Senior Officer, Infrastructure Support (Network and Telecom Operations)

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian Organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is "to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world." The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during, and after disasters, health emergencies, and other crises. 

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. 

The IFRC is led by its Secretary-General and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy, and Corporate Services.

The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  The IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster, and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

 The Digitalization and Information Technology Department (DITD) has the dual role of providing cost effective information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to enable the geographically distributed staff of the secretariat to function effectively, as well as advising National Societies on developing their use of ICT. The department provides all ICT services for the Secretariat with staff based in Geneva, Budapest and at important locations worldwide. Increasingly the IT department facilitates the development and sharing of best practices in ICT by National Societies and contributes to their ICT development, strengthening and capacity building.  

This position is based at the IFRC Global Services Centre (GSC) in Budapest. The GSC was established in July 2017 to host, as part of the Secretariat in Geneva, Global Services and provide expertise and high-level support to the organisation.

Job Purpose

The position holder will deliver high-quality IT infrastructure support services on telecommunication and network components, environments, and services, guarantee data information security, availability and integrity through strong operational competencies and within the ITIL framework. He/she will provide technical expertise and advice to policies and guidelines relating to the implementation and operational support of global networks, network security solutions, firewall and permitter protection systems, routers, switches for LAN and WAN connections. Contribute to the development of operational procedures aligned with the support activities requirement, maintain them up to date and provide structured support recommendations to the various IFRC stakeholders and end-users across regions.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Network and Telecom Infrastructure – Operations support

• Provide 3rd level operational support for the global organizational networking and telecommunication infrastructure and services while ensuring compliance to ITIL and other applicable Frameworks. Work cross-functionally to manage operational incidents and service requests.
• Contribute to the design and deployment of network and telecom solutions by advising on the impact of planned changes, assisting operations in the roll-out and post-implementation.
• Design, install and maintain corporate LAN, WAN/SD-WAN, VPN, Wireless, VoIP, PSTN networks and security systems including but not limited to routers, switches, firewalls, wireless controllers and access points, radius servers, proxies, IPS/IDS/HIPS systems, SIEM, EPM/EDR, NAC solutions, and other networks/security services and appliances across all IFRC locations, offices and data centers.
• Establish and maintain network asset management processes, including maintaining network components inventory and related documentation, layouts, and technical specifications.
• Ensure service availability and quality by continuous monitoring and adaptation of network performance metrics and overall health.
• Develop and regularly evaluate KPIs and SLAs/OLAs for the services in scope and maintenance and monitoring of compliance against IFRC standards.
• Perform or control the execution by consultants of regular security audits and vulnerability assessment of cloud and on-premises network infrastructure, adequately develop and implement risk mitigation plans for the findings.
• Participate or control the execution by consultants in the preparation and execution of penetration testing activities, taking part in risk assessment, identifying and evaluating risk/threat factors, and implementing/reviewing/updating existing control and compliance mechanisms.
• Build up and sustain strong vendor and business relationships with external and internal stakeholders based on a foundation of transparency, trust and open communication.
• Maintain accurate technical documentation related to systems in scope, transfer knowledge to colleagues, ensure sufficient documentation is available for tasks assigned to 1st or 2nd-level support staff.

Network and Telecom Infrastructure - Project Support

• Advise on best scenarios to accomplish projects' objectives by building professional busines cases for decision making on any alternatives for management evaluation.
• Identify project and systems operational support requirements and processes during the project scoping, design, analysis and implementation phases, with a clear focus on non-functional requirements such as security, availability, and reliability of network and security systems and services.  
• Proactively manage network and Telecom capacity by defining and monitoring performance thresholds per the Tiering-levels prior to the solution acceptance for operations handover.
• Maintain compliance with the Enterprise Architecture and PMO unit methodologies and policies throughout the project's lifecycle.
• Proactively identify training needs and innovations to ensure maximum adoption and success of projects and related processes. Deliver internal training on matters within network and security domains, including but not limited to tools, methodologies, policies, best practices.
• Act as a subject matter expert in end-to-end tender, contract management and market assessment processes to ensure Network and Telecom infrastructure and security components and service providers are selected based on a comprehensive analysis of functional and non-functional requirements of business requirements.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Network and Telecom Infrastructure – Engineering

• Manage the the global network and telecommunication infrastructures capacity in line with short and long-term demands, and constantly improving operating efficiencies.
• Act as a subject matter expert for Secretariat departments, business units, and national societies by providing network designs, cost estimates, case-studies, Proof of Concepts, and technical solutions and documentation as required.
• Research, analyze and suggest innovative technologies to improve the existing or replace the legacy network and telecommunication technologies.
• Design new and optimize existing network and Telecom Infrastructure standards to ensure secure connectivity across data centers and field offices and in accordance with the applicable Enterprise Architecture policies and departmental or organizational strategies.

Duties applicable to all staff
1.    Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat's goals 
2.    Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles
3.    Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager

Education

  Required:

• Engineering degree, in computer sciences discipline or equivalent experience.
• ITIL certification or equivalent experience and proven track record of ITIL usage in an enterprise environment.
• CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Administrator and Professional) certification is required or equivalent experience with a commitment to obtain such certificates in the foreseeable future.

Experience

Required:

• Minimum 8 years of professional experience in the administration, setup, maintenance, data center operation.
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in the IT field, with minimum 5 years of networking (WAN/SD-WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, VoIP) and Firewall infrastructure design and administration. Demonstrate a solid understanding of network layers, topologies, protocols, and hands-on experience in advanced troubleshooting of complex infrastructure issues.
• Proven track record in managing large Windows networks, including ADDS/ADFS/ADCS/DNS/DHCP and other related networking and security services.
• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in operational maintenance and configuration of hybrid cloud infrastructure. (O365, AzureAD, AzureAD Connect, Web Application Proxy…etc.)
• Minimum 8 years of professional experience in the administration, setup, maintenance, and management of Windows Servers, including failover clustering.
• Experience in service management and reporting tools.

Preferred:

• Experience with the implementation, configuration, custom dashboard development, and automation of SIEM systems and alerts.
• Advanced, hands-on PowerShell skills and experience are an advantage.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

• Excellent knowledge and proven experience in Windows Server 2012 or 2016, Active Directory, Active Directory Federation Services, and Active Directory Certificate Services management.
• Good knowledge of industry-standard network monitoring systems and protocols.
• Excellent knowledge combined with a profound technical understanding of the various protocols involved in the user/device/claim authentication-authorization, file sharing, email delivery, and cryptography operations in a Microsoft Active Directory Domain infrastructure.
• Good knowledge of SSL certificate management is required.
• Proven team player, ability to adjust to different cultures and languages
• Adept at analysis, problem-solving, solution and end-user result-oriented
• Affinity for teamwork, collaborative attitude, open-minded and adaptable
• Well organized, able to work under pressure and manage emergencies
• Good analytical skills to interpret problems identifies solutions, and possible side-effects.
• Fluently spoken and written English.

Preferred:

• Excellent knowledge and proven experience with the configuration and implementation of software deployment solution tools (SCCM or Intune is an advantage).
• Good knowledge of antivirus policies and deployment (McAfee and Microsoft) applied to servers and workstations protection.
• Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic).

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability
Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust
Functional competencies: Strategic orientation; Building alliances; Leadership; Empowering others.

Comments: This is a national staff position open to Hungarian nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in Hungary. Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in Hungary.