Senior Digital Transformation Lead

Job Description

WHAT IS START NETWORK? 

Our purpose is to be a catalyst for system-level change that improves the efficiency, effectiveness and ethics of humanitarian action. We do this by working as a network to develop, test & spread new ways of collaborating and resourcing locally-led crisis response and anticipation. 

Our current membership is made up of nearly 100 local, national and international NGOs based all around the world. We also support 10 national and regional hubs made up of civil society organisations and NGOs as our vehicle for devolving power, resources and accountability. 

OUR SOLUTIONS 

DECENTRAISLING & LOCALLY-LED ACTION: Shifting power and resources and decentralising decision-making to locally led networks and organisations. 

EARLY & RAPID FINANCING: Building a global financing system that reduces risk, anticipates, and acts ahead of predictable crises. 

COMMUNITY-LED INNOVATION: Incentivising innovative, locally led, and contextual solutions and learning from them together with people affected by crises. 

For more information about Start Network and what we do, please visit our website.  

OUR VALUES 

WE PUT PEOPLE FIRST: Communities come first in our decision-making and programming. 

WE ARE BRAVE: We have great ambition and are willing to explore new things and take risks to achieve it 

WE OPERATE COLLECTIVELY: We leverage the value of working as a network, sharing risk and resources, and learning together. 

WE ARE INCLUSIVE: We see the value in diverse perspectives and work to remove the barriers that prevent voices from being heard. 

WE ARE OPEN: We work transparently and with integrity, building mutual trust in all levels of our work, from governance to programming. 

WE ARE ETHICAL: We behave and operate based on key principles of anti-racism, non-discrimination, and anti-colonialism. This is a work in progress. 

JOB PURPOSE 

About the role 

Start Network is seeking an experienced individual or consultant on a 12 month fixed-term contract to manage the first phase of our digital transformation journey. We are looking to build an innovative digital function and are offering a dedicated position to focus on key technology priorities identified. This 12-month position will lay the foundations required to ensure that Start Network is prepared for continued, sustainable technology growth.  

This is a cross-cutting senior role that will oversee the delivery of the organisational digital transformation project, leading the implementation and adoption of Start Network’s  3-year digital transformation strategy and business plan. The role will lead on developing effective governance and decision making to enable Start Network to improve our use of automation, digital platforms and emerging technologies. Please see the TOR for more details. 

The role is not technology specific; it will cut across a range of areas such as the development of tools automating humanitarian response processes, integration into cloud platforms, rationalising existing systems, adoption of data analytics, and visualisation, as well as looking to new technologies such as AI and Blockchain. 

The Senior Digital Transformation Lead needs to be continuously scanning an evolving landscape: implementing a framework for opportunity identification to prioritise areas for transformation; managing staff for continuous scanning of latest technology developments and assessing relevance to the organisation’s needs. 

The post-holder will have responsibility for winning sponsorship for projects, by working together with the Business Development directorate on development of proposals for projects with associated prioritisation for funding, undertaking detailed business case and ROI analysis, and agreeing critical success factors and parameters for funding. They will embrace change, adopting a practical problem-solving approach that can find a pathway from the current to target state. 

About you  

To be successful in this role you will be both a technical expert and a capable project manager. You will be comfortable with leading process improvement, and adept at balancing stakeholder requirements with resource management.  

You will have in-depth understanding of process, workflows and technologies associated with areas pertinent to humanitarian response, grant management, membership management, finance and resource mobilisation, cybersecurity and risk management. 

You will possess a strategic mindset and be able to think conceptually about future design options and their implications, as well as being passionate about emerging technologies. Exceptional stakeholder-management skills are required to ensure effective coordination across multiple stakeholder groups with competing priorities.  

You will be able to communicate fluently in English and have a persuasive, clear and consistent communication style to build trust and obtain buy-in through the change and be able to respond to changes in direction or requirements in a fast-paced environment.