Senior Specialist, IT
Place of work: Basel, Switzerland
Employment rate: 50–100%
Start date: 1 January 2027 or sooner
Contract type: Permanent
Other: Must be eligible to work in Switzerland
Basel Institute on Governance
The Basel Institute on Governance is a hands-on centre of competence dedicated to promoting good governance and countering corruption for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Established in 2003 in Basel, Switzerland, the Institute works with partners worldwide to advance knowledge, practice and policy on anti-corruption, asset recovery and business integrity. With field operations worldwide, it has some 150 staff covering 32 nationalities. The Basel Institute is an Associated Institute of the University of Basel.
Job description
The Senior Specialist, IT takes operational ownership of the Basel Institute’s IT infrastructure, security and identity management. Working closely with and deputising for the Head, IT and eLearning, the successful candidate will keep the Basel Institute’s systems secure, available and well-documented, lead the day-to-day implementation of the IT Security and Operations Policy and help with the safe and effective adoption of new technologies, including AI. The Senior Specialist will also supervise and develop the Associate, IT.
Key responsibilities
- Implement, maintain and monitor the Basel Institute’s IT Security and Operations Policy and support the disaster recovery and malware response plans.
- Maintain and monitor the IT infrastructure, including the Sophos firewall appliance, UniFi wireless network, Xerox printers, 3CX phone system, Synology NAS devices and the NextCloud shared drive.
- Manage users, authentication and access rights across Active Directory and Google Workspace, including onboarding and offboarding and regular access reviews.
- Provide and coordinate cybersecurity awareness training for staff, including onboarding and regular refresher training and act as a point of contact for reporting and responding to security incidents.
- Identify, evaluate and implement AI tools and solutions to improve IT operations and support their safe, compliant and well-governed adoption across the Basel Institute.
- Supervise, mentor and develop the Associate, IT, coordinating day-to-day support and workload.
- Oversee IT asset management, backups and system monitoring, coordinate with external service providers and deputise for the Head, IT and eLearning as required.
- Provide first-level IT support to staff alongside the Associate, IT, ensuring timely resolution and acting as the escalation point for more complex issues.
Qualifications and skills
- University degree or equivalent vocational qualification in information technology, computer science or a related field.
- At least five years of experience in IT systems administration and infrastructure, ideally in a mixed on-premises and cloud environment.
- Proven expertise in network and firewall administration (Sophos experience is an advantage), identity and access management (Active Directory, Google Workspace) as well as IT security.
- Relevant experience with UniFi Wi-Fi, Synology NAS, NextCloud, 3CX telephony and remote management/monitoring tools, as well as experience supervising or mentoring colleagues, is an advantage.
- Proficient in Microsoft and Google Workspace administration.
- Experience in a major AI platform (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) and the creation and management of skills, plugins, connectors, agents and MCP servers.
- Languages: Excellent English skills; a good command of German and proficiency in other languages are an advantage.
Offer
We offer an interesting and rewarding working environment with a proactive, dynamic and international team spirit. The work is both routine and varied, and offers scope for initiative and innovation. The salary is competitive.
Application
Please only use the following link to submit your application at your earliest convenience, but no later than 30 September 2026: https://intranet.basel.institute/job/apply/84. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
For further information about this position, please contact Peter Huppertz, +41 61 205 55 18.
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Equal opportunity employer
The Basel Institute is an equal opportunity employer. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. We have been positively evaluated by the Swiss Federal Administration to gender pay equality.