Digital Strategist – Business Solutions
Job #: req23132
Organization: World Bank
Sector: Information Technology
Grade: GF
Term Duration: 2 years 0 months
Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment
Location: Sofia,Bulgaria
Required Language(s): English
Preferred Language(s): Bulgarian
Closing Date: 6/26/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org
ITS Vice Presidency Context:
Information and Technology Solutions (ITS) enables the WBG to achieve its mission of ending extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way by delivering transformative information and technologies to its staff working in over 150 locations. Our vision is to transform how the Bank Group accomplishes its mission through information and technology. In this fast-paced, ever-changing world, the formulation and implementation of the ITS strategy is an ongoing, iterative process of learning and adaptation developed through extensive consultations with business partners throughout the World Bank Group.
ITS shapes its strategy in response to changing business priorities and leverages new technologies to achieve three high-level business outcomes: business enablement, by providing Bank Group units with innovative digital tools and technologies to transform how they deliver value for their clients; empowerment & effectiveness, by ensuring that all Bank Group staff are connected, able to find information, and productive to accelerate the delivery of development solutions globally; and resilience, by equipping the Bank Group to provide risk-based cybersecurity and robust data protection for a global network and a growing cloud platform.
Implementation of the strategy is guided by three core principles. The first is to deliver solutions for business partners that are customer-centric, innovative, and transformative. The second is to provide the Bank Group with value for money with selective and standard technologies. The third principle is to excel at the basics by providing a high performing, robust, and resilient IT environment for the organization.
Unit Context:
The Operations & Corporate (ITSOC) department at ITS continuously delivers innovative products and solutions, transitioning from multiple successes to an embedded, systematic approach that brings to the clients of ITSOC the values of the Digital Era. For that, ITSOC is seeking a Digital Strategist to expand its Digital Acceleration Team. The key role of the team is to facilitate business transformation by providing a holistic, integrated view of the Operations and Corporate Department portfolio (Operations & Corporate Domain, Digital Workplace Domain, Data & Analytics Domain) that aligns IT investments with business strategy and improves business efficiency by identifying change opportunities.
The Digital Strategist will work with ITSOC Product teams to cultivate a culture of client centric, data driven, and innovative product delivery to drive digital transformation and align the larger strategy with daily work. She/he will support the Product owners to create an aspirational plan that formalizes their vision and orchestrate the plan’s execution to ensure optimum results. The Digital Strategist will work with the leaders in the organization, their teams, and clients in the context of digital possibilities, advising and supporting their executives with the planning and realization of key digital transformation initiatives focused on the value created with digital technologies.
Duties and Accountabilities:
This role requires a solid understanding of both business and technology strategy, a principled approach to broad digital transformational challenges and opportunities including strong leadership and people skills. The primary responsibilities for this position are listed below:
- Drive the Digital Strategy of ITSOC and strengthen the technology stack of the department’s portfolio of products and services.
- Inspire Product owners to drive the future story of their teams through unique perspectives and constructive disruptions.
- Co-create, accelerate, and deliver a digital transformational journey built on deep client knowledge, empathy, and value creation.
- Provide guidance and support through both the strategic and technical elements of the digital transformation journey.
- Challenge the status quo and bring ideas with a unique value proposition to the clients’ agendas.
- Demonstrate how the vision becomes a reality when all relevant resources and technologies are brought together.
- Analyze and develop business roadmaps and implementation plans based upon comparisons of current to future states.
- Propose future state digital capabilities and translate how strategy is operationalized through assessment models and agile approaches.
- Leverage expertise and leadership capabilities to ensure a proper digital transformation governance model that fosters necessary change, adds value, meets deliverables, and encourages continuous innovation.
- Inspire a shift from a project-by-project approach towards initiating a comprehensive and holistic digital transformation program.
Selection Criteria
- Master’s degree with 5 years relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and experience in relevant disciplines such as Information Technology, Computer Science, MBA, or similar.
- At least 4 years of experience covering the specific job responsibilities outlined above.
- Demonstrated experience of working and navigating in large and matrixed organizations with multi-layered governance structures, complex landscapes, and distributed teams.
- Broad understanding of the technology landscape, including current and emerging digital solutions, with proven experience in applying emerging technologies to the business (ML, AI, blockchain, 5G, IoT, etc.).
- Possess a deep understanding of the SDGs and how they relate to digital and business transformation initiatives. Be able to align digital strategies with the SDGs and identify opportunities to leverage digital technologies to contribute to sustainable development and social impact.
- Have a strong business acumen and be well-versed in various economic and social topics such as climate change, energy, food, water, agriculture, etc. They should be able to analyze economic papers and identify how digital technologies can drive economic growth, improve operational efficiency, and create business value.
- Experience in managing technology-enabled business change within organizations at scale.
- Executive presence, including the ability to hold senior management level discussions.
- Exceptional interpersonal, verbal, written, and presentation skills, with a strong command of English and the ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, direct, and lively format.
- Track record of delivering business value with technology solutions.
- Passion for technology, business, market trends, with a preference for depth in digital workplace, business analytics, and cloud technologies areas.
- Ability to generate trust, build alliances, and orchestrate different teams to the benefit of clients.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with practical execution and delivery.
- Ability to conceptualize and launch the delivery of digital initiatives.
- Organized, agile, persistent, and proactive. Ability to work and juggle multiple tasks within tight deadlines.
- Proven ability to collaborate with other team members across boundaries and time zones and contribute productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view. Able to use strong interpersonal and teamwork skills to cultivate effective, productive client relationships and partnerships across organizational boundaries.
Core Competencies
In addition to the above qualifications, the ideal candidate should possess the following core competencies:
- Collaborate within teams and across boundaries: Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective, and willingly receives diverse perspectives. Appropriately involves others in decision-making and communicates with key stakeholders. Approaches conflict as a common problem to be solved. Actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches while displaying a sense
- Team Management: Demonstrates leadership in establishing and motivating new teams.
- Broad Business Thinking: Maintains a deep understanding of key business issues.
- Business Process Knowledge: Describes and documents critical cross-functional business process flows.
- Systems Thinking: Plans improvements that consider the critical, underlying and less apparent relationships between business and technology solutions.
Note: The selected person will be hired on a two-year renewable term contract which can be extended based on business needs and performance.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.
