DevOps Engineer Seconded To Ministry Of Health

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee hosting infrastructure, whether cloud-based (EthioCloud/Ethio telecom, GCP, AWS) or on-premise MoH data center, ensuring all environments meet MoH security, performance, and operational standards.
• Coordinate with the local vendor to set up and maintain development (DEV), user acceptance testing (UAT), and production environments for all HRT project components.
• Monitor system performance, uptime, availability, and security across all environments; escalate anomalies and critical incidents promptly.
• Manage server provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle on both Linux (Ubuntu) and virtual environments within the MoH data center or EthioCloud infrastructure.
• Support migration activities and provide technical oversight of vendor-managed deployment pipelines and release processes.
• Coordinate with Ethio telecom and other local service providers on network connectivity, SLA compliance, and cloud resource provisioning for MoH-hosted components.
• Act as the primary on-site technical liaison between the external vendor team, MoH technical staff, and eGov advisors.
• Facilitate vendor access to MoH systems, data centers, and infrastructure while enforcing access governance and audit trail policies.
• Track vendor deliverables against the Statement of Work (SOW); proactively identify and surface blockers, risks, and dependencies.
• Coordinate and co-lead system integration testing (SIT), user acceptance testing (UAT), and system validation activities.
• Administer Linux servers (installation, patching, hardening, performance tuning) for all HRT-related services and middleware components.
• Manage user access, roles, permissions, and security configurations for HRT core components.
• Configure and maintain web servers (Nginx, Apache), application servers, and reverse proxies serving HRT platform components.
• Manage container orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes; maintain Helm charts, cluster configurations, and service health.
• Diagnose and resolve infrastructure and environment issues; maintain clear incident logs and resolution records.
• Maintain living documentation of system configurations, deployment procedures, integration maps, and operational runbooks.
• Deploy, configure, and administer Apache Superset (or equivalent BI tools such as Metabase or DHIS2 dashboards) for HRT data visualization and health financing dashboards.
• Manage database connections, dataset configurations, and role-based access controls within visualization tools.
• Work alongside MoH data and analytics staff to configure charts, dashboards, and indicators aligned with health resource tracking reporting requirements.
• Ensure visualization platform stability, uptime, and integration with back-end data sources including PostgreSQL and data exchange outputs.
• Support performance tuning of queries and caching layers within visualization platforms.
• Monitor the performance and health of data exchange processes across HRT integrations.
• Identify, classify, log, and track pipeline issues, including data delays, sync failures, and transformation errors.
• Maintain change and configuration control across environments.
• Set up and maintain alerting and monitoring dashboards (e.g., Grafana, Prometheus, or equivalent).
• Ensure all system access, configurations, and operations comply with Government of Ethiopia IT security standards and MoH data governance policies.
• Support periodic security reviews, audits, and compliance assessments.
• Maintain structured configuration management and change control documentation.
• Enforce network security configurations, firewall rules, and VPN access policies.
• Design and execute a structured capacity-building plan for MoH IT staff.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), user guides, and training materials.
• Represent the HRT project in MoH Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings, steering committees, and interoperability forums.
• Champion HRT integration within broader MoH digital transformation initiatives.
• Adhere to all Government of Ethiopia institutional standards, procurement rules, and operational procedures.

Project Information

• Program / Team: Sustainable Health Financing – Digital Health
• Placement Location: Addis Ababa (Ministry of Health Premises)
• Engagement Type: Secondment to Federal Ministry of Health (MoH)
• Reports To: CHAI Country Lead / MoH Digital Health Lead – Executive Office
• Project: Digital Public Infrastructure for Health Resource Tracking (DPI-HRT)

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Minimum 7 years of hands-on experience in system/platform administration, with at least 4 years in software engineering and 3 years in DevOps or infrastructure management in production environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing Linux server environments (RHEL, Ubuntu, or equivalent).
• Practical experience with cloud hosting platforms including EthioCloud and on-premise data center virtualization environments.
• Proven database administration experience with PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or comparable RDBMS.
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) and deployment automation.
• Hands-on experience with system integration, API-based data exchange, and data pipeline operations.
• Experience deploying and configuring Apache Superset, Metabase, or similar BI tools.
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken).
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts clearly for non-technical government stakeholders.
• Strong prioritization and self-management skills.
• High integrity, reliability, and alignment with CHAI's mission.
• Familiarity with Linux shell scripting (Bash) and automation scripting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with health information systems such as DHIS2, EPSS, or GMP, or government PFM systems including IBEX, IFMIS/Oracle, and Peachtree.
• Data Science, Analytics, and modelling experience.
• Understanding of HL7 FHIR, OpenHIE architecture, RESTful APIs, and related interoperability standards.
• Prior experience coordinating external technical vendors in a government or NGO implementation context.
• Knowledge of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) design principles and open-source digital ecosystems.
• Experience with Ethiopian public sector digital systems or government IT governance frameworks.
• Familiarity with Grafana, Prometheus, or equivalent monitoring and observability stacks.
• Exposure to user research, field testing, and technology training for non-technical end-users.
• Prior engagement with Ethio telecom's EthioCloud platform or other Ethiopia-specific cloud/hosting providers.

Working Environment & Expectations

This is a full-time, embedded secondment position within MoH premises in Addis Ababa. The DevOps Engineer will be operationally co-located with MoH Digital Health staff, with regular coordination with the CHAI country team and remote collaboration with eGov technical advisors.

The role operates at the intersection of government systems, commercial vendors, and international development requiring equal measures of technical depth, stakeholder empathy, and professional resilience. The ideal candidate is a self-driven platform professional who takes full ownership of infrastructure reliability, communicates proactively across all levels of stakeholders, and is passionate about the role that robust digital infrastructure plays in improving health outcomes for Ethiopians.

Skills Required:

• Computer / Software / It / Data