UN Careers – Senior IT Service Delivery Management Officer – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Job Title: Senior IT Service Delivery Management Officer
Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About US:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCR’s mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
Job Summary: The Senior IT Service Delivery Management Officer is responsible for ensuring that IT systems and services are available and delivered consistently, reliably, and effectively. The incumbent oversees day-to-day operations and coordinates the work of multiple support groups, both internal to UNHCR, as well as, Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The incumbent ensures the various MSPs (both local and corporate) and UNHCR IT staff under their supervision deliver efficient and effective systems and services in accordance with the contractual obligations and best practices. Understanding the current and future needs, the incumbent ensures that the IT requirements are understood and that offices within their respective area of responsibility (AoR) have adequate IT Services to maintain communications across the organization, and have the IT tools necessary to support their work.
The incumbent has regular contacts with MSPs (globally and locally within the AoR), with other Service Delivery Managers (SDMs), with Solution Engineers, with vendors, and all Services of DIST. S/he understands and communicates the UNHCR IT strategy and vision, policies, and decisions throughout the AoR in a positive manner and leads by example in the adherence and adoption. S/he establishes and sustains relationships with respective business leaders & management in order to achieve technical and business strategic alignment. S/he may have supervisory responsibility for one or more SDM and/or other IT staff both directly and in a matrixed structure. The specific reporting relationships may vary based on the size and structure of the Operation and will be specified in the Operational Context; the incumbent may receive functional direction and advice from the functional Division. Travel within the AoR is an integral part of this function, sometimes at short notice and potentially for extended periods of time, particularly when supporting an emergency.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Within the Area of Responsibility:
- Oversee daily Business-As-Usual operational decisions, including; incident, problem, change, service request, and asset management.
- With leadership, prepare an IT Operations Plan and forecast annual IT budget needs; including lifecycle management, application licensing, maintenance, recurring and capital expenditures ¿ providing input to the Annual Programme Review.
- Ensure compliance with Service Management and IT security policies and standards, technical architecture, and service level agreements ¿ reporting non-compliance as appropriate.
- Monitor Service Level performance targets (internal and external); including, follow up, validation, and audit of results.
- Serve as primary escalation point for end-user and operational issues (Incidents & Service Requests) not resolved within established SLA’s; coordinate with MSPs to expedite resolution including prioritization and escalation of SLA performance breaches to supervisor or responsible service tower owner.
- Lead the “Major Incident Management” process for services and facilities; provide regular, timely updates.
- Work closely with UNHCR SDMs and MSPs to carry out problem management and root cause analysis, and prevent recurrence of critical problems by executing approved changes.
- Review and validate that Change Management processes are adhered to by both staff and MSPs. Ensure that change, test, and release processes are properly planned and executed. Approve installation of new or upgraded systems and services. Support deployments and testing of new IT components.
- Recommend, and implement approved, service delivery process improvements. Define support processes in accordance with ITIL best-practices.
- Maintain accurate inventory of all IT equipment for all sites, and ensure that relevant Asset Management policies and guidelines are followed and the ITSM databases are up-to-date.
- Maintain accurate inventory of all locally developed applications and systems and report in the central registry.
- Leverage the broader IT community (UNHCR, UN agencies, partners and external providers) to deliver the most efficient and cost-effective solutions to the business. Represent UNHCR IT in inter-agency and other external meetings.
- Ensure that solutions are of high-quality from a technical perspective and that end-user support is responsive and effective.
- Monitor, analyse, and report on system and infrastructure performance and capacity in a timely manner and ensure that service owner take appropriate action.
- Track expenditures against budgets, prepare forecasts, and verify invoices from service providers and suppliers against SLA performance targets before payment is approved. Conduct/participate in periodic performance review meetings with partners.
- Provide accurate and timely information on operational status and reports to management.
- Ensure that audit recommendations and actions are completed in a timely manner.
- Assist in drafting requests for proposals and reviewing support contracts including SLAs, SOPs, and OGs.
- Assist in the recruitment and development of IT staff in accordance with business needs, budget, and personnel policies. Coordinate work of IT staff under direct or functional (dotted) reporting lines. Identify further skills needed for field staff and end-users and relevant training activities.
- Promote a competent and motivated workforce trained to understand and use IT facilities and who implement the correct procedures and practices.
Additional duties for Regional Bureau positions:
- Evaluate and discuss IT needs and resource requirements (both financial and human) with Representatives and Heads of Office through regular meetings.
- Monitor developments which might lead to situations of concern, identify potential options for support, and keep DIST FOSS & EPRS appraised.
- Undertake security preparedness and response assessment missions in the region in liaison with EPRS and, upon request, temporarily act as the Emergency IT Coordinator.
- Regularly report to the Chief of FOSS.
- Disseminate guidelines for communication procedures which meet staff security needs in conjunction with the Field Safety Advisors and EPRS.
- Provide oversight and guidance in the operation of IT systems and services (applications and infrastructure) in association with DIST to jointly plan the approach to delivering IT services in the Region.
Additional duties for Country Operations positions:
- Liaise and negotiate, when necessary, with relevant regulatory bodies to ensure all required permissions to operate UNHCR networks are granted.
- Promote partnership with sister Agencies, Implementing Partners, NGOs and other operational partners in consultation with Regional Bureau/Country Representative/DIST, Headquarters.
- Report on regular basis to the Regional Bureau, Senior IT Service Delivery Management Officer.
- Coordinate with UNHCR offices for logistic support to clear IT equipment and accessories for speedy deployment.
- Perform other related duties as required.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal applicant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Senior IT Service Delivery Management Officer job must For P4/NOD – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree
- Field(s) of Education: Information & Communications Technologies; Computer Science; Information Systems; Information Technologies; Project Management; or other relevant field.
- Certificates and/or Licenses: ITIL V3 Foundation; Project Management;
- University degree in IT or related subject.
- At least nine years of experience in IT of which 4 spent managing service delivery in a complex, global environment with SLA based delivery of both centralized and decentralized applications, systems and services.
- Good understanding and practical experience of ITIL Service Operations processes driven by continuous improvement.
- Experience working with business partners to understand how IT affects an organization and link it to business processes and operational tasks.
- Ability to influence, manage and lead negotiations with stakeholders.
- Strong interpersonal skills that include effective communications (both verbally and written) at all levels; to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience leading a matrixed team to ensure collaborations and effective operations across multiple organisations.
- Experience in project monitoring and control, data analysis, and presentation for executive review and decision making.
- Experience of coordinating activities across different partner organizations developing effective services.
- IT-Service Delivery Management;
- IT-Experience managing large & complex IT infrastructure in 24/7 environment;
- IT-ITIL Processes and Service Operations Management;
- IT-Experience with IT infrastructure support;
- IT-Information Technology (Practices/Processes);
- IT-UNHCR’s large scale IT Operations Management;
- IT-IT infrastructure (LAN/WAN,HF/VHF radio,VSAT satellite syst,PABX/telephony);
- IT-UNHCR IT Systems and Standards;
- IT-Microsoft Office 365
- Language Requirements: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
Desirable:
- Formal certification in ITIL Service Operations. Formal certification in Project Management (PRINCE2, PMI).
- Experience providing IT services globally, including deep field locations.
- Experience acting as an inter-agency IT focal point.
- Solid understanding of application and infrastructure technologies used in IT systems and services supported by IT staff in the AoR.
- Experience of operating in humanitarian or United Nations organizations, with field experience.
- A good understanding of UN/UNHCR reforms and the priority agenda of the organization.
How to Apply:
All candidates should send their online applications at the link below.
Deadline: 23rd November 2021
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