The IT Solutions Engineer position has a wide array of responsibilities within the organization. This is both a highly technical and consultative position that serves as a liaison between the departments and program teams of the United Nations Foundation and the technical stake holders responsible for the deployment, configuration and administration of different technical tools and platforms. This position is an ideal fit for experienced and motivated technologists who possess a unique balance of technical depth and strong interpersonal skills.
The Solutions Engineer will work with the Director of Technology and Digital Services to configure, deploy and implement new technology solutions to business problems throughout the organization. In some situations this means working with external vendors, IT Systems Administrators or consultants and in others the Solutions Engineer will be responsible deployment and configuration of new platforms, tools or technology to be handed off to other administrators or end-users.
This position requires a wide and deep understanding of technology across platforms, from the web and cloud to traditional desktop and business environments. A key feature of this role is working with departments and program teams to identify and evaluate potential areas for improvement in their use of technology by leveraging existing and emerging tools to provide business process and systems security, automation, resiliency, and optimization services with a goal of developing scalable solutions that can be rolled out in multiple use cases.
Exposure to Enterprise Platforms and COTS configuration and deployment is necessary. Exposure to Financial and Budget systems and concepts is a plus. Familiarity with reporting and dashboards is required. Should be comfortable with the concepts of API integration (development experience not necessary, but helpful), using IPaaS and IFTTT platforms, SSO and Identity as a Service solutions.
Solutions Engineering
- Design and implement solutions
- Comprehend business strategies and requirements and develop necessary designs and plans to ensure projects and solutions satisfy those needs
- Act as a contributing member of the project team from project inception to completion
- Actively listen to program team and department problems and needs to implement that information when creating solution plans
- Provide advice and make decisions about which technologies would be suitable to use for various projects
- Consistently monitor the scope of projects
- Collaborate with project managers and other staff members to develop budgets and timelines for solutions
- Assess and evaluate risk as required
- Maintain understanding of how individual work and decisions fit into the broader organizational picture
- Keep skills updated and remain proactively aware of happenings and current events in the industry
- Mentor, educate, and train colleagues as requested
Project Management
- Define and document project scope, goals and deliverables that support business goals in collaboration with senior management and stakeholders
- Develop full-scale project plans and associated communication documents
- Set and effectively communicate project expectations to project team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion
- Estimate the resources and participants needed to achieve project goals and provide information to relevant stakeholders
- Plan and schedule project timelines and milestones using appropriate tools
- Develop and deliver progress reports, proposals, documentation, and presentations related to projects
- Create final reports regarding best practices and lessons learned for each large-scale project
- Manage relationships with consultants and vendors including tracking time worked, budget to contract hours and scope of work for specific projects
- Establish business processes, best practices and policy related to business and technology projects
- Manage awareness of ongoing work and interactions among core services and program teams and the IT team
- Five to seven years of experience in related sectors, including solutions deployment and project management
- Familiarity using Microsoft Office applications including Word and advanced Excel usage.
- Exposure to BI tools like Tableau, PowerBI
- Exposure to Sharepoint
- Exposure to creating workflows and processes using Enterprise Systems (CRM, ERP, or Service Managemnt)
- Exposure to Financial, Budgeting or Accounting tools and concepts
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to explain highly technical concepts and processes clearly to non-technical clients.
- Excellent attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability to manage multiple complex tasks and/or projects simultaneously while addressing the needs of the office.
- Customer service focused with demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with a diverse constituency, and with the ability to inspire confidence and respect among clients.
- Ability to work effectively as a team leader as well as independently.
- Ability to meet regular attendance/tardiness policy.
- Ability to work under pressure and handle stress.
For full-time, benefit eligible employees, UNF offers an excellent range of benefits, including:
- a choice between two health plans through UnitedHealthcare (PPO or HDHP with HSA)
- dental insurance
- vision insurance
- flexible spending accounts
- 403b retirement savings plan with a generous matching contribution
- group term and supplemental life insurance
- short-term disability
- long-term disability
- health club discounts
- commuter subsidy
- back-up care
- employee assistance program
Additionally, all benefit eligible employees have 12 paid holidays, 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 3 personal days, and 8 weeks of family leave care.