Overview
Provide senior technical leadership for the digital transformation components of the Italy–Africa Digital Development Flagship Programme, ensuring digital solutions are technically sound, interoperable, scalable, secure, and aligned with national digital priorities.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead technical design and quality assurance of feasibility studies, including architecture design for GIS platforms, remote sensing, IoT sensors, and climate advisory dashboards.
- Define full technical architecture covering high-performance computing, cloud/hybrid models, data storage, cybersecurity, interoperability, and AI use cases.
- Lead the definition of data governance models, interoperability standards, and responsible AI frameworks.
- Ensure digital system specifications support international competitive tendering and CDP financing appraisal.
- Coordinate with stakeholders to ensure technical coherence and alignment with the programme architecture.
- Lead the design and refinement of the digital transformation strategy for the programme.
- Define and oversee enterprise architecture frameworks for digital public infrastructure.
- Conduct and validate technical feasibility analyses and ICT landscape reviews.
- Provide technical advisory on system architecture, technology stack selection, cybersecurity, and data protection.
- Lead technical due diligence for proposed digital solutions.
- Lead the technology workstream to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of digital components.
- Establish and manage an integrated programme governance structure for the digital workstream.
- Develop and maintain programme-level technical documentation.
- Oversee technical quality assurance and acceptance testing of delivered digital systems.
- Provide input to project formulation documents, results frameworks, and M&E plans related to digital components.
- Lead the development of cybersecurity strategies and frameworks.
- Advise on data protection legislation, data sovereignty, and privacy-by-design principles.
- Conduct and document IT risk assessments and develop mitigation strategies.
- Ensure digital systems incorporate robust access control, audit trail, and incident response capabilities.
- Serve as the senior technical interlocutor with government counterparts and strategic partners.
- Provide technical inputs to investment cases, concept notes, and project documents.
- Design and deliver capacity development sessions, technical workshops, and knowledge-sharing events.
- Represent UNDP at high-level technical conferences and inter-agency forums.
- Monitor global trends in digital public infrastructure, open-source digital public goods, AI-enabled public services, cloud adoption, and emerging connectivity technologies.
- Support the identification and piloting of innovative digital tools.
- Contribute to UNDP’s global knowledge base through documented lessons learned and technical briefs.
Required Experience
- Minimum of 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience in digital transformation, ICT programme management, and digital strategy.
- At least 5 years’ experience in an international development context and/or with government entities in developing countries.
- Demonstrated expertise in enterprise/solution architecture design for large-scale digital government systems.
- Proven experience leading large-scale digital transformation programmes or complex ICT projects in an international development context, preferably within the UN system or with multilateral institutions.
- Proven experience advising national governments on digital transformation strategy, digital public infrastructure, or e-government platforms.
- Track record of managing complex, multi-country, multi-stakeholder digital programmes in an international or UN system environment.
- Experience with cybersecurity principles, data governance frameworks, and privacy-by-design methodologies.
- Experience in developing ICT procurement strategies, technical specifications (RFP/TOR), and vendor evaluation frameworks for public sector digital projects.
- Experience in translating complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences including senior government officials, donors, and development finance partners.
Qualifications
Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Electrical / Telecommunications Engineering, Public Administration, Public Policy, or International Development with a strong ICT focus, Business Administration with specialization in Digital Transformation is required. Or A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
