Specialist – BSS Operations ( Internal/External )

Role purpose: 

The Specialist – BSS Operations shall be responsible for System support of the BSS stack of applications, related integrations, and software components. The role will also provide End to End accountability for systems support including and not limited to MTTR, SLA, individual and global incidents. The role will also be responsible for building automated monitoring for all domain systems and proactive controls based on machine learning or similar techniques. The role will also will be responsible for compliance with operational policies such as backups, BCPs and user access reviews that are required to be done periodically.

Key accountabilities and decision ownership: 

• Technical service availability: Define and monitor data and application availability for all BSS applications. Implement proactive controls based on machine learning or similar techniques on domain systems. Document and update processes and procedures in use for BSS. 

• Incidents and problem resolution: Provide expert management of IT application incidents, root cause analysis, management of problems and closure of recurring incidents.

• Testing new systems functionality: Creating system requirements for support and Testing of new products and systems functionality. Create high quality supportability requirements. Test the achievement of supportability requirements once systems are delivered by vendors. Implementation of automated testing for domain systems.

• Reporting: Maintain reports on SLA conformance and support trends. Develop, implement, and maintain support documentation regarding operations, functionality, framework, policies, and procedures.

• Planning: Planning for application security and technology upgrades. Plan for upgrades, patches and migrations which adhere to project/assignment times. Working cross-functionally with IT Security, Engineering, and Business Units to support a 'best-in-class' Channels domain systems customer experience. Help to define and address cross-functional gaps and processes between internal and external teams. Contribute to the overall objective of providing best-in-class digital user experience. Plan for licenses and contract renewal.

• Review of the Systems architecture, roadmaps, and design from time to time to ensure efficient operations & and evolution especially towards Cloud & Micro services or applicable technologies. 

• Responsible for ensuring BSS systems are running n-1 release (latest stable release) through effective software release management plan and security patch vulnerability execution plan.

• Enhance processes and DevOps to improve delivery and increase efficiency by focusing on continuous improvement and optimization.

Must have technical / professional qualifications: 

• BSc. Degree in Telecommunication Engineering/Electrical & Electronics engineering/Computer Science/IT.

• 2 years’ experience a busy telecommunication/ IT environment or Software Engineering with good knowledge in planning for BSS Solutions such as CRM, Billing, Voucher Management

Desired 

• Working knowledge in Unix/Linux systems and Databases – Oracle, MySQL, Postgres

• Working knowledge with Virtualized/cloud/cloud Native solutions

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must have assumed current Safaricom role for a minimum of 12 months period.
• Employees are strongly advised to discuss their career aspirations with their line managers when they apply for vacant jobs.
• Candidates are eligible to apply for roles at the same level (possible lateral move to another function) or one level higher (next higher immediate level)
• Please be aware that promotions (band increments) may lead to changes in financial rewards. However, lateral moves only result in changes to job title and reporting lines.
• For Regional roles, knowledge of the Region local language is essential