Consultant – Senior Infrastructure Automation Expert, Local);(UNICC Partnership

Result of Service UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women. Only those applicants shortlisted for an interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking environment.

Work Location Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, or West Bank

Expected duration ¿ The duration of the consultancy is 6 to 11 months, extendable according to performance and availability of funds. ¿ Remuneration for this consultancy will be 2,500 USD, depending on the fund availability, qualifications, and relevant experience. ¿ The incumbent can be in any UNRWA field of operations (Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, or West Bank).

Duties and Responsibilities - Provide high-level technical consultation and advice on cloud infrastructure automation. - Formulate documents and demonstrate proof of concepts about the data center infrastructure automation strategies. - Manage technical team in Infrastructure automation and build team technical capacity and knowledge transfer. - Design and develop Ansible playbooks for automating end-to-end processes. - Design and develop new modules if required. - Setup best practices for development and documentation for automation projects - Design inventories for different systems and use cases based on experience and implement them through an inventory file or a plugin. - Define development best practices for automation with Ansible. - Automate Storage tasks in Ansible to: o Manage the lifecycle of luns (SAN) o Manage the lifecycle of share (NAS); o Patching - Automate Network related tasks in Ansible, such as: o VLAN provisioning and configuration. o Firewall rules configuration. o Switch configuration. o Load balancer configuration. - Automate Application and Database tasks in Ansible, such as: o Installing. o Stopping and starting. o Configuring o Hardening. o Patching. - Automate OS/Server (Linux and Windows) tasks in Ansible, such as:: o Configuring. o Hardening. o Patching. - Work with Ansible Vault to encrypt sensitive data. - Manage Credentials in Ansible AWX. - Integrate with ticketing systems (Remedy ITSM). - Enable/Configure hosts and systems for automation with Ansible. - Configure CI/CD pipelines - Automated testing of playbooks, modules, and plugins - Handle errors of automated tasks. - Perform other duties as may be required.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: ¿ A university degree or master’s degree from an accredited educational institution in information technology, information management, Information systems, computer science, computer engineering, Software engineering, Business Administration, Management, or other related disciplines;

Experience: ¿ A minimum of 10 years of experience for a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 8 years for a master’s degree in IT management, and infrastructure automation

¿ Experience in the automation tasks for one or more of the following areas: o Application and database deployments and provisioning o Linux OS tasks o Windows OS tasks o Network tasks o Infrastructure tasks

¿ Extensive knowledge in software development best practices ¿ Strong software development skills in programming languages (Python, yaml, jinja …) ¿ General web services development skills HTTP/HTTPS, RESTful APIs ¿ Knowledge and experience in developing infrastructure solutions and automating infrastructure tasks ¿ Good Linux/Windows skills ¿ Experience with central infrastructure services (DNS, LDAP, NTP, mail) ¿ Knowledge of CI/CD best practices for fully automated integration, deployment, and testing ¿ Strong analytical, logical skills and problem-solving skills.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE ¿ Setting up an Ansible platform with AWX/Ansible Tower and integrating with a full CI/CD pipeline ¿ Integrating AWX/Ansible tower with an LDAP system ¿ Securing the Ansible platform and the execution of the playbooks on the targets ¿ Automating tasks in one or more of these systems: o Cisco IOS o BigIP/F5 equipment o Par storage o Compellent storage. o Checkpoint firewall o HP servers ¿ Automating server provisioning ¿ Automating tasks on databases and/or applications: o Web Applications: Apache, Tomcat, Nginx, etc. o Databases: MySQL, Postgres, MariaDB, MongoDB o Oracle software: Database and Applications ¿ Training and/or coaching administrators on best practices for development and automation. ¿ Good understanding Of Ansible Awx/Ansible tower ¿ Good knowledge of various Ansible modules ¿ Knowledge of other automation tools (puppet, terraform, chef, etc.) ¿ Experience using public cloud infrastructures (google cloud platform, AWS, AZURE etc.)

DESIRABLE Qualifications

¿ Linux System Administration. ¿ Windows System Administration. ¿ Network Administration. ¿ Ansible Automation. ¿ Work experience with UNRWA or another UN agency.

Competency: ¿ Apply technical expertise. ¿ Strong ability to drive for results, manage and deliver against multiple priorities on time. ¿ Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. ¿ Strong interpersonal and communication skills; verbal and written. ¿ Excellent planning and organized skills. ¿ Communicating credibly and effectively: Expresses oneself clearly in conversations and interactions with others; listens actively. ¿ Produce effective written communications. Ensures that information is shared. ¿ Producing results: Produces and delivers quality results. Is action-oriented and committed to achieving outcomes. ¿ Moving forward in a changing environment: Is open to and proposes new approaches and ideas. Adapts and responds positively to change. ¿ Knowing and managing yourself: Manages ambiguity and pressure in a self-reflective way. Use criticism as a development opportunity. Seek opportunities for continuous learning and professional growth. ¿ Flexibility and adaptability.

Language: ¿ Fluent in spoken and written English.

Additional Information UNRWA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC) to enhance livelihood and human development opportunities for Palestine refugees in Gaza. United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC) is a UN agency that provides IT services to other UN agencies on a cost-recovery basis.

UNRWA Information Management and Technology Department (IMTD) is seeking an Infrastructure Automation Developer to automate operational on-premises tasks with Ansible and other tools. The consultant must have experience in software development and the design and implementation of automating full end-to-end processes. The person will also spend time supporting International Computing Center (ICC) administrators on how to script and automate operational tasks with Ansible playbooks, plugins, modules, inventories, templates, and shell scripts.

The consultant will report administratively to the Head Information Technology Service Centre at Headquarters Gaza and report technically to United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC).

¿ Please indicate if you are a Palestinian Refugee and provide your registration card number if applicable.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.