Network Operations Center Technician at Savanna Fibre Tanzania

The NOC Engineer/Technician is responsible for monitoring, maintaining, and supporting the overall health and performance of the company’s network infrastructure. The role involves diagnosing and resolving network related issues, coordinating with internal and external teams, and ensuring high availability and performance of the network. This position works in a 24/7 operational environment to provide support, incident management, and network optimization.

Key Roles:

Network Monitoring and Management:

• Continuously monitor the company’s network infrastructure, including routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and communication links, using NMS tools (UMC, SolarWinds, Zabbix, Nagios, Cacti).
• Respond to and address network alarms, outages, and performance issues in real-time.
• Maintain logs of network activity, outages, and incidents for analysis and reporting.

Incident Management:

• Handle network incidents, service outages, and performance degradation, ensuring minimal downtime. Perform root cause analysis of network issues and provide timely resolution.
• Escalate critical incidents to higher level engineers or the appropriate departments as required.

Troubleshooting and Resolution:

• Diagnose and troubleshoot issues related to hardware, software, and network configurations.
• Perform basic configuration changes on network equipment when required, under the supervision of senior engineers.
• Work with vendors or service providers to troubleshoot external connectivity issues.

System Maintenance and Updates:

• Assist in regular maintenance tasks such as firmware updates, hardware replacements, and software patches.
• Ensure all maintenance work is scheduled and completed with minimal disruption to business operations.

Communication and Reporting:

• Provide timely updates to stakeholders on network incidents and resolutions.
• Create and deliver network performance reports to management, including outage reports, incident tickets, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Document procedures, incidents, and resolutions in detail to contribute to knowledge management.

Coordination and Teamwork:

• Work closely with network engineers, IT support, and service delivery teams to resolve issues and implement improvements.
• Coordinate with third party service providers (e.g., ISPs, vendors) to resolve external connectivity issues.
• Collaborate in network projects and deployments when needed.

Network Optimization:

• Analyze network performance and recommend optimization strategies.
• Proactively identify potential issues, bottlenecks, or inefficiencies in the network infrastructure and recommend solutions.

Compliance and Security:

• Ensure that all network systems and activities adhere to company policies, procedures, and security standards.
• Assist in maintaining and improving the security posture of the network infrastructure by implementing security patches and monitoring for vulnerabilities.

Key Skills Required

Technical Skills:

• Strong understanding of networking concepts such as IP addressing, routing (BGP, OSPF, ISIS), switching (VLAN, STP), and network protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP).
• Familiarity with NMS tools (SolarWinds, PRTG, Zabbix).
• Experience with firewalls, VPNs, and security appliances (Sophos, Cisco ASA, FortiGate).
• Analytical and Troubleshooting Skills:
• Ability to quickly diagnose network issues and provide efficient resolutions.
• Strong problem-solving skills in high pressure environments.

Communication Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication to effectively report incidents and resolutions.
• Ability to work with cross functional teams and external vendors.

Time Management:

• Ability to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment with multiple ongoing issues.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to follow procedures precisely.

Working Conditions:

• 24/7 operations, including shift work (day/night shifts).
• Ability to work in a fast paced, high-pressure environment.
• Availability for on call support during off-hours and weekends as needed.

Educational Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.
• Industry certifications such as Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Network+, or Juniper JNCIA are a plus.

Experience:

• Previous experience in a NOC, network administration, or IT support role.
• Hands on experience with network monitoring and troubleshooting tools