Digital Services Lead

Job Description

At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. A nonprofit international development organization founded in 1971, Pact works on the ground in nearly 40 countries to improve the lives of those who are challenged by poverty and marginalization. We serve these communities because we envision a world where everyone owns their future. To do this, we build systemic solutions in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and governments that create sustainable and resilient communities where those we serve are heard, capable, and vibrant. Pact is a recognized global leader in international development. Our staff have a range of expertise in areas including public health, capacity development, governance and civil society, natural resource management, poverty, fragile states, monitoring and evaluation, small-scale and artisanal mining, microfinance and more. This expertise is combined in Pact’s unique integrated approach, which focuses on systemic changes needed to improve people’s lives.

Department

Transformation Lab (TransLab) - The Transformation Lab is a new department within Pact, created with the explicit purpose of driving transformational change within the organization and producing transformation results. The Transformation Lab will be comprised of four functions: Integrated Communications, Innovation, a Designed by Pact Center, and a Powered by Pact Center. The Transformation Lab will be responsible for 1) spawning innovation across the global organization, 2) cultivating powerful sources of data using Pact tools and methodologies, 3) catalyzing that data to inform program design, implementation, and evaluation, and 4) communicating information, knowledge, and stories both internally and externally. The Transformation Lab will raise Pact’s profile externally, market Pact’s unique methodologies and approaches, foster synergies within the organization to maximize creativity, collaboration, and impact, and promote our work within and outside the organization.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Vice President, the Lead will be expected to support the Transformation Lab’s strategy of developing and commercializing Transformative Ideas for Exponential Impact. Specifically this is an exciting and high impact opportunity for the successful candidate to lead a newly formed startup called “Digital Services” which markets digital software tools that enable services including microfinance and traceability digitization, to both internal and external customers within the development sector. The start-up is supported by Pact and its digital platform partner, giving Digital Services the resources to offer compelling ‘software as a service’ propositions quickly and with relevance to the humanitarian and development sector. We are looking for an individual to help create an enterprise that is valued by its clients and which delivers a real bottom-line impact within the context of Pact’s mission.

Key Responsibilities

The DS Lead role is highly entrepreneurial with a focus on constructing commercial service agreements with internal Pact parties and with outside entities. The main objectives of the position are to develop three priority business lines (listed below) while working with the DS team to identify other potential lines and in turn, build a customer base within the NGO community and other relevant sectors.

• Microfinance: Pact has invested in a new Digital Client program (customization, testing, and mobilization effort) in Myanmar. It has achieved 50,000 digital clients migrated onto the new platform. The platform is currently being assessed for full roll out and scale up to 850,000 additional clients. The DS Lead will manage this implementation and develop other potential customers for this service.

• Mobile money: Pact believes that a significant opportunity exists to participate in the creation of a country-level digital mobile money payments service. The DS Lead will develop a route to participation in this emerging sector with the goal of it becoming a high value entity.

• Traceability: Pact believe that a traceability platform initially for rare earth minerals tracking (artisanal mining) represents a significant opportunity that DS should fulfill, driving revenues from the benefitting industry partners. The DS Lead will explore other areas in which traceability can be applied including health, food products, etc.

Basic Requirements

The successful candidate will have a strong business development or sales engineer background with experience in current technology and the international NGO sector. Other components include:

• The ability to develop and implement a sales plan to broaden customer base.
• Understanding complex client requirements and linking those requirements to Digital Service’s unique capabilities.
• Articulating and differentiating the value proposition of Digital Services products to different audiences

Preferred Qualifications

• 3+years of prior sales engineer or business development experience working in a technology sector sales environment or equivalent customer-facing experience within the technology sector

• 3+ years B2B and commercial deal negotiation and contract development experience
• 5+ years of experience in a role with significant project leadership and analytical responsibilities in related industries (e.g., development finance, technology, management consulting)
• A degree (Master’s strongly preferred) with focus on or exposure to international development and/or finance

• Comfort with ambiguity and managing workload given shifting and/or competing priorities

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, demonstrated ability to work cross-culturally with collegiality, humility, and respect
• Flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to compromise and create common agendas
• Experience in international development (e.g., program delivery) and/or in geographies where Pact operates (e.g., Africa, Southeast Asia)

International travel required

Pact provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, age, national origin, marital status, disability status, political ideology, military or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

About the Organization

At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. The promise of a healthy life. Of a decent livelihood. Of sustainable natural resources that benefit communities. Now more than ever in its 42-year history, Pact is helping millions of people who are poor and marginalized discover and build their own solutions and take ownership over their future.
Pact enables systemic solutions that allow those who are poor and marginalized to earn a dignified living, be healthy, and take part in the benefits that nature provides. Pact accomplishes this by strengthening local capacity, forging effective governance systems, and transforming markets into a force for development.

Pact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.