IT Support Associate

Job Title: IT Support Associate

Date Posted: 26/10/2026

Job Type: Full Time

Job Level: Middle

Employer: Food For Education

Industry: IT

Salary: Open

Location: Nairobi

Country: Kenya

Deadline: 09/11/2026

IT Jobs, Food For Education Jobs. Responsible for providing technical support to staff, troubleshooting hardware and software issues, maintaining IT equipment, managing user accounts, and ensuring reliable network and system operations. Requires a diploma or degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field. This is a full-time, on-site position based in Nairobi

Job Purpose

F4E runs a large, distributed operation of more than 5,500 staff. Kitchens cook meals for hundreds of thousands of children every school day. Field teams track deliveries, manage stock, and report on every site. Our Service Centre staff, more than 400 of them, support field teams and keep us executing on our long-term strategy. All of this depends on technology that works: devices that turn on, networks that connect, and hardware that doesn’t fail mid-service.

As IT Support Associate, you are the hands-on first line of that promise. You are the first person colleagues come to when technology gets in their way, and you are the one who keeps devices, networks and sites working across HQ, warehouses, kitchens and field locations. You keep the support queue moving, you keep the asset register honest, and when the Manager, IT Support is running a rollout, you are the person delivering it on the ground.

This is a delivery role rather than a strategy role, and that is deliberate. The Manager sets the roadmap, the standards and the escalation path. You execute against them, you work independently once the standard is clear, and you bring back what the field is telling you. It is a role with real scope and a clear path: build operational discipline here and your ownership grows with it.

Key Responsibilities

• Hardware and Device Management
• Set up, configure and maintain end-user devices, including laptops, tablets, phones, printers and site hardware, across F4E’s offices, warehouses, kitchens and field sites.
• Maintain the asset register for every device under your care: logged, tagged, assigned and reconciled, with a physical verification each quarter.
• Carry out hardware lifecycle steps under the process the Manager sets: raise procurement requests, prepare and deploy devices, arrange repairs, and prepare retirements for approval.
• Make sure every new joiner is set up and ready to work on day one. No one should be waiting on IT to start their job.
• Carry out routine administration on on-premise servers and core systems under the Manager’s direction: health checks, updates, backup checks and user account changes.
• Network and Connectivity across HQ, Warehouses, Kitchens and Field Sites
• Install, configure and maintain network equipment, including routers, switches and access points, to the standards and site designs the Manager sets, working alongside vendors and contractors on physical installations.
• Diagnose connectivity issues across sites. Travel when the problem needs eyes on the ground, and direct site staff or vendors when it doesn’t.
• Monitor network performance across sites and flag degradation before it becomes an outage, with a recommendation on what to do about it.
• Maintain documentation for each site, covering topology, equipment, credential handling and known issues. Nothing lives only in your head.
• Work closely with kitchen, warehouse and field teams to understand how they use connectivity, and make sure it supports the way they actually work.
• IT Support
• Be the first point of contact for IT support across the organisation. Log every request, resolve what sits within your remit, and keep the requester updated until it is closed.
• Work the support queue to the priorities and response times the Manager sets, so nothing sits unattended and the urgent items are dealt with first.
• Escalate what you can’t resolve to the Manager, following the escalation matrix, with full context: what happened, what you tried, and what you think is going on.
• Keep clean records of requests, resolutions and recurring issues. Spot the patterns, surface them, and propose a root-cause fix rather than absorbing the same ticket every week.
• Build and maintain self-service guides and setup checklists, and run short sessions with teams so colleagues can handle the simple things themselves.
• Project Delivery
• Deliver the workstreams assigned to you on IT projects and rollouts the Manager is leading: site readiness, device builds, pilot logistics, user training, rollout checklists and post-rollout snagging.
• Run your workstream properly. A plan, a schedule, a clear view of what is done and what is stuck, and an update to the Manager and affected teams before they have to ask.
• Coordinate vendors day to day for hardware and site work: log the job, track the order, verify what was delivered, and chase what is late. Supplier selection and contracting sit with the Manager.
• Gather requirements from the ground. You are closest to the teams using these systems, so what you report back through the Manager shapes what gets built.
• Use AI tools and light scripting to build small automations, quick fixes and internal prototypes. Anything headed for day-to-day use is reviewed with the Manager first.
• Security and Risk
• Apply the security controls the Manager sets across the devices and sites you support: patching, endpoint protection, access provisioning and deprovisioning, and safe handling of credentials.
• Process access requests accurately and on time, and make sure leavers lose access on their last day, working from People team exit notifications.
• Report suspected phishing, lost or stolen devices, and anything that looks like a compromise immediately. Early and noisy beats late and quiet.
• Support the Manager on cybersecurity and business continuity, including new controls, staff awareness, audit remediation and continuity testing, by taking them to site level and reporting back on what actually landed.

Qualifications

• Required
• Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 2-4 years of hands-on IT support or field technician experience.
• Solid working knowledge of Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems.
• Practical understanding of networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN and Wi-Fi configuration.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software faults independently.
• Comfortable working in field environments and travelling to sites outside Nairobi regularly.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience administering Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365.
• Familiarity with an IT ticketing system such as Jira or equivalent.
• Basic understanding of cybersecurity principles and safe IT practices.
• Certification such as CompTIA A+, Microsoft Certified Fundamentals or equivalent.
• Experience using AI tools for automation, scripting or building quick prototypes, for example Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude.