IT Operations Senior Manager / Director at One Acre Fund

ABOUT THE ROLE

We believe that new technology is the key to growing and to building the most effective rural distribution network on the African continent. We aspire to serve more than 10 million households annually by the end of the decade. Reporting to the Technology Division Chief of Staff and working closely with the Engineering Director, Security Director, and Global Operations Director, you will lead our IT Operations team. This work will focus on transitioning to a modern DevOps culture, serving as a technical thought partner to our country teams, and implementing a mobile tech transformation: supporting work to provide our field staff with the mobile-based tools to reach more clients more efficiently and provide clients with the support they need to access OAF services effectively. You will:

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Set Strategy
• Work collaboratively to set the vision for the department
• Implement the strategic agenda, providing direction for key projects. In 2022, this will include professionalizing our field operations, elevating the SysAdmin team, and expanding the remit of the Service Desk team.
• Provide Individual and Team Management
• Provide individual management to your four sub-team leaders (Technical Operations, Country Operations, Unified Endpoints Management, and Service Desk)
• Lead weekly "check-in" sessions to work through operational challenges and guide strategic projects, such as improving tier 1 incident management, pursuing a program of digital literacy, or defining a strategy for Access and User Management.
• Develop hard and soft skills and provide career mentorship
• Because of our wide geography, some of this work will be done remotely.
• Provide team management for your 40-member team as well as contribute to wider tech division leadership for a ~100-member team. This includes things like contributing to weekly and monthly coordination and working group calls, supporting team culture projects, owning performance management outcomes, and supporting recruitment.
• Contribute to policy development, management, process improvement and oversight
• Lead projects of strategic importance to the department. For example:
  • Introduce a strategic software asset management process
  • Manage your team's budget and resource allocation
  • Establish an IT governance maturation program
• This role will require travel up to 30% of the time (approximately 1 week per month)

CAREER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

QUALIFICATIONS

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Developing strategy across multiple work-streams.
• Coordinating teams and individuals with an emphasis on providing career management/mentorship.
• Translating solutions into tactical, practical action.
• Humility. We are looking for passionate technology professionals who combine their skills with good humor, patience, and service-orientation.
• While we don't have a strict requirement for any particular IT management certification, we do expect candidates to demonstrate familiarity and mastery of IT-Operations and Technical Governance either through training or experience.
• Language: Fluent English; French and East African languages are a bonus.