AD, Capability Lead, Digital Workplace

Purpose of Job

The Associate Director, Capability Lead is a key leadership role in each capability domain area and will be required to work closely with the AD, Product Owner to ensure delivery is value focussed and aligned to vision, strategy, roadmap and budget.

The Associate Director, will manage and oversee the System delivery lifecycle and will be responsible for the introduction, delivery, maintenance and continuous improvement of the systems and services in their area; this includes service design, model office, service transition, product support and maintenance, service level design, reporting and product level stakeholder management The capability area operates in a flat, agile, self-organising manner and will be comprised of many product aligned Squads/Scrums. The AD is accountable for the delivery of the Product Owners vision aligned to the IT department technical strategy and direction and will be responsible for enabling teams to deliver in line with the priorities set.

Background

The Capability area is an autonomous, Agile first, collection of expert individuals from different practice areas, who are jointly responsible for the introduction, delivery, maintenance and continuous improvement of the services in their domain area.

The goal of the capability area is to deliver and support full stack business systems and services that are robust, secure, stable, usable, elegant and resilient.

The Associate Director (AD), Capability Lead will be responsible for multiple teams within their own service area and must have considerable experience of delivering and maintaining service by following solid and robust Agile principles. This will also require the individual to have extensive experience of delivering service via a hybrid resourcing model where certain services will be wholly or partially provided by a third party supplier.

Depending on scale, it is likely they will have a team of Principals reporting directly to them and peer level AD’s matrixed to enable complex delivery when managing Agile at scale.

Facts / Scale

• Reports to the Director, Digital & Platform Engineering
• Role is akin to being a ‘mini’ CIO for the capability area they are responsible for, hence it is well suited to an individual whose career aspiration is to be CIO. Annual operational expense is circa £3-5M, Annual capital investment over next 3 years is circa £50M, 4-6 direct reports.
• Responsible for the full stack business system lifecycle of each system in their capability area
• Requires significant knowledge of developing and implementing support and maintenance strategies in line with the Bank’s governance models
• Third party supplier partnerships will exist and it is likely that this role will have 2 or more Third party suppliers to manage and oversee. It is expected that teams will be highly distributed within the UK and other geographical locations.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• System Delivery -

• • Responsible for the Support, Maintenance and Development of the systems in their area of capability.
  • Working to the Director, provide leadership for the development, maintenance and support for the Bank’s business systems within a capability area.
  • Work with peer capability areas and expert practitioners to co-create a consistent ‘best in class’ support, maintenance and development practice, using modern Agile principles and practices: e.g. Methodologies such as Scrum, SAFe, Kanban and using design practices such as TDD, Pairing, CI/CD, A/B testing, Microservices, DevOps
  • Responsible for transforming the internal delivery group to becoming a metrics based, lean start-up organisation, working closely with the business and Product Owner to establish shared ownership.
  • Defining success criteria, maintaining a common view of the backlog, planning effectively and maintaining a view of the timeline for delivery.
  • Working with the Head of QA to ensure effective quality assurance and the overall integrity of the Support and Development.
  • Maintain a common view of current backlog, plan effectively, define acceptance criteria, estimate and track velocity.
  • Manage supply and demand so that future demand can be managed in line with expectations.
  • Accountable for ensuring the platforms meet the Bank’s SLAs for Production service.
  • Accountable for design and implementation of service level reporting for key business stakeholders (MD/Director Level)
  • Managing the interactions with the Product Teams and key stakeholders across Business and IT to ensure the delivery backlogs are catering for non-functional sustainable operational support requirements and are focused on service level reporting and service improvements

• IT Standards, Risk, Control & Governance

• • Contributes to the creation of IT Policies and Standards and is responsible for ensuring standards are applied and adhered to at all times
  • Managing risks to successful outcome through the IT Risk management framework.
  • Responsible for improving the IT general control landscape, including the design of preventative controls and automation to eradicate the need for heavily manual detective controls.

• Third Party Management

• • Lead and manage your teams in a hybrid staff/outsourced organisational structure.
  • Manage third party contributions to develop within Agile principles and ensure all parties activities are coordinated via the appropriate Agile approach e.g. Kanban, Scrum, SAFe…

• Financial Monitoring, Performance Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• • Plan, forecast and manage within a set budget.
  • Responsible for identifying and implementing modernisation and efficiency opportunities in the heritage ecosystem through continuous improvement opportunities and automation.
  • Setting the direction and creating an activity based approach to delivering value to the business through the implementation and maintenance of lean Agile reporting and data capture.
  • Report on the progress and delivery cadence of each team; burnup, burndown, velocity, quality etc.
  • Create a culture where technical debt is ruthlessly eliminated, generating backlogs for prioritisation and business cases for delivery where appropriate.

• People Management
  • Coach, mentor and direct your team in the delivery of good Agile delivery practices.
  • Create a culture such that all team members are responsible for quality in all they do. Put our users first. Identify and deliver continuous improvement through retrospectives etc.
  • Guide, support and educate the Product Owner and key stakeholders of the value of Scrum and Agile principles, especially with respect to refining and prioritising the the product backlog to be aligned to value

• Directly accountable for the engagement and effective overall management of staff including recruitment, compensation (as agreed with the Head of Department, if applicable), performance management, coaching and development.
• Champion and role model the Bank’s Behavioural Competencies and Corporate Behaviours, ensuring adherence within the team(s) so that the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct are exhibited at all times

This role requires the individual to have a well-established background in many different disciplines within the support, maintenance and development of Business Systems. This experience will cover working with Software applications that are bespoke developed applications, third party off the shelf, SaaS platforms and third party managed services. This wide ranging experience must be coupled with solid Agile practices and methodologies to support them therefore this role requires excellent Agile practitioner leadership skills rather than detailed domain knowledge; The detailed domain knowledge within each service will be provided by the Principal practitioners leading each sub-team and guided by the departments Expert Practioners. As a result the AD roles may be interchangeable between each capability area as and when required.

Digital Workplace Capability

As part of the Digital Workplace Capability, the technologies and services in scope include (but are subject to change):

• M365 and M365 Copilot – M365 platform, Office 365 Productivity, Teams, Sharepoint, M365 Copilot and wider 365 suite
• Digital Devices – Desktop, Laptop, Mobile, Tablet, Virtual Desktop & management platforms, Intune/Autopilot
• Smart IT, Workplace Applications and NSSR: Workplace applications and SaaS platforms, SMART IT and smart building technologies, non-standard software.
• Audio Visual (AV) and IT Integration: AV and hybrid meeting technologies (including collaboration platforms and interpreted event setups)

During the time the DW Product Owner is on maternity leave, additional responsibilities include:

• Accountable for the overall vision for their Capability area.
• Accountable for the successful creation & approval of Business Cases, Value on Investment reports and Business Relationship Management for the Capability.
• Collaborate with all stakeholders, teams, and users to produce and own a portfolio roadmap for this capability area, aligning with the overall technology roadmap and ensuring that technology meets our supported status ambitions.
• Communicate and promote the roadmap within the scrum team(s) and with the respective business areas aligned to each team.
• Coordinates and prioritises high level Backlogs. Calculate, Update, Present and Justify each release value to key stakeholders. Drive and maintain uncompromised product quality standards.
• Coordinate vision, roadmap, and backlogs with other department Capability areas.
• Ongoing review and monitoring that the solution meets needs of the user groups.
• Ensure adoption of product(s) by user group(s) when these are released into production.
• Act as an agent of change across the organisation and demonstrate commitment to continuous organisational improvement.
• Develop strong internal networks and build trusted relationships to enable change across the Bank.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Strong judgement skills at a leadership level and track record of strong solution-orientation and problem-solving;
• Experienced manager of people, finance, processes and systems
• Proven ability to influence and work well with others, with the personal authority to effectively harness the cooperation of peers across departments;
• Political awareness and diplomatic skills, in order to influence a wide range of stakeholders.
• Very strong team player able to work with and manage through others in a matrix and collegiate style;
• Excellent active listening skills and interpersonal and communication skills in English to communicate with a wide variety of people at all levels in the Bank
• Experience of working in a complex multi-national, multi-team, Agile at scale Developments environment
• Agile practitioner certification, e.g. PMI-ACP or equivalent.
• Experience of running maintenance and support teams in line with Agile principles.
• The ability to command respect and to create a sense of community amongst their peers in IT and key stakeholders within the business service in which they operate.
• Good knowledge of techniques for planning, monitoring and controlling support, maintenance and development.
• Must have exceptional communication, organisation, and time management skills.
• The ability to coach the internal team to reach their highest potential using best practices.

Challenges

• The brief is wide-ranging requiring an understanding of various business areas and engagement with a diverse set of business users.
• The role is required to balance long-term strategic IT goals with the need to accommodate new Bank requirements and changes to its organisation, operations, priorities and procedures.

What is it like to work at the EBRD? / About EBRD

Our agile and innovative approach is what makes life at the EBRD a unique experience! You will be part of a pioneering and diverse international organisation, and use your talents to make a real difference to people's lives and help shape the future of the regions we invest in.

At EBRD, our Values – Inclusiveness, Innovation, Trust, and Responsibility – are at the heart of how we work. We bring these to life through our Workplace Behaviours: listening well and speaking up, collaborating smartly, acting decisively with full commitment, and simplifying to amplify our impact. These principles shape our culture and define our success. We seek individuals who not only share these values but are also committed to embedding them in their daily work, fostering a positive and high-performing environment.

The EBRD environment provides you with:

• Varied, stimulating and engaging work that gives you an opportunity to interact with a wide range of experts in the financial, political, public and private sectors across the regions we invest in.
• A working culture that embraces inclusion and celebrates diversity. Our workforce reflects a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, bringing fresh ideas, energy, and innovation and enhancing our ability to serve our clients, shareholders, and counterparties effectively.
• A hybrid workplace that offers flexibility to teams and individuals; that is based on trust, flexibility and connectedness.
• An environment that places sustainability, equality and digital transformation at the heart of what we do.
• A workplace that prioritises employee wellbeing and provides a comprehensive suite of competitive benefits.

Diversity is one of the Bank’s core values which are at the heart of everything it does. As such, the EBRD seeks to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and given equal opportunities and works in an inclusive environment. The EBRD encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of the EBRD member countries to apply regardless of their racial, ethnic, religious and cultural background, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic background or disability.

Please note, that due to the high volume of applications received, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide detailed feedback to candidates who have not been shortlisted (for further consideration).