IT Operations Manager NOC - 12 months renewable contract, Johannesburg at World Food Programme

JOB PURPOSE

• To lead the delivery of efficient and effective IT and Telecommunications (TC) services, providing sound, innovative solutions that enable staff to deliver food assistance to beneficiaries, in line with WFP’s strategy.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Participate in the development of plans, budgets and policies, and lead the deployment of IT/TC systems aligned with business needs, in accordance with WFP corporate standards.
• Develop and maintain IT/TC systems and networks, ensuring appropriate data security and access controls considering both local and wide area network issues; and enabling users to get maximum benefits from them.
• Implement and test new hardware for improving and upgrading system performance; install any technology upgrades as required.
• Develop technical specifications and tender documents, and manage contracts with service providers, to facilitate procurement of IT/TC equipment and services at minimum cost, in line with WFP rules and regulations.
• Coordinate and prepare reports on IT/TC activities, investments and costs, identifying trends/issues and proposing solutions to increase cost-efficiency.
• Maintain technical expertise and knowledge of industry developments, and develop skills within specific areas of competence.
• Provide advice to managers and users to resolve complex issues, understanding their needs and ensuring IT policies, procedures, systems and tools are correctly applied to support them.
• Lead and motivate a small team, monitoring performance, providing coaching, training and guidance to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.
• Build capability of staff, collaborating with colleagues in the IT division to design and deliver corporate training policies and programmes aimed at developing skills/knowledge in IT and TC.
• Ensure effective coordination with other UN agencies in order to align activities and maximise possibilities of inter-agency collaboration in the field of IT/TC.
• Maintain effective partnerships with colleagues and external partners, to foster information exchange and support to meet service requirements.
• Contribute to emergency preparedness and contingency planning, providing technical recommendations and monitoring the management of risks, so that WFP can maintain basic IT services and/or quickly respond and deploy resources to affected areas at the onset of a crisis.
• Prepare operational plans and manage resource requirements at the onset of an emergency.
• Other as required.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

• Capability Name    Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level
• Governance, Strategy and Architecture    Implements improvements to WFP’s IT governance structure, strategy, and procedures by scanning future industry trends, providing clarity on policies and capturing potential opportunities. Ensures compliance with organisational IT policies and procedures and overall information management strategy.
• Change Implementation, Project Management, Planning and Optimization    Demonstrates the ability to collate time, resource, and budgetary estimates from multiple stakeholders to design plans for complex projects, implementation activities and manages the change control procedure, while ensuring that project deliverables are completed.
• Technical Expertise    Exhibits deep technical knowledge in area of expertise and actively transfers knowledge to strengthen the skill base across the function; considers the most appropriate use of technical resources to ensure skill development and optimization of resource allocation.
• Service Management    Consistently monitors performance and delivers high quality technology and services to meet the needs of customers, taking responsibility for the design, installation, upgrading, operation, control, maintenance and effective use of IT infrastructure components.
• Client Management    Applies thorough understanding of the business, customers, new IT technologies and techniques to implement improved solutions and define service levels, standards and the monitoring process for client service staff.
• Procurement and Contract Management    Leads efforts to develop business cases that capture project life-cycle costs, benefits, and risks based on detailed analysis of resource requirements and vendor relations for small to medium IT investments.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Has assisted in the development of IT governance strategies, policies and system architecture.
•  Has acted in IT advisory capacity.
•  Has participated in the negotiation, evaluation and management of IT contracts with service providers.
•  Has developed business cases that capture project life-cycle costs, benefits, and risks for the purchase of IT service or equipment.
•  Has keen ground-level experience leading the implementation of IT and telecoms systems in emergencies.
•  Has experience managing a team of IT personnel.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education:

• Advanced university degree in i.e. Masters in Computer Science or other relevant field and a minimum of 5 years experience or First University degree in Computer Science or relevant field with additional years' experience required.  
• Language:
• Fluency (level C) in English language and knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is an added advantage.

CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION

• This is a 12-month renewable Fixed Term contract
• Net Salary monthly range: R85604 - 100823
• Benefits:  Annual Leave, Pension & Medical Insurance

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

• The Vacancy Announcement will close on 24 July 2023, 11:59 South African time