The ICT Associate (Digital Platform and Service Delivery) supports and maintains predictable and satisfactory network user experience across UNCIEF offices in Sudan of around 400+ users to support.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, access

II. Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Strategic office context

The ICT Associate (Digital Platform and Service Delivery) is a member of the ICT section in Port Sudan. This section manages digital platforms, internet connectivity, and telecommunication operations while offering essential support for the service delivery tier.

The role is supervised by the ICT Officer at the NOB level and may require travel to ensure the maintenance and serviceability of infrastructure across multiple offices.

Purpose for the job

The ICT Associate (Digital Platform and Service Delivery) supports and maintains predictable and satisfactory network user experience across UNCIEF offices in Sudan of around 400+ users to support.

How can you make a difference? 

III. Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

1. LAN/WiFi Support
• Assist in supporting the management and monitoring of Meraki network in the country office and all field offices including MX appliances, MX and MR or bridges dispatched all over the country.
• While UNICEF strategy continues to evolve towards migrating data Center to cloud, however the ICT should provide day-to-day operational support to the on-prem data canters in multitude aspects: (networking, cabling, cooling, backup power, environment monitoring)
• Assist offices with the deployment of Meraki network appliances either in flat, redundant, or routed mode.
• In coordination with the Supervisor assist in implementing traffic shaping, content filtering, access control and Network Access policies.
• Assist offices with the deployment of the standard corporate WiFi solution (WAP2 Enterprise 802.1X) UWIFI3.1
• Support in establishing a Minimum Bandwidth for Business (MBB) for UNICEF Sudan offices, ensuring minimum quantity of network bandwidth that an office is recommended to have to ensure that an acceptable user experience.
• Any other task assigned by the Supervisor.
2. Maintain UNICEF’s Wide Area Network (WAN)

• Assist the DPSD ICT officer in configuring and managing local internet service providers and keep UPDATED documentation of all ISP tech info (IPs, link utilization, LTAs, account manager contacts, tickets …etc)
• Assist offices with the deployment of standard security policies for edge appliances, including layer 3/7 firewalls, content filtering, intrusion prevention, threat protection and VPN hubs/spokes.
• Assist offices with the configuration of standard connectivity protocols or services including DHCP, routing, path selection (SD-WAN, SD-Internet) and QoS.
• Assist in day-to-day management and oversight of offices with managed VSATs, ensuring that the satellite vendors are delivering as intended while responding effectively to unexpected challenges.
• Assist in monitoring all sites health and status in country office & field offices by checking, dashboard, sensors, power levels, data usage and SLAs.
• Assist in facilitating communications between country offices and local ISP, satellite vendors. This includes new site installations, moves, changes, decommissioning and invoicing escalations.
• Assist the DPSD ICT officer in developing contingency plans to address potential issues that may arise in network connectivity during the mission, hardware failures, or communication outages. These plans outline how to mitigate risks and maintain our business objectives.
• collaborate with other teams, such as Core solution & service support, Admin, Supply, Finance, service providers, network engineers, country, or regional office LSAs, to ensure smooth internet connectivity.
• Any other task assigned by the supervisor.

3. Support Network Operations and Rollouts

• Provide level 1st tier day-to-day network related technical support to country office and all field offices.
• Assist in troubleshooting, solving, or escalate network incidents within SLA targets. Maintain the network equipment inventory, licenses, and services.
• Assist in identifing potential gaps in existing campus networks and suggest upgrades.
• Assist the DPSD ICT officer to engage with the CSSS ICT workforce prior to migrations or releases.
• In coordination with the ICT officer, manage and release various ICT item including the backup power banks and keep updated record.
• Any other task assigned by the supervisor.

4. Maintain Documentation and Assist in Procurement Activities

• Assist in maintaining network related guidelines, Wiki, FAQs, knowledge articles and SharePoint sites.
• Assist in supporting, organizing and conducting webinars, training workshops and clinics to build internal capacity or to introduce new solutions and services.
• Assist ICT section on procurement of network equipment by providing standard technical specifications and responding to requests for clarification.
• Any other task assigned by the supervisor.

IV. Impact of Results

Recommendations concerning the operational effectiveness of each network service or function affect network connectivity of users, with a view of improving the level of service or justifying its cost-effectiveness.

Recommendations on the reliability of specific local area network components such as network adapters, modems, routers, switches, etc.) can lead to savings in equipment costs. 

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  JD – ICT Associate_GS-DPSD.docx

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education

Completion of Secondary education is required, supplemented with formal training in Computer Science, Information Systems, Telecommunications, Engineering.

ITIL Foundation Certificate or equivalent customer support certification is an asset. 

Experience: 

A minimum of six years of practical work experience in information technology, requiring systematic methods of troubleshooting and problem solving is required.

• experience working with network infrastructure operations and administration is required, including experience in:
• Meraki LAN, WiFi, and WAN implementations
• Supporting users or branch offices in any network related field
• Experience managing networks in multi-country organizations (private or public sector) is highly desirable.

Technical skills

• Demonstrated understanding of Meraki networking concepts including TCP/IP, VLANs, network security, IP routing, WiFi, VPNs, redundancy is required.
• Familiarity and experience with Cisco’s offering and product lines is highly desirable.
• Cisco Meraki certification and ITIL are highly desirable.
• Certification or proven experience in several of these ICT technical competencies: network administration/monitoring software, Windows Server/Client platforms, Microsoft Office 365, Video Conferencing, and related hardware is desirable.
• Familiarity with Azure networking is desirable.
• Knowledge frontier data technology.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in an additional UN official language (Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

 V. Competencies and level of proficiency required.
Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
Core competencies

• Builds and maintains partnerships (1)
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)
• Drive to achieve results for impact (1)
• Innovates and embraces change (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
• Thinks and acts strategically (1)
• Works collaboratively with others (1)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

 

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.