Assistant Engineer, Ethiopia Community Solar Water Pumping project

​​ ​​ POSITION TITLE : Assistant Engineer, Ethiopia Community Solar Water Pumping project LOCATION : Addis Ababa, Ethiopia UNIT : Clean Energy and Circular Economy REPORTS TO : Technical Lead/Country Representative, Addis Ababa ​ The Assistant Engineer will support project technical work for the three-year second phase of the project Demonstrating A Scalable Revenue Model for Community Solar Water Pumping in Ethiopia, to be implemented in 30 pilot communities. The Assistant Engineer will be based in Addis Ababa and will travel regularly to prospective communities in Oromia, Central Ethiopia, South Ethiopia and other regions as assigned, to assess the readiness for solarization of existing diesel water supply pumps and the condition of the piped water system, including distribution lines, reservoirs, and public taps. The position is full-time. Women are strongly encouraged to apply. ​The project, which is funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, has two objectives: ​ Objective 1: Facilitate private solar developers, local water committees/utilities, and district governments to improve access to basic water services by leveraging private investment in solarization of 30 existing diesel water supply pumps. ​Objective 2: Strengthened capacity of key solarization market actors (solar developers, banks, regional Water and Energy Bureaus) to move the sector toward commercialization. ​The Assistant Engineer’s responsibilities include: ​Technical Activities ​​​Travel regularly to communities in Oromia, Central, and Southern regions to conduct meetings with regional, zone, and woreda-level governments and Water and Energy Bureaus to explain the proposed pilots, confirm whether woreda-level governments agree with the proposed business model, and identify communities interested to participate. Ensure monthly updates of the tracking spreadsheet for 50 prospective communities. ​Assist in conducting pre-feasibility assessments of each prospective community, traveling to the sites as needed. ​Assist in tracking the success rate of site identification from pre-screening to hydrogeology assessment results to ensure the success rate is as high as possible. ​Assist in ensuring equitable representation of women and people from vulnerable groups in consultations with prospective communities. ​ Assist in producing specific scopes of work using correct, clear business writing in English for the following: ​hydrogeology surveys of prospective water systems, including water quality testing and inspection of the reservoir, borehole, and piped water distribution system; requests for applications for solar developers; and a GESI consultant to lead the REDI work in 8 communities ​​Assist in managing the work of hydrogeology consultants and solar developers, facilitating their introduction to key officials at each site; ensuring timely completion of their work; and upholding the terms of their contracts to ensure they complete all work as specified, or altering their scopes of work and/or final payments to match the work. ​Assist with the process of securing Expression of Interest signatures and proof of funds for the 10% down payment from each community. ​Assist with facilitating lease-to-own contracts between each participating community, the woreda, and the solar developer. Ensure the contract specifies the pump output, geographic coordinates of the site, total installed cost, and monthly payment including interest and insurance. ​Assist with overseeing solarization projects, including ensuring the community pays 100% of the 10% down payment before work begins; ensuring timely completion of solarization and documenting the inspection of each installed solar pump system using the project solar pump inspection checklist. Assist in troubleshooting any problems with installed solar pumps, recommending how the project can advocate for more effective oversight by water committees and local governments. Assist in creating and regularly updating the project’s detailed workplan ​Assist in maintaining the Master Technical Spreadsheet of 30 pilot sites to ensure accurate data on all sites, including monthly review by the project team Ensure all technical project files are promptly saved using a clear filing system on the project WinShare collaboration site. When sending files for review, use links to the WinShare site rather than sending files as attachments. Stakeholder Partnerships ​Assist with dialogues and workshops with woreda, zone, regional, and national level government officials, banks, and solar developers as needed to ensure their understanding of and support for the lease-to-own business model. ​Assist with the process of requesting each regional Water and Energy Bureau to set up a Technical Working Team which actively assists with facilitating solarization contracts and troubleshooting water system operation after solarization. ​Assist with collaboration with the OneWASH National Programme to assess their 200 prospective sites for solarization, and to advise them on issuing at least one solar pump procurement using a mechanism which leverages private investment beyond the 10% community contribution envisioned in the OneWASH Phase II strategy. ​Project Monitoring ​​Collaborate with the project Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist to ensure timely collection, and upload to the project dashboard (in PowerBI and/or mWater) of monthly data from private solar developers and water committees/utilities on volume of water pumped, water revenues collected, monthly lease installments paid, and all other required indicators. ​Collaborate with the project Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist to conduct a non-revenue water analysis for each site after solarization, to understand what troubleshooting may be needed re: mechanical repairs or increased water revenue collection. ​ Education : Bachelor's degree in Engineering is required. Required Experience: Minimum 5 years of experience in international donor-funded projects in a related role. Experience with solar water pumping system sizing, installation and commissioning. Experience with rural piped water system infrastructure. Experience working on projects in the WASH sector related to rural community water systems. Experience working with government stakeholders at the ministry, regional, and woreda level, and ability to foster and maintain good working relationships with government officials. Required Skills: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Amharic. Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills, including problem-solving and conflict management. Coursework and/or work experience with effective strategies for gender and social inclusion (GESI) responsive and/or transformative project interventions. Excellent skills in Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). Experience integrating private companies into donor-funded projects, including the use of results-based grants, is highly desirable. Winrock is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal treatment for all people. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by law. At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation.