Systems Administrator

Industry: Nonprofit/International Development
Function: Systems Administration
Employer: One Acre Fund
Job Title: Systems Administrator
Job Location: Rural Kenya

Duration: Minimum 2 years commitment, full-time job

Organization Description

Most of the world's poor are farmers, representing the largest and most uniform group of poor people in the world. One Acre Fund is a growing social enterprise in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential. Instead of giving handouts, One Acre Fund invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "service bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market facilitation. Our program is proven impactful – every year, we weigh thousands of harvests and measure 50-100% average gain in farm income per acre. We have laser-like focus on generating better lives for the people that we serve.

We are growing quickly. In eight years, we have grown to serve 180,000 farm families with more than 2000 full-time field staff. Our approach has won widespread validation, winning grants from The MasterCard Foundation and Gates Foundation.

Website: www.oneacrefund.org.

Job Description One Acre Fund has operations in several countries in East Africa, with multiple field offices in each of those countries.

We are seeking an experienced Systems Administrator who can work with local IT staff in multiple countries to manage our technology infrastructure, software licenses, and IT training. The Systems Administrator will also manage the installation and troubleshooting of business software including our locally-developed software systems.

In addition to our field IT needs, the systems administrator will also maintain the development infrastructure for our software developers ensuring that local and cloud hosted test and staging servers are up to date. Eventually the Systems Administrator will play a key role in strategic decisions regarding our technology infrastructure. They will:

· Manage and mentor distributed IT staff in Kenya, Rwanda, and other countries for basic system and network administration tasks.

· Harmonize our network equipment, bandwidth management tools, network and systems security, backup strategies, and all associated policies.

· Track IT inventory and provide hardware requirements and pricing estimates for procurement.

· Hire local IT staff for new locations and remotely support them as needed.

· Manage licenses and procurement of software, and track installations.

· Manage SaaS subscriptions for google apps, assembla e.a.

· Manage relationships with ISPs, identify new ISPs in startup locations, and ensure reliable Internet connectivity together with local IT staff.

· Work with other departments to identify common training needs.

· Develop a help desk support and ticketing infrastructure for remote and in-person assistance.

· Work with developers and quality assurance to automate infrastructural tasks for software development.

· Assist startup countries with their IT needs.

· Handle new technology needs as they arise. One Acre Fund is constantly looking for ways in which technology can assist our operations and the Systems Administrator needs to be prepared to assess and manage new needs proactively.

Eventually the Systems Administrator could be promoted to Systems Administration lead and will be involved in the management of hosted servers and making strategic decisions on how to expand our technology infrastructure.

Initially the Systems Administrator will be based in Western Kenya with frequent travel to our other working countries. The Systems Administrator can expect to be working away from their base location in Western Kenya for several months at a time.

Career Growth and Development

One Acre Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through mentorship and through regular management consulting-style career reviews. We also have regular one-on-one meetings, where we listen to and discuss career goals, and work collaboratively to craft roles that each person can be passionate about. Because of our rapid growth, we constantly have new high-level roles opening up and opportunities in many functions. This results in fast career growth for our staff.

Qualifications

Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

· Experience living in another country and working in multicultural environments.

· Very strong self-manager, very well-organized.

· In-depth knowledge of networking and network administration.

· Sound understanding of and experience with technical support tasks.

· Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering field or equivalent work experience.

· An ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical people.

· Work experience, or internship, in some professional environment - ideally 2+ years of work experience.

· Willingness to commit to the position for at least 2 years.

· Humility. We are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong technical skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service.

· Language: Knowledge of French a plus.

Preferred Start Date

Flexible

Compensation

Starts modest. However, this is a career-track role with fast raises for performance, paying a meaningful salary for long-term placement in developing nations.

Benefits

Health insurance, immunizations, flight, room and board.

Sponsor International Candidates

Yes

How to apply:

Complete this form (http://myjotform.com/form/40471746260553). You will be prompted to submit your CV and cover letter. You may also be asked to submit work samples for some positions. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), please submit a copy of your Description of Service (DOS) in the appropriate section.