IT Officer - Kenya Primary Literacy Programme at Education Development Center

Job Description

Project Description

The Kenya Primary Literacy Programme (KPLP) is a five-year initiative that supports the Kenyan Ministry of Education to deliver interventions at scale as well as pilot and expand innovations that address the language and literacy needs of primary grade learners while building more inclusive, accountable, and resilient education institutions and systems.

USAID KPLP has three broad objectives:

• Improving education services and student learning outcomes, including for vulnerable populations; 
• Strengthening education institutions and systems to become more accountable, self-sustaining, and resilient; and 
• Empowering local youth organizations to strengthen and sustain community and family support for student learning and wellbeing.

Position Description

• The IT Officer will provide IT technical support and network support at headquarters and in regional offices.
• The IT Officer will be responsible for overseeing the installation, usage, and maintenance of office IT systems, as well as troubleshooting and managing IT solutions.
• This position will work in close collaboration with Home Office support and Home Office Help Desk.
• This position reports to the Finance and Administration Manager.
• This is a full-time position based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical set-up and needed support on all IT related issues, including installation and testing of LAN, servers, Internet gateways, workstations, printers, client software, upgrades, and configuration; 
• Liaising with and overseeing all work done by outside IT agencies and consultants, e.g. installations performed by third parties such as cabling, Internet connectivity, etc. 
• Responsible for tracking Helpdesk requests, issues, and service requested by the project staff. 
• Deploy and implement office network according to Home Office specifications; 
• Document network operations, processes, and procedures; 
• Serve as the Nairobi office Network Administrator; 
• Oversee and support network administration in the regional offices;  
• Identify and solve possible problems in the network; 
• Supervise and follow-up on equipment maintenance provided by other contractors; 
• Provide in-person and virtual support and troubleshooting problems for all employees in the Nairobi and regional offices; 
• Implement and enforce security on the network and prevent misuse of IT resources; 
• Participate in writing office IT policy as required; 
• Advise on all IT related procurement; 
• Responsible for IT inventory; work closely with the Logistics Officer to monitor distribution and location of IT equipment by performing at least a yearly inventory check-up; 
• Set up, implement, and maintain hardware firewall; 
• Keep the network healthy by applying all required security patches and monitoring the correct delivery of all antivirus updates; 
• Implement and document a disaster recovery plan. 
• Provide guidance and support to all project regional offices for all the functions above as needed. 

Qualifications

The candidate for the position of IT Officer shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree in IT, Information Systems sciences or related field. 

Skills and Experience:

• Must have at least 5 years of experience in IT systems management;  
• Candidates who demonstrate previous experience working on USAID-funded projects is preferred; 
• Advanced and extensive knowledge of MS Excel and ability to do macro programming and ODBC connection;  
• Demonstrated capacity to work effectively with teams;  
• Excellent people skills at all levels, cultural sensitivity, ability to work well under pressure, negotiate diplomatically, and the ability to work well in a multicultural and multi-disciplinary work environment; 
• Effective oral and written communication skills in English; 
• Willingness to travel in all program areas, as necessary. 

Language:

• Fluency in English is required.