Telecommunications Officer

About the role

The United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) provides supply chain, geospatial, information and telecommunications technologies services and training to UN entities, missions, agencies, funds and programmes worldwide. This Telecommunications Officer position is in the Network Support Unit of the Infrastructure Operations Section of the Service for Geospatial, Information Technology and Telecommunication, in Valencia, Spain, and reports to the Chief IOS. It is a full-time position for an initial period of one year.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the Communications Unit of the mission so that work programmes and activities are delivered on time.
• Develop strategies and oversee the design and implementation of major telecommunications systems initiatives, including projects spanning regional or all field missions.
• Lead and direct a team of telecommunications officers and engineers, plan work assignments, coach and evaluate staff, and take part in recruitment and training.
• Identify needs for new systems or changes to existing ones, and develop plans for feasibility, design, development and implementation, including schedules, time and cost estimates.
• Develop the Unit's budget and ensure expenditure follows UN Financial Rules.
• Manage procurement, including needs assessments, bid documents and contracts, and supervise and negotiate services for interdependent IT and telecommunications systems.
• Manage telecommunications assets for deployment, usage and redeployment.
• Provide emergency communications for staff security and act as a focal point for inter-agency emergency field security communications.

Required profile

• Advanced university degree in telecommunications engineering, electronic engineering or a related field, or a first-level degree plus two years of qualifying experience.
• At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in telecommunications, electronic data transmission, network design or a related area, including four years at management level in the public or private sector, with knowledge of international ICT practices and regulations.
• Experience managing enterprise-level telecom and IT networking infrastructure, such as satellite ground stations, UHF/VHF radio, wide-area and data centre networking, software-defined networking and video conferencing.
• English at UN Level II reading, writing, listening and speaking; French is the other working language of the Secretariat.

Required skills

• Knowledge of the management, design, implementation and maintenance of complex telecommunications systems.
• Ability to organize and manage diverse, cross-functional groups and large centralized or decentralized systems.
• Desirable: ITIL Foundation v4 certification and structured training (at least 10 hours) on data topics such as Excel, basic statistics or data visualization.