Organizational Setting

The Digital FAO and Agro-Informatics Division (CSI) is responsible for all Information Technology (IT) activities within the Organization.
CSI defines FAO Information Technology (IT) policies, strategy, IT architecture and standards and is responsible for the provision of digital products and services utilized to deliver the mandate of the Organization and support its operations worldwide.

CSI manages and supports a set of corporate digital products and services which collectively comprise the FAO Digital Workplace utilized by personnel across the Organization worldwide to access and utilize Organizational digital resources and data in order to perform their work regardless of location or time zone in a secure manner.

Reporting Lines

The Network and Audiovisual Senior Engineer reports to the Senior Information Technology Officer (Global Infrastructure) and works under the overall guidance of the Deputy Director (CSI).

Technical Focus 

The Network & Audiovisual Senior Engineer will be responsible for designing and deploying new ICT core infrastructure at the FAO HQ to be used to improve the setup for meetings and communications, ensuring resilient, responsive, scalable and secure design is achieved and rolled out.
The successful applicant will lead the related technical infrastructure projects at the FAO HQ in Rome, Italy from design to implementation using a combination of on-premise and multi-cloud environments. He/she will work with internal stakeholders and external partners to ensure business requirements are met and the new setup is rolled-out as planned.

Tasks and responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Information Technology Officer, and based on identified activities to be performed, the consultant will provide specialized expertise to FAO HQ under a project framework, performing the following duties:

•    Assess existing state of ICT core infrastructure at FAO HQ as it relates to meeting the needs of the Organization, especially for audio/visual purposes.
•    Propose and implement improvements in the network design and architecture: The Network & Audiovisual Senior Engineer will support the Senior IT Officer by identifying improvements on the overall campus network including distribution, core, and edge on existing wired and wireless computer network in line with the digital workspace strategies and in support of the different events organized by FAO.
•    Propose and implement improvements in the FAO Wide Area Network (FAO WAN): The Network & Audiovisual Senior Engineer will support the Senior IT officer in identifying improvements to the current WAN connecting the different FAO Offices to the different locations where the FAO resources are located.
•    Coordinate and assisting business units as applicable on the identification of modern equipment for the audio and video infrastructure supporting high level events as well as identifying suppliers for maintenance and support of the renovated infrastructure.
•    Liaise with FAO support service groups in ensuring facility, power and cooling requirements are met and will, at the same time, coordinate designs with all customer groups to ensure their requirements are fully incorporated in the newly designed services.
•    Manage existing CAPEX projects, performing all project management activities.
•    Prepare and manage project information based on PRINCE2 project management methodology.
•    Prepare the overall design for ICT core infrastructure, Network Operating Centre (NOC), structured cabling system (SCS), fully available and fully redundant switching and routing services, data centres and other ICT premises where ICT core infrastructure will reside, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) as well as cloud/on-prem hybrid infrastructure management, and any related designs for network management and information security at FAO HQ.
•    Develop service operations and transition documentation for all the above infrastructure and service designs, develop budget, technical specifications, maintenance and operational resource requirements for all the above designs including the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the period of 10 years
•    Develop technical selection process documentation with acceptable requirements for all designs and services required, develop project transition documentation, rollout and training plans.
•    Develop plans and rollout for any training for all infrastructure and services for the relevant ICT personnel at FAO HQ and manage the transition of infrastructure and services into operations while providing the added level of support during a period of two months.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in Computer Science, Telecommunications engineering, Mathematics or similar.
•    Overall minimum 10 years of experience in technical design, including structured cabling systems, data centres, network, design and deployment, in working with cloud environments (multi cloud experience is a plus).
•    Minimum 10 years of experience in project management (PRINCE2 or equivalent certification is a plus)
•    Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish. Knowledge of one of the other FAO Official languages is an asset.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills  

•    Technical design of ICT network and audio/visual background, including setup of a network operating centre (NOC).
•    Technical design of hyper-converged and hybrid infrastructure background
•    Project management (including financial management)