Data Centre Engineer, Southern Africa Regional Resource Centre (SARC)

• Position title: Data Centre Engineer, Southern Africa Regional Resource Centre (SARC)
• Grade: PL-5
• Position N°: NA
• Reference: ADB/13/118
• Publication date: 12/08/2013
• Closing date: 25/08/2013

Objectives

Under the technical leadership of the Division Chief of Data Center & Field Office Services and the administrative  supervision of the Regional Director SARC, the Data Center Engineer is responsible for the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the Data Centre’s technology systems and networks and in ensuring that high levels of customer satisfaction are maintained. Implements the agreed Data Centre technology footprint and ensures that the Data Centre architecture is adhered to. Migrates their Data Centre to new technologies, evaluates processing performance relating to machine utilization and reliability, and forecasts financial, physical, and human resource needs to meet established objectives. Support and coordinates operational activities for network/data operations, business continuance and restoration plan that isolate problems and implement pre-planned alternative routes or systems to restore service. He/She needs to ensure no disruption of critical systems and overseeing Data Centre operations, physical security, facility management, hardware and equipment maintenance, administration of servers, database infrastructure and the supervision of systems administration staff.

This is a local position which does not attract international terms and conditions, and posting will be in the Southern Africa Regional Resource Centre of the African Development Bank Group in Pretoria.

ONLY APPLICANTS WHO ALREADY HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POSITION.  THE BANK DOES NOT SUPPORT APPLICATIONS FOR WORK PERMITS AND RELOCATION.

Duties and responsibilities

The main responsibilities  of the data centers engineer are :

• To manage a local team of Data Centre support staff and third parties to provide high quality business services.
• Responsible for all aspects of local data center operations including:

1. Employee growth/management and operational management
2. HVAC, Electricity, Racking, Cabling
3. Data Centre implementation & monitoring
4. Customer escalations
5. Server builds, maintenance, upgrades & replacements
6. Server & hardware replacements
7. Inventory
8. Emergency server repair
9. Patch management
10. Assistance with infrastructure project management

• Plan and manage resources required to deliver and manage local Data Centre services at agreed levels with business clients including liaison with other CIMM Divisions to ensure that incidents and problems are managed and resolved on an end-to-end basis;
• Provide daily, weekly and monthly local Data Centre service management reports with the purpose of improving the IT services. Manages performance of the Data Centre services delivery against agreed process metrics, KPIs and SLAs;
• To ensure the Data Centre’s operations meet a very high standard and ensuring 100% availability, reliability and maintainability;
• To ensure that Data Centre Solutions are fit for purpose, are signed-off by the business and are implemented / deployed with no service outages and minimal issues / ongoing need for work;
• To ensure that Data Centre Solutions are accepted into support at the first time of asking. Emergency and failed changes in Production systems are minimized;
• Service Levels for support ticket responses and turn-around times are met and continuously improved via trend analysis;
• Contractual arrangements with 3rd party vendors are managed and met in accordance with properly defined SLA / OLAs;
• Strong client / stakeholder feedback as evidenced via CIMM customer surveys and voice of the customer feedback;
• Voice of the Customer responses are base-lined and acted upon on at least a quarterly basis and reflected in the CSIP;
• CIMM Budget and Headcount is managed effectively;
• No unsatisfactory audit reports or overdue audit actions;
• Achievement of ISO 20000 Certification for agreed CIMM IT Services;
• Responsible for Operations Management: Day-to-day service operations with Data Centre best practices and standards linked to ITIL disciplines such as incident, problem, change, capacity and business continuity and disaster recovery management;
• Policies and Procedures: Contributes to the development of detailed operational procedures required to run Data Centre operations in the mission critical environment. Implements the agreed procedures and measures and reports on adherence to them;
• Implements policies, procedures, and associated training plans for Data Centre staff;
• Tracking and reporting: Deliver proximity IT Support services with tracking, analyzing and reporting for service metrics;
• Meetings and Reviews: Service level meetings and reviews with vendors to provide maintenance services to Data Centre;
• Managed Services: Contribute to Data Centre service transformation for hosted services with provisioning and managing environment to business customers;
• Coaching and Training: Supervision, development, coaching and leadership of the Data Centre operational staff;
• Capacity Planning: Design and implement short and long term strategic plans to ensure Data Centre capacity meets existing and future requirements;
• Procurement: Prepare RFPs, bid proposals, contracts, scope of work reports, and other documentation for Data Centre projects and associated efforts;
• Responsible for the overall day-to-day operational management of all Data Centers.

Selection Criteria

Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree in computer science, software development or related business fields and/or equivalent work experience.
• Professional Certification such as ITIL Expert (v3) (Intermediary – Operational Support and Analysis) and BS15000/ISO20000 Practitioner
• Minimum of 5 to 7 years of IT and business industry work experience, with at least 3 years of leadership experience in managing Data Centre Operations. Experience in the areas such as network, database administration, computer operations and production support.
• Excellent IT Service Management skills with 5 - 7 years of running complex IT Service Management operations
• Dynamic and self-motivated leader to provide direction under complex conditions which often includes ambiguity and uncertainty
• Able to build and maintain rapport with all levels of the organization, across Complexes, Divisions and Departments and also internationally
• The incumbent must be able to build trust amongst all their contacts, across all levels within the organization in order to build a foundation for long term relationships and information exchange
• Excellent knowledge of a range of Data Centre IT Services with particular emphasis on:

1. Electricity, monitoring, and HVAC systems knowledge.
2. Extensive change management and process & procedure reengineering experience.
3. Comprehend equipment specifications, contract terms and conditions and statements of work.

• Ability to work under pressure and hit deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills coupled with a collaborative managerial style
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including issue resolution, negotiation and conflict management
• Must have ability to work autonomously and proactively
• A strong orientation towards goal achievement
• Broadly skilled in information and communications technology
• Has an excellent working knowledge of the IT Service Management life-cycle and typical problems associated with the implementation of ICT projects and the maintenance and support of their results
• Has detailed practical knowledge of Service Management methodologies, tools and techniques with in depth knowledge of ITIL and ISO.
• Knowledge of various Information Technology platforms (Client/Server, Data Warehouse, Internet/Intranet, Electronic Commerce, Mainframe) and how each fits within and/or complements the enterprise architecture.
• Strong verbal, written, presentation and customer service skills (clarity of messages, crispness in delivery, timeliness, and accuracy) required.
• The ability to adapt to the requirements of the customer, the needs of the sponsors, its environment and people working on it to ensure a successful outcome.

Terms of Employment:

Three years on a fixed-term contract with possibilities of renewal based on performance.

Only applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are being considered for interview will be contacted. Applicants will only be considered if they fully complete on-line, the Personal History Form (PHF), available from the Bank’s web site, and attach a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) indicating date of birth and nationality. The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

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To apply for this position, you need to be national of one of AfDB member countries.

• Submitted by: Amir Zahir , Division Manager , CHRM
• Approved by: Badaki, Joseph Oluwafemi, CHRM, Director

Only applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are being considered for interview will be contacted. Applicants will only be considered if they submit an online application, and attach a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV). The AfDB President reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply: www.afdb.org/jobs