Director Product Development (CTO)

This an exciting opportunity to drive the strategic direction of technology initiatives and digital solutions that directly impact the lives of millions of displaced persons and vulnerable communities affected by conflict. Having recently reorganised the global ICT unit, this is a key position in the future set-up of technology initiatives at NRC.

What we are looking for

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is seeking a highly qualified Director of Product Development/Chief Technical Offer (CTO) with relevant experience in senior leadership or executive positions, including overseeing technical teams or driving technology strategy within an organization.

What you will do

Some of your specific responsibilities will include:

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute the technical vision and strategy for the digital product development unit, aligning it with the organisation’s overall mission and goals. Provide guidance and leadership to the technical teams.
• Product Development: Oversee the end-to-end development process of digital products and solutions that address the needs of NRC and the people we work with. This includes managing product roadmaps, prioritizing features, and ensuring timely and high-quality delivery.
• Technology Selection and Architecture: Evaluate and select appropriate technologies, frameworks, and platforms to build digital products that meet the organisation’s requirements. Define and maintain the technical architecture and infrastructure to support scalability, security, and performance.
• Team Management: Build and lead a high-performing technical team, including software engineers, technical leads, product managers, designers, and other relevant roles. Provide mentoring, coaching, and professional development opportunities to foster individual and team growth.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with internal stakeholders, such as program managers, data analysts, and operations teams, to understand their needs and requirements. Work closely with them to develop innovative and impactful digital solutions that improve efficiency and effectiveness in humanitarian operations.
• Partnership and Vendor Management: Identify and engage with external partners, vendors, and technology providers to leverage their expertise, products, or services that can enhance the organization’s digital capabilities. Manage relationships and contracts with third-party vendors. Lead on the collaboration with partners (especially peer organisations) in software/solution development collaborations to improve sector wide outcomes.
• Quality Assurance and Testing: Establish robust quality assurance processes to ensure the reliability, performance, and security of digital products. Implement testing methodologies and tools, conduct code reviews, and oversee the deployment process.
• Data Management and Privacy: Implement data privacy and protection measures by design, in compliance with relevant regulations and organizational policies and have a rigorous approval process before “go live”.
• Innovation and Research: Stay abreast of emerging technologies, industry trends, and best practices in digital product development. Foster a culture of innovation within the team and explore opportunities for applying new technologies or approaches to improve humanitarian outcomes.
• Budgeting and Resource Allocation: Collaborate with the CIO and other key stakeholders to develop and manage the budget for the Product Development unit. Allocate resources effectively to meet project timelines and deliverables.
• Security and Risk Management: Develop an application security framework to identify and mitigate technical risks that may impact project timelines, security, the delivery of digital products and most importantly the data of project participants and vulnerable individuals. Implement appropriate risk management strategies and contingency plans.
• Continuous Improvement: Foster a culture of continuous improvement by promoting agile methodologies, conducting retrospectives, and implementing lessons learned from previous projects. Drive innovation and efficiency in processes and workflows.

Please download the detailed job description to learn more about the position.

What you will bring

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related discipline.
• Professional experience (10+ years) in progressively responsible technical roles, demonstrating a strong track record of success and leadership in relevant domains.
• Experience in senior leadership or executive positions, ideally including roles overseeing technical teams or driving technology strategy within an organization.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to collaborate vertically and horizontally within an organisation, including with the C-suite level.
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal – other languages like French, Spanish or Arabic are a plus. Advanced certifications or specialized training in areas such as project management, software development methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum), cybersecurity, cloud computing, or data analytics can be advantageous.
• Proven experience delivering multiple software products from end-to-end including hands-on coding.
• Hands-on experience working in open-source frameworks.
• Familiarity with GitHub, Azure, SalesForce, and PowerPlatform.
• Enterprise architecture certifications and/or proven experience in deploying such initiatives at organisational level.
• Ability to understand the broader business landscape and the impact of technology on organizational goals. Display a solid understanding of financial management, budgeting, and resource allocation to make informed decisions regarding technology investments
• A strong background and proficiency in relevant technical domains, such as software development, systems architecture, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analytics, or artificial intelligence.
• Proficiency in project and product management methodologies to effectively lead the development and delivery of technical initiatives. The ability to manage timelines, budgets, and resources while ensuring high-quality outcomes.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization. The ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and build strong relationships with clients, partners, and vendors.Experience and/or deep knowledge of the humanitarian sector is considered an asset.

What we offer

• Duty station: In the long term, the position is meant to be based at the NRC Head Office in Oslo, or any other Representation Officein Berlin, Brussels, Geneva or London.
• Contract: national contract, Permanent contract.
• Salary/benefits: grade 12 on NRC’s regional salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions.
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• When creating your profile, please include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history, and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.
• Internal candidates only: please click on the suitcase icon labelled “I am an employee” to be redirected to NRC’s internal careers site.
• If you have any questions about this role, please email [email protected] with the job title as the subject line.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We believe technology can greatly complement our work, driving efficiencies and extending our reach to help even more people in need.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

Learn more about NRC

ABOUT US

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. We work in crises across more than 31 countries, providing emergencies and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We stand up for people forced to flee, advocating their rights. NORCAP, our global provider of expertise, helps improve the international and local ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. NRC also runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, a global leader in reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.

Employment with NRC may lead to employment in or deployment to Regions, Countries, Areas or Offices that may be host to considerable health, safety and security risks. NRC takes this very seriously and we have procedures in place to reduce known risks, but will never be able to take away all risks.

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.