Senior Network and Communications Admin

UNOPS and the ECA have partnered together to deliver on a project that will put in place the critical business systems and services to enable the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to go beyond its current regular operations and effectively deliver on its Business Plan mandate of becoming Africa’s premier think tank. Five specific outcomes are foreseen, which are the results of the implementation plans of four corporate strategies introduced for communications, publications, knowledge management and ICT for Development. When attained, the outcomes will result in a sustainable increase in the visibility and impact of the organization’s work in the areas of policy research and knowledge delivery. This recruitment initiative is carried out by UNOPS in support of ECA’s Public Information and Knowledge Management Division (PIKMD) strategic intent.  It is with this objective that UNOPS advertises these opportunities in partnership with ECA.

Within delegated authority, the Senior Networks and Communications Administrator  will be responsible for the following duties: (These duties are not all inclusive nor are all duties carried out by all Networks and Communications Administrators.)

1. Operates and administers the ECA Wide Area Network – (ECA’s external network infrastructure and connections to Sub-Regional Offices, UN Agencies as per MOUs, and UN Headquarters)

Related activities:

•   Installs, configures and tests Wide Area Network (WAN) systems and associated equipment;
• Coordinates with leased line carrier and/or remote site technical support staff, service restoration during facility failures at Headquarters and SROs;
• Operates and maintains satellite, wireless, voice infrastructure and other communications associated equipment including testing, preventative maintenance, fault diagnosis and repairs;
• Coordinates with the UN Logistics Bases and UN Headquarters the communications protocols and standards;
• Provides support to SRO ICT focal points in setting up their local satellite, wireless, voice infrastructure and WAN links;
•  Prepares and updates WAN and MAN network diagrams including all changes and associated documentation.

2. Operates and administers the ECA Satellite Infrastructure.

Related Activities:

•  Installs, configures, tests and commissions various earth station sub-systems and associated equipment;
• Operates and maintains Intelsat Standard satellite earth-station equipment, inclusive of the antenna system, RF equipment, IF equipment, base-band equipment, and the control, supervisory, and test facilities;
• In coordination with INTELSAT, conducts periodic SSOG system testing and circuit line-up of existing digital carriers;
• Ensures that preventative maintenance and repairs schedules are carried out per established guidelines and procedures;
• Coordinates with the UNLB Operations Center and remote earth-station sites the provisioning of point-to-point and multi-destination digital carriers.
•  Performs preventative maintenance, fault diagnosis and repair.
•  Maintains up to date earth-station records and documentation.

3.  Provide Network Management and Monitoring function:

Related Activities:

• Administers, manages, maintains, and supports ECA Enterprise Network infrastructure including core, distribution, access layer switches and other network related solutions.
• Operates and administers network monitoring tools in order to ensure adequate service and performance of the service.
• Configures network devices: routers, layer three switches, content engines, wireless bridges and access points for the campus network infrastructure.
• Administers, manages, maintains, and supports network management and monitoring solutions (HP Openview: Network Node Management module (NNMi) and server operations manager module (OVOW), CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS), MRTG, Cacti and Manage engine Netflow analyzer for bandwidth monitoring, Big brother for device connectivity monitoring and GSX for Domino)
• Monitors the network devices health, identify faults and manage and troubleshoot problems proactively

4. Provide Network Security and Remote Access Administration:

Related Activities:

• Operates and administers redundant Internet Firewalls to protects and prevents ECA enterprise network Infrastructure and resource from external threats;
• Deploys, manages and maintain security systems which includes Firewalls, DMZs, Intrusion Prevention/Protection Systems, Proxies, Content Filters, Authentication servers, ensuring secured and the delivery of high-quality and availability of network services, and seamless connectivity based on UNECA Network Security Policies.
• Monitors availability and performance to measure continued effectiveness of network security systems.
• Carry’s out analysis, design, installation, of new network security projects, or modifications to the existing campus network security systems, and prepares project schedules, time-line and cost estimates.
• Establishes and maintained VPN connections to UNECA from remote locations, sub-regional Offices, UNHQ, UNLB, UNON and other UN agencies.
• Operates and administers Netscalers for remote access of users, SSL/VPN, reverse-proxy solutions facilitating extranet connectivity for trusted users, UN organizations and ECA stakeholders.
• Configures and troubleshoots Citrix Netscaler and Netscaler Gateway for access to applications and virtual desktops hosted in backend Xenapp or Xendesktop farms from any desktops, laptops, and mobile devices (ipad, iphone, droid, etc)
• Analyzes and resolves security breaches and vulnerability issues in a timely and accurate fashion, and conduct user activity audits where required.
• Provides periodic reporting on information security issues
• Maintains proper documentation of the telecommunications, network and computing environment
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of available and emerging network, security and computer technologies through professional reading, attending industry conferences, and professional development (training, education, and participation in professional associations)
• Assist in designing and managing the business recovery and disaster recovery plans for the organization.
• Collaborates with Network Project Team in identifying network and system vulnerabilities, and the appropriate solutions to eliminate or minimize their potential effects
• Build, deploy & support of Citrix Netscaler content filtering & application firewall.
• Configure load balancing and URL redirect of various Servers with Citrix Netscaler
• Configuring authorization and authentication (RSA, Radius, Smart cards, LDAP, etc) on various Citrix security appliances and products i.e. Netscaler Gateway, Access Gateway etc.
• Group Policy Configuration for Citrix Netscaler VPX

5. Performs the following duties as required:

• Document all operational processes and procedures to manage all aspects of the deployed systems
• Create System Run Books, defining day-to-day support, maintenance, troubleshooting knowledge base of the infrastructure.
• Participates in the design, evaluation and  deployment of Networks and communications equipment
• Takes remedial actions after incidents
• Participates in the deployment of communications equipment
• Assists in optimizing operations as part of the Networks and Communications team
• Contributes to the diagnosis of communications errors and escalates issues to other teams as required
• Assists in providing connectivity services to other UN Agencies as per MOUs
• Performs other related duties as required

Work implies frequent interaction with the following: 

Information Systems Officers and other IT specialists throughout the United Nations

Senior administrative staff and focal points in user offices.

Sales and technical personnel of hardware/software vendors and contractors

Results Expected:  Provides reliable technical and assistance to senior IT staff in support of activities related to the design, development and usage of various Networks and Communications systems applications. Consistently applies relevant standards and guidelines. Efficiently processes work and requisite follow-up, provide technical advice as needed. Effectively, and in a timely manner, interacts with colleagues and user groups.

Language:    Fluency in oral and written English is required.

This position is only open for Ethiopian national only.

1. Contract type :Local Individual Contract Agreement 
2. Contract level :LICA7  and
3. Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.