Job: Senior Business Solutions Officer - Collaboration

Location: Washington, DC 
Deadline: Wednesday, 30 October 2013 

Description

Background / General description:

World Bank Group Context::

Innovation and partnership bond the five institutions of the World Bank Group (WBG): the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help our client countries to reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve quality of life. To ensure that countries can access the best global expertise and help generate cutting-edge knowledge, the World Bank Group is constantly seeking to improve the way it works. Key priorities include delivering measurable results, promoting openness and transparency in development, and improving access to development information and data.

Vice Presidency Context

Information and Technology Solutions (ITS) enables the WBG to achieve its mission of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner by delivering transformative information and technologies to its staff working in over 130 client countries.

ITS services range from: establishing the infrastructure to reach and connect staff and development stakeholders; providing the devices and agile technology and information applications to facilitate the science of delivery through decentralized services; creating and maintaining tools to integrate information across the World Bank Group, the clients we serve and the countries where we operate; and delivering the computing power staff need to analyze development challenges and identify solutions.

The ITS business model combines dedicated business solutions centers that provide services tailored to specific World Bank Group business needs and shared services that provide infrastructure, applications and platforms for the entire Group. ITS is one of three VPUs that have been brought together as the World Bank Group Integrated Services (WBGIS), to provide enhanced corporate core services and enable the institution to operate as one strategic and coordinated entity.

Unit Context

The Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Application and Platform Services unit is responsible for providing leadership in the definition, standardization and governance of Enterprise Architecture to ensure a smooth execution of the WBG IT Strategy. To this end, ITSEA has two main functions. Enterprise Architecture Governance and Strategy convenes various governance committees and strategy practice groups to ensure standards and future-states are defined and followed. Enterprise Architecture Practice actively participates in the software development life cycle of IT projects to ensure the architecture principles are followed and the Bank Group enterprise architecture is kept up to date. The practice focuses in Business, Information, User Experience, Solutions, Technology and Infrastructure architecture. The Second function, Enterprise Applications and Platform Service provides the IT capabilities for the lines of business to implement business enabling solutions. This function implements, with the help of Enterprise Architecture Practice, cross Enterprise platforms and applications which are leverage by more than one LoB.

The incumbent will report to the Manager, Enterprise Applications and Platform Service (ITSEP).

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Senior Business Solutions Officer provides leadership within the ITSEP team responsible for Collaboration Solutions and manages all aspects of the project architecture, design, development and performance of collaboration technologies (Sharepoint, Jive, etc).

The candidate is foremost engaged in the following activities:

• Manages a development team to deliver a work program in a timely and efficient fashion and within budget.
• Defines strategy to target different audiences in providing user centric solutions to improve business processes and adoption of collaboration tools.
• Leads complete software development lifecycle, including the management of business requirements gathering process, system analysis and design that integrates with Enterprise strategic directions.
• Plans and schedules work program deliverables including resources and timeline using SDLC methodologies including Agile Scrum.
• Manages daily technical challenges and communicates to management any risks or issues.
• Works in the offshore and onsite development environment across multiple time zones and cultures.
• Works in an integrated fashion in a matrix environment.
  The Sr. Business Solutions Officer also works on major projects spanning a broad range of systems that may have a system-wide impact. Requires expertise in multiple technical environments and an increased level of business knowledge.
• Provides review and direction for vendor activities;
• Works on projects that vary in size, complexity and contract duration. Works across groups and supports multiple contracts or complex enterprise agreements.
• Requires expertise in multiple technical environments, vendor performance management, process improvement, and business knowledge;
• Responsible for application solution design, analysis, development, integration, enhancement, maintenance and support.
• Also involved in enterprise-wide complex support issues.
• Responsibilities include, but may not be limited to, the following:

Project Planning:

• Consults and/or leads the project planning process with team members, customers, business analysts, architects, and other IT groups.
• Oversees the identification of functional application opportunities that impact customer business strategy and performance.
• Develops detailed project plans, cost/time estimates, and schedules.
• Provides work direction and leadership to assigned projects, including scheduling, assignment of work and review of project efforts.

Project Management:

• Manages all aspects of the design, development and implementation of major projects. These activities may span the full life cycle of projects.
• Conducts review of integration points and cost impact to project.
• Ensures service provider performance meets business requirements.

Applications Systems Requirements:

• Designs, develops, documents and communicates system requirements for the implementation of business solutions.
• Creates conceptual, functional, and technical design specifications.
• Devises or modifies procedures to solve problems considering computer equipment capacity and limitations, operating time, form of desired results, and integration of components.

Product/Service Evaluation:

• Works with clients and other stakeholders to understand business issues and their environment in order to recommend products/ services for enterprise-wide systems.
• Provides advice and counsel to the vendor relationship decision-making and contract development processes for IT services/ products.

Solution Opportunities and Identification:

• Oversees the identification of functional application opportunities that impact customer business strategy and performance.
• Leads the technical evaluation and selection process for system enhancements, by overseeing gap analysis studies, feasible alternative solutions, and recommending and/or approving the scope of modifications.
• Recommends and provides IT solutions to business and management problems.

Solution Analysis:

• Defines customer needs and incorporates them into design and overall plan.
• Shares business expertise to help in solution generation. Identifies optimization opportunities and new product features.
• Supports the selection of tools and components used for an IT project.
• Consults with customers regarding the optimum solutions to meet business requirements.

Solution/System Development:

• Supports the integration of business requirements into the development process.
• Develops solutions in accordance with standards, policies, benchmarks and guidelines, maximizing availability, supportability and operability.
• Provides technical consulting on the integration of application systems.
• Coordinates development activities with other groups.
• Solution Integration: Identifies integration points. Implements integration plans. Interfaces with testing teams to incorporate plans into integration testing process.
• Develops custom integration solutions including major enhancements, interfaces, functions and features.

Install and Configure:

• Prepares the overall installation plan of new modules, upgrades and fixes based on the system delivery schedule, ensuring coordination of schedules with staff, vendor or other teams.
• Configures and maintains system hardware and software components. Validates configurations.
• Deployment: Coordinates and leads the deployment and review of new, modified or enhanced system hardware and software components or services.
• Certifies the functionality of components and services and ensures deployment meets client's expectations.

Quality Assurance:

• Develops best practices, project standards, procedures and quality objectives including metrics for assessing progress.
• Ensures the adherence to quality standards, procedures and objectives.
• Reviews deliverables for quality assurance and ensures compliance with standards and SLAs.
• Develops convergence plans toward standards, as needed.

Testing Applications Systems:

• Leads or provides technical direction for the planning, designing, and execution of testing efforts.
• Ensures that tests evaluate all possible impacts on the current infrastructure or application.

Release Management:

• Ensures modules are production-ready.

Technical Writing:

• Ensures all activities are documented.

Tier Support:

• Supports the ongoing maintenance of applications.
• Coordinates operational changes to the environment with the service provider.

Performance Measurements:

• Develops performance metrics.
• Captures, traces and reports on operational metrics to understand performance and to ensure success in process improvements.
• Forecasts utilization patterns and identifies modifications or upgrades.
• Reviews service provider performance to evaluate penalties/ incentives due to the service provider.

Vendor Management:

• Fosters an environment conducive to the vendor's success in the organization.
• Manages external resources, assigns activities, and coordinates efforts during the development and support of IT solutions.
• Ensures vendor staff responsibilities are clear.
• Provides direction, prioritization, and guidance on project activities to meet project targets.
• Monitors service provider performance against service level agreements.

Coaching & Mentoring:

• Provides technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to team members.
• Provides technical guidance or business process expertise.
• Develops reports and presentations for senior management, as needed.
• Recommends training programs targeting specific areas of improvement.

Selection Criteria:

Education/Experience:

The candidate should have: Master's degree with 8 years experience plus professional training in project management. Sample degrees include: Computer Science, Information Systems or related fields. The minimum degree is a Bachelor's with ten years of relevant work experience.

Minimum 5 years of project management experience of a team size of at least 10 members.

Minimum 3 years of management of large scale Enterprise wide programs and services.

Other Selection Criteria:

Experience in one or more of the following products or equivalent technologies:

• Experience in building and maintaining applications in leading industry standard collaboration tools. Deep knowledge of the Microsoft technology stack is a plus.
• Solid understanding of SharePoint 2010, ASP.NET Development, SharePoint Designer and the Microsoft ecosystem of tools and technologies.
• Experience with SharePoint 2013/collaboration tools and Microsoft cloud strategy.
• Knowledge of advanced features such as Custom Workflows, InfoPath/Forms Services, Excel Services, and BCS and understanding of next generation cloud architecture and impact on Sharepoint/collaboration tools.
• Experience with managing mobile projects focusing on collaboration plaftorms.
  Proven ability to lead, work in teams, mentor staff, inspire staff commitment to technical excellence and teamwork, and resolve conflicts constructively
  Excellent communication skills (written and verbal), including the ability to foster good working relationships with peers and clients and experience conveying technical information to other teams
  Proven conceptual, analytical, and evaluative skills; combined with the ability to conduct independent research and analysis, identifying issues, formulating options, and making conclusions and recommendations.
  Experience in full life cycle application development including development methodologies
  Detail oriented with strong problem solving skills
  Ability to learn quickly, and the capacity to work simultaneously and effectively on a variety of tasks
  The candidate should have a sustained record of achieving significant impact/results on the ground at level GG.
  Required Competencies
• Business Enterprise Knowledge - Directs and coordinates the development and implementation of process-based solutions that cross-organizational lines.
• Service Provider Assessment and Evaluation - Leads the evaluation and selection process for external service providers.
• Knowledge of Emerging Technology - Defines the processes and practices for evaluating new technologies and their potential value to the business
• Business Process Knowledge - Describes and documents critical cross-functional business process flows.
• Information Management Knowledge - Identifies means of integrating procedural and technical support requirements with enterprise processes and strategies.
• Foundation Information Management Architecture Knowledge - Sets the strategic direction for and approves the overall definition for the organization's information management architecture standards.
• Strategic Information Management Planning - Recommends long-term best in class IM methods, technology, practice, and policy that will provide enhanced support across the enterprise.
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
• Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.
• Analytical Thinking - Determines criteria for assessing issues and opportunities.
• Initiative - Describes future scenarios and related opportunities.
• Business Ethics - Consistently models high standards of honesty and integrity.
• Change Management (IMT) - Responds to departmental/cross-departmental opportunities.
• Information Systems Knowledge - Identifies means of integrating technical support requirements with enterprise processes and strategies.
• Foundation Architecture Knowledge - Researches the design of new architectural components.
• Risk Management - Assesses the probability associated with varying degrees of risk.
• Systems Thinking - Plans improvements that take into account the critical, underlying and less apparent relationships between business, technology and systems platforms.
• Project Management (IMT) - Able to define staff and manage multiple projects as part of a program.
  The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
  
  
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