Applications Hosting Systems Administrator Consultant

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. We are seeking to fill a consultancy position of Applications Hosting Systems Administrator, based at our Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Technology Division (TEC) has recently introduced and adopted several innovative IT solutions to complement and expand those currently delivered to its business customers. Among them, TEC is undergoing a review of its Cybersecurity posture, which so far has led to the creation of new policies and taking concrete technical measures in our production environment aiming at strengthening that posture.  TEC is also taking great steps towards the widespread use of cloud computing, in parallel to or as a replacement for the current on-prem hosting solutions.

Under the general supervision and guidance of the Applications Hosting Team Leader, the consultant will be responsible for the whole range of applications hosted on WFP IT infrastructure, which involves the following key duties:

• Provide support for application hosting solutions within the WFP IT Division (TEC);
• Contribute to the WFP Beneficiary Information Management platform (SCOPE) hosting solution in collaboration with the SCOPE Product Development team in Bangkok;
• Work towards the implementation of business hosting solutions, both on-prem and Cloud;
• Work on WFP multi-cloud provider environments (Amazon Web Services and Azure) for the deployment and maintenance of existing solutions;
• Work with Development and Security teams on the DevSecOps automated pipelines for continuous delivery services (knowledge of GitLab, Azure DevOps, Jenkins etc.);
• Provide technical support and guidance to the Solutions Developers;
• Liaise with the service providers to ensure maximum availability of services, uptime, efficiency and user satisfaction;
• Proactively monitor Application Hosting environments, both on premises and cloud, and act accordingly and with little supervision;
• Support the activities for consolidating and harmonizing the IT resources and recommends appropriate technological alternatives aiming at optimization of IT’s total cost of ownership;
• Maintain application support processes, and check that all requests for support are dealt with according to agreed procedures;
• Use application and database management software and tools to investigate issues, collect performance statistics and create reports;
• Other duties as required.

Qualifications & Experience Required

Education: Degree in the field of Computer Science/Engineering or Information Systems or in another relevant field.

Experience: At least 4 years practical hands-on IT experience in a 24x7 mission critical environment supporting production applications and/or administration of enterprise IT services, preferably in large international organizations. 

Technical Skills & Knowledge:

• Extensive proficiency in modern cloud environments (AWS and Azure)
• Extensive knowledge of DevOps pipelines (GitLab, AWS and Azure DevOps);
• Deep knowledge of AWS/Azure GRAPH API automation for cloud environments orchestration;
• Technical proficiency in the following areas:
  • Linux Operating System;
  • Shell, Python, Ansible scripting;
  • Database (Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL)
  • Messaging queuing technologies (i.e. RabbitMQ, AWS SQS, Azure Service Bus);
  • Web and Application Servers (Apache, Nginx, Tomcat, MS IIS);
  • Virtualization engines (VMWare, Docker, KVM);
  • Linux Security (IPTables, Firewalld);
  • Python/Django/WSGI/NGINX stacks;
• Knowledge of LAN and WAN technologies and principles;
• Ability to develop and maintain secure virtual environments.
• Experience with end-user and business support, and customer service skills;

Competencies:

• Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment;
• Build flexibility into business technology, enabling the business to partner, merge and rapidly expand;
• Handles complex long-term focused projects involving multiple disciplines or business units;
• Provides leadership and direction to high priority or special projects undertaken by the business area;
• Evaluates new technological developments and evolving business requirements;
• Good interpersonal skills. Self-motivated and directed, able to work effectively with little or no guidance;
• Keen attention to detail and problem-solving abilities;
• Extensive experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment, and good customer service orientation;

Language: Fluency in oral and written English is essential. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 4 February 2019

Ref.: VA No. 102913

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.