Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Lesotho II
About MCA
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government corporation focused on assisting countries dedicated to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in people. In May 2022, MCC signed a five-year agreement (“compact”) with the government of Lesotho (GoL) aimed at poverty reduction through inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA- Lesotho II), is an entity established by the Government to act as the accountable entity to implement the Compact, with the authority to bind the Government with regard to all Program activities.
Lesotho Compact
The Lesotho Health and Horticulture Compact aims to benefit 2.5 million people by growing, strengthening, and organizing the private sector in Lesotho and improving the government’s coordination to deliver critical services necessary to support private sector development.
It will achieve this goal through investments in Health System Strengthening, strengthening of the business environment and Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture, providing sustainable income for smallholders and increasing climate resilience by replacing rain-fed subsistence farming with irrigated commercial horticulture in select locations.
The GoL is committed to passing several key reforms that will help make this compact successful, including reforms that address gender equality, working conditions and worker safety, as well as land and water rights. All of the compact’s projects focus on overcoming barriers to the economic inclusion of women, youth, and the rural poor.
Information Technology (IT)Specialist
Objective of this position
The System Administrator will setup and maintain the ICT infrastructure and Applications that support MCA-Lesotho II’s daily operations. This includes managing servers, networks, storage, and related infrastructure, security systems, and executing backup and disaster recovery strategies. The System Administrator will be responsible for installing, configuring, and updating hardware and software, establishing and managing user accounts, conducting backup and recovery tasks, implementing operational and technical security controls, and adhering to organizational security policies and procedures
The ideal candidate will have strong interpersonal, communications and problem-solving skills. The position requires experience with virtualized environments and remote access technologies.
Primary responsibilities
Technical areas of responsibility include data center environment (power, cooling, etc.), firewalls, servers, storage, backup & recovery, anti-virus system, network infrastructure, and PC-related tasks, including PC and laptop installation and troubleshooting, PC Application installation and troubleshooting, PC and laptop printing and communication, system security (patching, and anti-virus updating).
- Provide system administration support for enterprise IT systems, including firewalls, switches, routers, Windows servers, Virtual Server technology, VOIP, and other desktop and server software solutions.
- Implement and support business applications across the MCA-Lesotho II network.
- Monitor the network and business applications and collect baseline metrics to identify and resolve problems for the efficient operation of systems and networks.
- Plan, coordinate, build, test, install, configure, and deploy Windows Servers on both the physical and virtual environment.
- Keep Data Center infrastructure and IT equipment in operating condition consistent with OEM requirements and perform corrective, adaptive, and preventative maintenance tasks as needed and/or scheduled.
- Apply security and functional patches and upgrades to software and hardware in line with the MCA-Lesotho ICT Policies.
- Proactively manage windows updates on all server and workstation systems ensuring systems are kept up to date with the latest security and critical patches.
- Implement and support backup and disaster recovery strategy for continuous business operation.
- Identify and resolve technical issues promptly across various environments, collaborating with diverse teams.
- Remain familiar with vendor support site navigation to quickly and efficiently work with support as needed for hardware or software needs.
- Maintain detailed documentation for easy reference and knowledge sharing (e.g. technical specifications and diagrams, and change management documentation: migration, deployment, implementation and test plans, installation/configuration guides, etc.)
- Communicate regularly with IT Manager and any support staff regarding IT project activities and status, and provision of technical support, including reporting on metrics developed by IT Manager.
- Provide professional, technical support to end-users and internal teams to enhance timelines of service delivery as an integrated services platform.
Required Competencies
Mandatory Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree with 7 years recent Network Management tools integration and design experience. Additional training and experience may be substituted in lieu of a degree.
- Experience building and managing servers, configuring firewalls and network infrastructure, backing up and recovering data and databases.
- Experience with data center / server room management.
- Experience administering Windows domains.
- Must be proficient in administering Windows Updates, Windows file shares, Windows DNS, Windows DHCP services.
- Experience managing a Microsoft 365 online environment.
- Experience administering antivirus systems at the server and for user level.
- Experience monitoring network and systems.
- Understanding of network traffic from a protocol/packet perspective.
- Strong ability to multi-task and work independently.
- Experience leading system integration projects as the technical lead.
- Experience working with staff to capture/document requirements.
- Experience working directly with vendors for support and maintenance.
- Fluency in English and Sesotho essential to communicate in writing and speaking.
Preferred Requirements:
- Server virtualization and domain management (Windows Server, GPOs, and User Account Management) experience.
- LAN/WAN networking experience (Cisco).
- Data storage (Nimble/HPE) and database management (MS SQL Server).
- Backup system management (Acronis).
- System imaging (Acronis).
- Enterprise Anti-Virus (Sophos).
- Wireless Network Management (Ubiquiti preferred).
- DNS, Wide Area, and Internet/ISP Service Management.
- Experience with Windows update technology and processes.
- On-premise file shares.
- Experience mitigating vulnerabilities on Servers and Workstations.
- Remote user desktop support (RDP or other remote protocols).
- System application installation and troubleshooting (Microsoft Office).
- Printer troubleshooting, printer driver installation.
- Experience with PowerShell scripting.
How to apply
Applications must be submitted online, on or before the 22nd December 2023.
Complete applications must comprise of the following documents:
1. Curriculum vitae containing detailed work experience;
2. Cover letter confirming interest and availability;
3. Soft copies of higher education and professional certificates (if available);
4. A completed online application form (can be accessed from https://lesotho-jobs.tenderwell.app – CV Template MCA Lesotho II)
Only applications that are submitted on or before the deadline will be considered.
We thank all applicants. However, note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Submit your application online via: https://lesotho-jobs.tenderwell.app . Hard copy applications will not be considered.