Team Lead, Platform and Infrastructure

World Health Organization (WHO)
HQ/BOS Business Operations
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Job Description – Team Lead, Platform and Infrastructure (2604247)

Team Lead, Platform and Infrastructure – (2604247)

Grade: P4

Contractual Arrangement: Fixed-term appointment

Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days): 2 years

Job Posting

: Oct 28, 2026, 12:32:33 PM

Closing Date

: Dec 10, 2026, 12:59:00 AM

Primary Location

: Malaysia-Kuala Lumpur

Organization

: HQ/BOS Business Operations

Schedule

: Full-time

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications indicated above reflects your personal device’s system settings.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The Information and Digital Technology (IDT) department manages and advances WHO’s digital ecosystem, empowering WHO through harmonized, intelligent, user-centric and secure digital solutions. IDT envision a digitally transformed WHO, driven by modern, innovative platforms and services tailored to evolving needs — enabling seamless collaboration, data-informed decisions, and operational excellence. The department’s core functions span infrastructure and cloud services, ensuring reliable and scalable systems; cybersecurity, safeguarding WHO’s information assets; the advancement of data and artificial intelligence, enabling smarter insights and decision‑making; a digital workplace that supports collaboration and productivity through modern tools; and applications and enterprise systems to streamline business processes. The department also provides user support, drives digital enablement to foster adoption of novel technologies, and ensures through its project management office and business relations that IT initiatives are harmonized with organizational needs.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Team Management
• Lead a team of engineers and architects to deliver efficient and resilient solutions to meet business requirements.
• Build technical capability across the team, mentor staff, and foster an empowering, collaborative and motivating work environment.
• Ensure efficient management of resources, capabilities and capacity to meet current and emerging demands; identify and propose future IT opportunities at the location aligned with departmental goals and objectives. Platform Architecture & Design
• Lead the end-to-end platform architecture of the LXP, leveraging microservices and containerization on Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO).
• Define and maintain architectural standards, ensuring alignment with TOGAF ADM and enterprise business goals.
• Design for scalability (targeting 10 million+ users), high availability, and disaster recovery
• Oversee the adoption of polyglot data stores (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, ClickHouse, Redis).
• Architect secure API gateways and integrations using Azure API Management, REST APIs, and LTI standards.
• Design and document Azure cloud architecture, including networking, security, storage, and compute resources. Operations & DevSecOps
• Manage day-to-day operations of the platform including Incident, Event and Change management
• Manage CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and GitOps deployment with ArgoCD.
• Manage container orchestration, monitoring, and troubleshooting via OpenShift Console.
• Ensure robust backup, geo-replication, and storage strategies using Azure Blob Storage.
• Drive observability and monitoring initiatives, including centralized logging and performance metrics.
• Collaborate with security teams to implement Zero-Trust models, and compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR.Data & Integration
• Manage the Design and operation of real-time and batch data pipelines (Apache Kafka, Apache Airflow).
• Manage ETL/ELT processes, data governance, and master data management.
• Ensure seamless integration with external learning systems and partners via LTI, OpenAPI, and SCORM/xAPI standards. AI and Machine Learning
• Conduct the design and integration of AI and machine learning components within the learning technology platform, ensuring seamless interoperability with existing systems and data sources
• Architect scalable infrastructure for deploying, monitoring, and updating machine learning models and AI services, ensuring high availability and performance
• Ensure that all AI/ML components adhere to best practices, data privacy regulations, and compliance standards, including regular audits and health checks• Implement service registry, mesh, and discovery mechanisms to manage microservices and APIs related to AI/ML functionalities
• Collaborate with product, security, and data science teams to deliver new features and ensure platform reliability.
• Provide architectural guidance for new capabilities, integrations, and technology evaluations.
• Liaise with and utilize partnerships in other UN Agencies, donors, research or academic institutions in the area of learning technology.
• Represent the programme area of work at various meetings to advocate for learning and educational technology.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends in e-learning and educational technology and assess their viability for adoption.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:
An advanced level university degree (Master’s level degree or above) in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related field relevant to the position.

Desirable:
•Certifications in project management, including agile and/or LEAN practices, e.g. Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) or LEAN Six Sigma.
•Certification related to enterprise information technology architecture, such as TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework).
•Technical certifications related to Microsoft Azure, Kubernetes, RedHat OpenShift, MongoDB

Experience

Essential:
•A minimum of 7 years of professional work experience in cloud architecture, with at least 3 years in large-scale, cloud-native Kubernetes platforms.
•Proven track record working with relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB), search/analytics (Elasticsearch, ClickHouse), and caching (Redis).
•Demonstrated experience with Azure cloud services, including architecture, networking, security, API Management, and Blob Storage.
•Experience designing and implementing Azure-based solutions, including Azure Resource Manager, Virtual Networks, Azure Active Directory, and monitoring tools.

Desirable:
•Experience in EdTech or large-scale learning platforms, preferable based on OpenEdx

Skills

•Strong team management, leadership, communication, and collaboration skills to lead technical teams.
•Excellent project management skills with a proven track record in managing complex projects. Ability to engage effectively and diplomatically with both internal and external partners; and mobilize resources.
•Proficient in the latest learning technologies and platforms.
•Understanding of product lifecycle management and software development processes.
•Advanced expertise in product architecture and designing workflows, with a strong command of open-source learning products, such as Open edX.
•Demonstrated expertise in managing and developing containerization platforms on cloud such as Kubernetes, RedHat OpenShift.
•Proven skills in guiding the development of learning platforms that incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning, including deep neural networks Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), robotics, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), and data analytics.
•Deep expertise in microservices, containerization (Kubernetes/OpenShift), and CI/CD automation
•Familiarity with event streaming, workflow orchestration and LTI/SCORM/xAPI standards.
•Strong understanding of security, compliance, and data governance in enterprise environments.
•Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Ensuring the effective use of resources
Producing results
Creating an empowering and motivating environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 86,027 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 3592 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Staff members separated due to the 2025 Prioritization and Realignment Process will receive special consideration according to the applicable regulatory framework.

This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level.

Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and eManual.

The Director-General retains the discretion to not make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description, including shortening the duration of the appointment.

Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.

Persons with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations (modifications or adjustments to the application or recruitment process) to support their participation in the application and recruitment process. Please send an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int with your full name, the vacancy number you are applying for, and specific details of the accommodation needed in your request.

An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.

WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Candidates appointed to a fixed-term position in the International Professional category (Grades P1-D2) are eligible for Geographical Mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.

WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.

The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.

Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.

WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

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