IT Lead Infrastructure Operations – West Africa at CARE

The Lead, Infrastructure Operations - West & North Africa is a key position in the region, leading the execution of IT infrastructure strategy, architecture, service delivery, standards and procedures for the enterprise. This role works with both regional management and country office IT staff to implement, monitor, and maintain core network services, and helps plan future IT investments to support changing business needs.

The person in this role must be a good communicator, capable of developing and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with staff at the regional management level, as well as staff at all levels in country offices. Fluency in both written and spoken French and English is a requirement for the position.

At the regional level, this role acts as a liaison and advisor between the IT organization and other parts of the business. Using your knowledge of the overall technical direction, IT policies, processes and procedures of CARE USA, you will advise of potential opportunities and challenges with upcoming programs/projects including a technology component.

At the country office level, this role provides technical guidance and hands-on assistance to local IT staff on all aspects of network infrastructure design, installation, configuration, maintenance, monitoring and troubleshooting. At times, you may deliver technical training to different groups of staff, including IT, Executive, Program, and Support staff. The ability to simplify and explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences will help to smooth the acceptance and adoption of technology in all areas of the business.

This role reports to the Director of Global Connectivity.

Job Responsibilities:

Regional Infrastructure Operations Management and Leadership:

• Provide oversight of the implementation of CARE’s ICT Infrastructure Operations Services strategy across CARE offices in the designated region.
• Provide consulting services to CARE’s Country Offices and Regional Management Units in the designated region for assessing, determining needs, strategic planning and implementing technology globally.  Work with the department managers and staff to develop team strategies and goals that align with the organization ICT strategies.

Oversight and support of technical operations:

• Tier 3 support for the resolution of all customer support issues for the technical infrastructure, including but not limited to LAN/WAN, last mile Internet, data connectivity, IT security, and telecommunications.
• Provide practical direction to country office IT staff and clearly communicate a shared vision. Ensure alignment with CARE USA’s network standards. Being flexible when dealing with and managing changing conditions in the organization.
• Using CARE’s monitoring tools, set appropriate thresholds for alerts.
• Provide mentorship and learning opportunities for IT staff in country offices.

Network and System Security:

• In conjunction with cybersecurity staff, participate in the implementation and management of both physical and logical security for network systems. Tasks may include application and operating system hardening, vulnerability assessments, security audits, TCP/IP, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, etc. Ensure network devices are patched to mitigate known security vulnerabilities.

Vendor Management:

• Participate in the selection, negotiation, acquisition, and monitoring of IT hardware, software and services (e.g. ISP contracts) for the designated region. Monitor service issues through the vendor support process and escalate as appropriate.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 5+ years working in an IT environment.
• 3+ years of experience in hands-on systems or networking support roles.
• 2+ years as a team lead or manager for network or systems engineers.
• Fluent in written and spoken French and English.
• Self-motivated and capable of working independently.

Desired

• CompTIA Network+ Certification or similar.
• Working knowledge of ITIL framework.
• Experience with security device installations, configuration and troubleshooting (e. g., firewall, UTM, IDS, etc.)
• Experience with VSAT technologies.
• Experience with public cloud providers and services.