Head of Service Delivery

The role ECMWF has an opening for a Head of Section position in the Computing Department. The position is located at our Bologna duty station, with occasional attendance at our Reading and Bonn offices also expected. The Head of the Service Delivery Section will lead three teams which focus on service provision and delivery for ECMWF’s operational production and enterprise environment (see details about ECMWF below). The three teams are: The Operators team , located Bologna, facilitates the monitoring and incident management of the Centre’s 24/7 time-critical production services. This includes escalation to internal and external experts. The Service Desk team , located in Reading and Bonn, providing first-level technical support for the Reading, Bologna and Bonn offices. The Enterprise Services team , located in Reading, who are responsible for providing and maintaining the organisation’s enterprise ICT software, hardware, and services. This role also has overall responsibility for the maintenance and enhancement of the Centre’s ITSM (IT Service Management) framework, driving operational process efficiency by implementing common good practices. This function is delivered with shared and matrix-managed staff, but significant involvement is expected of the Section Head. The successful candidate will also be responsiblefor the management of major incidents, supporting analysts, scientists and contractors in their task to identify and effectively and efficiently rectify problems, informing and consulting senior management, and keeping relevant stakeholders updated, to ensure a prompt return of operational services. Post incidents, they will be a core member of the review team to capture relevant lessons learnt and provide recommendations to prevent recurrence. They will be part of Computing Department management and part of ECMWF’s senior management teamtaking responsibility for cross-cutting strategic topics as needed. About ECMWF ECMWF is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It is an intergovernmental organisation created in 1975 by a group of European nations and is today supported by 34 Member and Co-operating States, mostly in Europe. The Centre’s mission is to serve and support its Member and Co-operating States and the wider community by developing and providing world-leading global numerical weather prediction. ECMWF functions as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions and holds one of the largest meteorological archives in the world. The success of its activities relies primarily on the talent of its scientists, strong partnerships with its Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies such as machine learning across its operations. ECMWF has recently become a multi-site organisation, with its headquarters based since its creation in Reading, UK, a new data centre in Bologna, Italy, and new offices in Bonn, Germany. ECMWF has adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows its staff to mix office working and teleworking. This generous and flexible model provides our staff with considerable flexibility to spend time outside or away from their duty station and decide how they wish to manage their professional working time at ECMWF. ECMWF is an organisation that values the whole being and understands and values the need for flexibility in the way its staff work. For additional details, see www.ecmwf.int Main duties and key responsibilities Leadership in a 24/7 operational IT and scientific production environments Strong and calm decision-making in operational/time-critical crisis situation Working as part of the Computing Department’s Management Team, contributing with personal experience and innovative ideas in a proactive and constructive way Analytical and problem-solving skills, working methodically and proactively Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to interact and disseminate information at the appropriate level (e.g. technical and non-technical customers) Strong interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with members of the section, reaching out to the rest of the Computing Department, the wider ECMWF organisation, and external partners and suppliers Flexibility, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities Ability to work autonomously and as part of multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams Highly organised with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks to tight deadlines, reflecting our mission-critical time dependent product delivery What we are looking for Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive continuous improvement approach Self-motivated, and able to work with minimal supervision Dedication and enthusiasm to work in a geographically distributed team Attuned to the needs of the user, able to develop services and prioritise accordingly Ability to work efficiently and complete diverse tasks in a timely manner Ability to motivate and encourage teams to foster an environment where process enhancements can be raised and appropriately considered Education and experience A university degree in a technical or scientific discipline (EQF7 level or above) or extensive and equivalent work experience in a relevant field, is required Experience in managing, motivating and developing teams, managing IT systems and budgets, and executing successful procurements Experience of maintaining and reviewing operational policies and procedures and ensuring appropriate awareness within the teams, including skills and knowledge transfer Experience of operational IT services with very strict requirements on service availability and quality Experience of working in an operational data centre environment with strict response-time requirements would be beneficial Knowledge and Skills Good understanding of current computing trends in the enterprise, data centre and cloud Good understanding of internal and external user needs, and service management methods such as ITSM Ability to interact effectively with a range of different stakeholders (technical and non-technical audiences) across a wide range of activities Excellent administrative, organisational, and planning skills Interest in technology and science The post-holder must be fluent in spoken and written English. A good knowledge of Italian, and/or one of ECMWF’s other working languages (French or German), would be an advantage Other information Grade remuneration The successful candidate will be recruited at the A4 grade, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations and the annual basic salary will be EUR 101,510.64 net of tax. ECMWF also offers a generous benefits package, including a flexible teleworking policy. The position is assigned to the employment category STF-C as defined in the ECMWF Staff Regulations. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs, including the ECMWF Staff Regulations and the terms and conditions of employment. Starting date: March 2024 Length of contract: Four years, with the possibility of further contract extension Location: The position will be based at ECMWF’s data centre in Bologna, Italy As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF has adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows flexibility to staff to mix office working and teleworking. Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions. Videoconference interviews (via Microsoft Teams) are expected to take place duringDecember 2023. Who can apply Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button below. At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion. Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States. ECMWF Member and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy. Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases. J-18808-Ljbffr