Deputy Coordinator of a Major Horizon Europe Project

SuperGrid Institute brings together 180 employees of 28 different nationalities who work together within a dynamic environment in the city of Lyon. As an independent research and innovation centre, we are dedicated to developing technologies for the future power transmission system, the “SuperGrid”, including HVDC & MVDC technologies.

General Context

Integration of large amount of renewable energy sources (RES) (e.g., offshore wind, PV) and energy market integration are two of the main drivers for the future development of the pan-European power grid. This will require a reinforcement of the transmission grid to make it able to transport large amount of power over long distances from generation areas to load areas. Extended High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) grids, in Point to point or Multi-Terminal (MTDC) configuration covering large areas and distances, are considered to be the preferable solution for the reinforcement of the grid. Indeed, it has been understood that MTDC grids based on voltage source converter (VSC) technology are a key development for harnessing the offshore wind production potential of the North Seas. Those systems will be evolving from simple point to point and radial structures to complex meshed ones. To achieve their development, it is necessary to enhance their operating procedures with major challenges in control and protection, while considering the interoperability aspect of multi vendors MTDC grids.

**Position Context**

Achieving multi-vendor multi-terminal HVDC interoperability is identified as a key target by the European Commission. The Horizon Europe InterOPERA project proposal is a unique initiative to define and validate the appropriate HVDC Interoperability frameworks, through the development of a Demonstrator. It encompasses functional design and specification frameworks, control and protection subsystems integration test frameworks, cooperation frameworks, procurement frameworks. The Demonstrator development consists of the specification, engineering development and HIL (Hardware-In-the-Loop) integration test of the full control system of a multi-terminal HVDC grid with sub-systems provided by at least three HVDC manufacturers. This is a four-year project gathering N partners (Transmission System Operators, Off-Shore Wind developpers, HVDC converter manufacturers, Off-shore wind turbine manufacturers,), and a budget that exceeds 50M€.

Being the InterOPERA project coordinator, and considering the project size and complexity, SuperGrid Institute is looking for a Project Deputy Coordinator. Differently from many Horizon Europe’ type project, which are quite research-oriented, it is anticipated that InterOPERA project will face tough decision-making /negotiation. Moreover, the project requires to firmly coordinate different activities with significant interdependencies, and not loose time due to planning uncertainties or technical misalignment.

**Objectives / Missions**

As the InterOPERA project deputy coordinator, your mission is to assist the project coordinator in all his/her duties, and to act as the project coordinator in case of his/her absence.

Besides this first role, you can also be appointed as project manager on few other projects whether they are collaborative projects or customer projects. Project size typically ranges from few months to few years and from 100k€ to 1M€.

Horizon Europe project coordinator duties:

- To handle the communication with the EU Commission Project Officer
- To coordinate the Grant Agreement process and its potential future Amendments
- To coordinate the reporting process to the EU Commission
- To coordinate the administrative and financial management
- To organize and run the project governance
- To manage project risks
- To coordinate project quality plan
- To establish collaborative work environment
- To ensure effective collaboration between the project consortium members
- To ensure effective internal communication and external dissemination
- To ensure effective technical coordination between relevant WPs and Tasks
- To coordinate negotiations with consortium members, to make optimal decisions and achieve project objectives
- To coordinate project planning activities, milestones anticipation and achievement

Project manager role for customer projects:

- To contribute to technical offer preparation
- To ensure project execution according to contractual offer
- To handle the communication with the customer during the project execution
- To understand customer expectations, and optimize their fulfilment through adequate project management
- To manage project resources and team
- To ensure project deliverables quality
- To manage project financial reporting

Engineering degree (Master 2).

Experience in the field of complex technical and industrial project coordination.

Experience in the power system industry. Focus on HVDC systems and/or wind farms will be appreciated.

Prior experience in European projects (