Senior ICT Officer - Network Security and Infrastructure - 2 Posts

The Open University of Kenya aims to address the pressing issue of limited capacity in traditional universities by employing innovative teaching and learning methodologies, including online and distance education. By leveraging technology and flexible learning modes, the university seeks to accommodate a larger number of qualified students, enabling them to pursue their education.

This role involves deep expertise in designing, implementing, and managing robust and secure network infrastructure for the university.

Duties & Responsibilities

Duties

• Design and manage SD-WAN, LAN, and Wireless mesh networks (Cisco/Huawei/Ubiquiti), ensuring 99.9% uptime.
• Deploy and manage Next-Gen Firewalls (NGFW) with IDS/IPS, implementing Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Network Access Control (NAC) policies.
• Manage secure authentication protocols (SSO, MFA, SAML, LDAP) across Active Directory and Azure AD.
• Utilise SIEM tools (e.g., Splunk, AlienVault) for real-time log analysis and incident response, while conducting regular vulnerability assessments.
• Secure edge connectivity between the campus and cloud services (Direct Connect/Express Route, VPNs).

Required Qualifications and Competencies

For appointment to this grade, one MUST have:

Must Have

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field from an accredited and recognised University is required.
• Minimum of three (3) years of proven hands-on experience in Network Engineering and Information Security is essential.
• Network infrastructure skills are necessary, including Internet Services, LAN & WAN (Cisco, Huawei, HP, Juniper Networking), Advanced routing and switching, Enterprise Wireless Management, and Infrastructure monitoring tools.
• Experience is an added advantage with Next Generation Firewalls and IPS/IDS, FortiGATE firewalls, Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Remote Access (VPN), Virtualisation (VMware, Proxmox, Docker), Linux and Windows Server Systems.

Essential Professional Certifications

Relevant Professional Certifications including:

• CCNP Enterprise (Cisco) qualification OR JNCIP-ENT (Juniper) qualification;
• CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) qualification;
• CompTIA Security+ qualification OR SSCP qualification;
• Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional qualification;
• Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) qualification OR Fortinet NSE 4/5 qualification or CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) qualification.

Note that the Terms of Service will be either Permanent and Pensionable OR Contract, as shall be determined by the University Council. The Open University of Kenya (OUK) is an equal opportunity employer, and applicants of either gender, youths, persons living with disabilities and those from marginalized areas are encouraged to apply.