Senior IT Officer - Hybrid Cloud & Network

The Register of Damage for Ukraine, established in May 2023 through an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe, is based in The Hague, Netherlands, with an offfice in Kyiv, Ukraine. It serves as a documentary record of claims and evidence on damage, loss or injury caused by the Russian Federation’s internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine. The Register receives claims from individuals, businesses and state and municipal entities in Ukraine regarding damage, loss or injury that they have suffered because of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

The team you will be part of, the Information Technology Section, manages the Register's systems and data. It implements innovative and cost effective digital solutions to enhance the efficiency and productivity of the Register through user focused, data-driven, and streamlined business processes and platforms. It is also repsonsible for data management and information security.

As a Senior IT Officer - Hybrid Cloud & Network, you will be a key player in the design, deployment, and ongoing governance of a robust hybrid IT ecosystem. Your responsibilities will encompass both on-premises and cloud-based environments, ensuring their operational integrity, security, and cost efficiency. Collaborating closely with the Head of IT and internal stakeholders, you will oversee critical aspects of network infrastructure, cloud resource orchestration, and virtualisation frameworks, thereby reinforcing the resilience and scalability of enterprise IT services. You will:

• administer and maintain a Microsoft-centric hybrid IT infrastructure, integrating on-premises Active Directory with Entra ID, Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Microsoft 365 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and associated enterprise-grade Microsoft security and management solutions;
• manage and secure identity and access control mechanisms by configuring and optimising authentication, authorisation, and federation services within Active Directory and Entra ID environments; implement role-based access control (RBAC), conditional access policies, and identity governance frameworks to enforce security and compliance requirements;
• manage and administer virtualisation environments across both private and public cloud infrastructures, including Nutanix AHV for on-premises deployments and Azure IaaS for cloud-based workloads; ensure high availability, optimal resource utilisation, and continuous performance tuning through proactive monitoring and strategic optimisation;
• optimise cloud resource utilisation and availability in Azure by conducting cost forecasting, performance monitoring, high-availability configurations, and policy-driven infrastructure optimisation;
• manage and administer advanced network infrastructures, encompassing enterprise-grade firewalls, high-performance routing and switching, SD-WAN deployments, and comprehensive network security policies; ensure optimal performance, resilience, and adherence to industry-leading security frameworks through meticulous network analysis and policy enforcement;
• develop, implement, and continuously manage disaster recovery strategies and enterprise backup solutions, ensuring resilience against system failures and cyber threats through proactive monitoring, optimisation, and regular testing of failover mechanisms;
• perform other relevant duties in support of IT infrastructure and network security;
• report to the supervisor on the status and progress of activities and if and when problems occur;
• promote Council of Europe values internally and externally.

You must:

• hold a higher education degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field;
• have a minimum of five years of hands-on engineering experience in designing, deploying, optimising, and managing hybrid cloud environments and complex network infrastructures;
• have a very good knowledge of English (one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe); 
• be a citizen of the host country or one of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• be present in the Netherlands;
• have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
• not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
• be under the age of 65 years.

Your application must demonstrate to what extent you have the competencies listed below. To help you doing so, feel free to consult our competency framework.

• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Operational - Results orientation
• Operational - Concern for quality

• Professional and technical expertise:

• expert knowledge and extensive experience in managing on-premises and cloud infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on Azure IaaS, including its governance, security, and optimisation;
• expert knowledge and extensive experience with both on-premises and cloud-based identity and governance solutions, including Active Directory, Entra ID, and M365 SaaS services;
• strong expertise in network architecture and security, encompassing firewall administration, VPN configurations, SD-WAN deployment, and secure remote access methodologies;
• extensive experience in designing, implementing, and maintaining virtualisation platforms such as Nutanix and VMware, ensuring high availability, scalability, and security;
• strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in network and system performance;
• knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks such as ISO/IEC 27001, 27002, 27032 and security best practices.

• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation
• Interpersonal - Communication

• Professional and technical expertise:

• relevant industry certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect, Network Engineer Associate, Fortinet FCP/FCSS, CCNA/CCNP, or Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP);
• proficiency in scripting languages such as PowerShell, Bash, and Python for automating the management, monitoring, and optimisation of both on-premises and Azure cloud infrastructure, including configuration management, deployment automation, and network security enforcement;
• experience in CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure deployment;
• knowledge of Zero Trust architecture principles and advanced identity and access management strategies;
• knowledge of French (one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe).

This job vacancy is for a local external recruitment based on temporary contracts. Employment is limited to 31 December of the current year and may be extended. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance etc.) on the webpage What we offer.

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process. This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Rule No. 1234 laying down the conditions of recruitment and employment of locally recruited staff members working in Council of Europe Duty Stations located outside of France. The deadline for applications is indicated in the General information section of this vacancy notice (see above) and is fixed at 23:59:59 Central European Time (CET). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief. Under its equal opportunity policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve gender parity in staff employed in each category and grade.At the time of appointment, preference beetwen suitable people shall be given to the person of the gender which is under-represented in the relevant grades within the category to which the vacancy belongs.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact us at [email protected], we will ensure that your request is handled.

The information published on the CoE’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication of the vacancy notice. Any changes to these conditions during the recruitment process will beupdated on our Portal and will apply at the time of the job offer. Our career's website is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. Should you have remaining questions, please contact us at [email protected].