IT Operations Analyst at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: IT Operations Analyst

Ref No: IITA/P&C/NRS2025-037
Location: Ibadan, Oyo
Employment Type: Contract
Contract: 3-year renewable contract  

Duties
Service Operations (ITIL):

• Own day-to-day Incident & Request Management for assigned service queues; ensure accurate triage, prioritization, and timely resolution within SLA.
• Participate in Problem Management (trend analysis, root-cause analysis, corrective/preventive actions) and track known errors/workarounds.
• Participate in Change Management activities (impact/risk assessment, scheduling, pre/post checks, rollback plans) and present changes to CAB as required.
• Maintain and improve standard operating procedures for repetitive operational tasks

Monitoring, Reliability & Capacity:

• Track and report availability, performance, and capacity metrics; recommend scale-up/scale-out or optimization measures.
• Perform health checks (daily/weekly/monthly) on critical services; document and escalate deviations.

End-User Computing & Identity:

• Provide L2/L3 support for Windows/macOS endpoints, printing, mobile devices/MDM, and approved software images.
• Administer identity & access operations (provisioning, de-provisioning, group/role changes, periodic access reviews) in coordination with Information Security team.
• Package, test, and deploy patches and updates for endpoints and core services in line with the change calendar.

Core Infrastructure & Network Coordination:

• Collaborate with Network/Infrastructure teams on L2 tasks for Wi-Fi, VPN, and PABX/IP telephony.
• Execute routine operational tasks on servers and services (backups/restores, certificate renewals, log rotation, service restarts, DR runbooks) under guidance of Lead, IT Operations & Security Management.
• Ensure stations remain connected to HQ services; provide remote support to Station IT Officers.

Security & Compliance:

• Carryout security hardening baselines on endpoints/services; remediate vulnerabilities assigned via scans or advisories.

Stakeholder Management:

• Provide clear technical communications to stakeholders and contribute to IT service status updates.

Documentation, Training & Continuous Improvement:

• Update knowledge articles for end-users; deliver on the spot user training on call or remotely.
• Contribute to post-incident reviews, lessons learned; and backlog; champion automation/scripting to remove toil.
• Perform any other job-related tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements
Qualifications:

• HND/BSc in Computer Science/Engineering, Information Technology, Electrical/Electronic Engineering  or any other related course.
• The ideal candidate must have a minimum of (4) years’ experience in performing similar role in a well-structured environment.
• Professional certification in ITIL V4 Foundation (or higher), CompTIA Network+/A+, Microsoft (MD- 102/Endpoint Administrator or AZ-104), Cisco CCNA (network fundamentals) or equivalent vendor certification is required.

Competencies:
The ideal candidate must:

• Demonstrate strong troubleshooting and analytical skills; Demonstrate RCA capability;
• Exhibit a customer-service orientation with clear written/verbal communications
• Possess solid understanding of ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Change) and SLA
• Have working knowledge of Microsoft client technologies (Windows 10/11), macOS, Mobile Device Management (MDM), and collaboration tools;
• Have basic understanding of Layer-3 networking, voice communications, and gender and social inclusion principles in development programming.
• Have practical experience with ITSM tools (ticketing, CMDB, change), patching, imaging, and endpoint management.
• Be experienced in supporting Layer-2 and Layer-3 networked environments and IP telephony at an operational level.

Benefits
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.

Application Closing Date
20th October, 2025.