Background
UbuntuNet Alliance is the regional research and education networking organisation for Eastern and Southern Africa. It builds and operates UbuntuNet, the regional high speed Internet backbone network for Eastern and Southern Africa. UbuntuNet Alliance is registered in Malawi as a not-for-profit association of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa with the aim of providing a secure data communications network that supports research, teaching and learning in the region. Membership of the Alliance includes NRENs of the following countries: Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbwabwe. The member NRENs work together in promoting internetworking for the purposes of research, education and innovation, but also welcomes not-for-profit transnational research and education organisations. UbuntuNet Alliance has its headquarters in Lilongwe, Malawi while the Network Operations Centre is located in Kampala.
The Alliance is seeking to engage the services of suitably qualified candidates to fill the following positions tenable at Lilongwe and Kampala offices:
- Network Operations Centre (NOC) Engineer, Kampala Office
The NOC Engineer, reporting to the Technical Manager, will provide support in the day-to-day management of the network. Major Duties and Responsibilities
• Direct liaison with the Network Operator in day-to-day operations of the UbuntuNet network.
• Direct liaison with member NREN Chief Technical Officers (CTOs) in the development and review of network operations.
• Scheduling planned maintenance activities in liaison with the Network Operator.
• Proactive monitoring of service levels and security to ensure service level agreements (SLAs) are met.
• Ensuring compliance with the UbuntuNet Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
• Design, implementation and management of new networks and services.
• Working with contractors in the field in rolling out networks and services.
• Provision of direct support as required in all activities of the Technical Manager.
Qualifications and Personal Attributes
The Network Engineer will be a person having any of the following degrees or equivalent from a recognized university:
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics Engineering
• Telecommunications
In addition, the person will either be registered or eligible for registration as a professional engineer. The person must also have at least 6 years of experience as a network engineer or administrator, 4 of which must be in management of large carrier class IP networks. He/she should, in addition, have the following attributes:
• Advanced knowledge of Internet routing protocols
• Good knowledge of the design, installation and operation of large IP networks
• Exposure to Juniper and Cisco Network equipment
• Advanced understanding of Cisco Internetworking Operating System (IOS and IOS-XR); should be able to configure Cisco routers and switches, and firewalls
• Advanced understanding of Juniper Network Operating System (JUNOS); should be able to configure Juniper routers and switches
• Advanced understanding of Linux/Unix Operating System
• Ability to manage and supervise contractors in network rollout
• Good inter-personal skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Output-oriented work habits
• Initiative and innovation
2. DevOps Engineer, Lilongwe or Kampala Office
Reporting to the Service Portfolio Manager, the Dev/Ops Engineer will provide support in the day-to-day management and oversee all aspects of development and packaging of value added services for offering to NRENs.
Major Duties and Responsibilities
• Develop and operate relevant e-infrastructure services – as well as assist member NRENs in running these services themselves – for research and education.
• Research and define requirements for services demanded by the research and education community.
• Assist in running the Service Desk dealing with support tickets from NRENs.
• Monitor servers and apps, troubleshoot issues and inform users proactively about issues.
• Make sure that proper backup and failover procedures are in place.
• Patch and enhance OS software used by UbuntuNet Alliance and member NRENs.
• Assist in developing and customizing applications.
• Work on cloud-based infrastructure service offering.
• Write and update guidelines on platform and other services for NRENs.
• Setup and administer applications for internal use at the UbuntuNet Alliance secretariat and by external involved parties.
• Provide technical first and second level support to the UbuntuNet Alliance staff.
• Any other relevant duties as may be assigned from time to time
Qualifications and Personal Attributes
The person must possess the following qualifications and personal attributes:
• A degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering or equivalent from a recognized university.
• At least two years of experience in a relevant field at least covering product development and system administration
• Working knowledge of requirements gathering, product design and development life cycle
• Good experience in IT project management
• Good inter-personal skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Appointment and Remuneration
Method of application
Interested eligible candidates should submit an application letter, complete with an up to date Curriculum Vitae, that includes names and contact information for two referees. These should be submitted in a single PDF or Word document attached to an email, addressed to the Finance and Administration Manager at info@ubuntunet.net no later than Monday, 12 August 2019.
UbuntuNet Alliance is an equal opportunity employer and offers attractive remuneration package commensurate with qualification, competence and experience of the successful candidate.