and more specifically the related Intergovernmental Protocol among the concerned countries, a sub-regional interconnection project referred to as the 330 kV WAPP North Core Project. 

This project comprises approximately 875 km of 330 kV transmission network from Birnin Kebbi in Nigeria to Ouagadougou in Burkina through Zabori and Niamey in Niger with a tee-off at Zabori Substation to the Malanville Substation in Benin as well as associated substations. The ownership and operational responsibility of the infrastructure post-commissioning shall remain with the respective country.

Due to the regional dimension of the project as well as enhance coordination, the countries involved in the project have agreed to an institutional framework consisting of the establishment of a single entity to implement the project. The Headquarters of the Implementation Management Unit (IMU) shall be located in Abuja, Nigeria. The IMU will be financed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

The countries involved in the project and the WAPP Secretariat intend to recruit a Project Director (IMU Director) who shall have overall responsibility for the proper implementation of the North Core project as well as the management and operation of all other IMU staff and resources. As the executive head of the IMU, the Project Director will also have to provide leadership to the unit and be a motivating factor for the unit staff.

Interested candidates for the position of the IMU Director shall have:

1. University degree in engineering or equivalent;
2. Minimum of 15 years of professional experience in the management of complex projects or programs (due to scope and number of involved Parties), large projects preferably in the electricity sub-sector, and/or in large transmission projects of 225 kV and above.;
3. Experience in projects financed by Donors such as WB, AfDB, AFD, EU etc. and in particular, their procurement requirements as well as environmental and social safeguards guidelines
4. Fluency in English and French, the two working languages of the project.  

A degree in project management or business administration and experience in the management of an IMU within ECOWAS Member countries shall be considered as an advantage.

The contract position is for an initial period of three (03) years with a probationary period of One (1) year.

West African Power Pool Secretariat

Attn: Bernard HESSOU,

Head of Division, Planning, Studies and Projects Financing

PK 6, Zone des Ambassades, Akpakpa

06 BP 2907 – Cotonou – République du Bénin

Tel: +(229) 21 37 41 95 / + (229) 21 37 71 44

Application letters marked as "Application/ IMU Director – WAPP North Core may be sent in English or French by email to: jobs@ecowapp.org  with copy to: pipes@ecowapp.org .

Deadline for Application: Wednesday, 2^nd May 2018 at 5 pm, Cotonou Local Time

Women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.