Chief Digital and Information Officer

About GovTech Barbados

The GovTech Barbados team is responsible for developing multi-disciplinary, user-centred digital teams within the Government of Barbados. Our goals are twofold: first, we want to deliver tangible impact to citizens through excellent public service design and delivery. Second, we want to build a sustainable and enduring digital mindset, skillset, and culture within the government. It’s an exciting time to join us as we accelerate our delivery phase. We are taking an agile, lean approach to this work, learning as we go from our end-users, public servants, and global experts in digital transformation.

About The Role

The Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) sets the standard for digital excellence and enables the delivery of the organisation’s strategy through digital, data, and technology. You will provide strategic leadership to drive GovTech Barbados's digital transformation agenda, modernising public services and embedding data-driven capabilities to improve outcomes for citizens and the general public. This is a key leadership role responsible for fostering innovation and leveraging GovTech partnerships to deliver effective and cost-efficient solutions. You will be a trusted advisor to the board on all matters of digital, data, and technology, and will be accountable for ensuring all services are secure, resilient, and user-centred.

As the Chief Digital and Information Officer, you will define what good looks like and lead innovative strategies that deliver the organisation's objectives by acting on the changing landscape of digital, data, and technology. You will develop partnerships across government to design and deliver better outcomes that make lives easier for citizens. You will oversee the delivery of sustainable digital solutions, ensuring that our technology and data architecture decisions support scalability, reusability, and interoperability across government and the wider ecosystem while remaining resilient to cyber threats.

Key Responsibilities

• Shaping the direction of organisational strategy: Define and deliver a multi-year digital and data strategy that aligns with the government's broader objectives, rooting all conversations in user needs.
• Leading Digital Products and strategy: Oversee the development of a central "digital front door" for government services across Barbados and, in collaboration with stakeholders, enable all service delivery channels, including non-digital and assisted digital service options.
• Data, AI, and foundational DPI: Own and manage, in partnership with the Chief Technology Officer, the government's data services, run and manage all Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives, and shepherd delivery of foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the country.
• Ensuring resilience and optimising architecture: Ensure the security and resilience of all digital and information systems, developing robust practices to manage risk at a strategic level.
• Partnership and collaboration for sustainable technology, architecture, and security: Working in partnership with the Chief Technology Officer to oversee the delivery of sustainable digital solutions, ensuring that our technology and data architecture decisions support scalability, reusability, and interoperability while remaining resilient to cyber threats.
• Capability Building and Scaling Services: Scale digital services across the public sector and, in collaboration with the Chief Operating Officer, equip Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to build and maintain their own digital services.
• Organisational transformation: Lead and inspire multidisciplinary digital product teams and manage the digital professions within government, ensuring the organisation anticipates and adapts to changes in capability needs.
• Financial management and stakeholder engagement: Influence and collaborate with senior executives across government and with external partners. Negotiate and secure appropriate investment for digital, data, and technology, and advise on priorities to maximise benefits.

Essential Attributes

• Proven track record of leading complex, large-scale digital and technology transformations within a major organisation, preferably in the public sector.
• Effective digital and data leader with the demonstrated ability to empower diverse, multidisciplinary teams and influence stakeholders at the highest levels.
• Broad leadership experience across Digital, Data and Technology functions, with deep knowledge of user-centered design, agile methodologies, and data-driven decision-making.
• Strong grasp of modern technology, including cloud services, data architecture, and cybersecurity principles, and can increase understanding of these areas across government.
• Experience engaging with the digital government ecosystem to explore and implement innovative, open-source, and reusable solutions, building strategic partnerships with startups and small and medium businesses (SMEs), not just large digital and technology vendors.
• Resilience and experience in driving significant organizational and cultural change, able to articulate the risks and benefits of different staffing and investment strategies.

Good communication

You are an excellent communicator and collaborator, able to clearly articulate a vision, build trust, and gain buy-in for initiatives.

Conditions

• Contract duration: One (1) year, with potential to extend.
• Pay Commensurate With Qualifications And Experience.
• Hybrid at heart: We value the flexibility of remote work but believe in the power of face-to-face collaboration. You’ll need to be based in – or able to travel to – Barbados for at least 30% of your time.
• This role is based in Bridgetown, Barbados, within GovTech Barbados Limited, a state-owned enterprise driving digital transformation.

Key skills/competency

• Chief Digital and Information Officer
• Digital Transformation
• Public Sector Technology
• Data Strategy
• AI Initiatives
• Cybersecurity
• Agile Methodologies
• User-Centered Design
• Cloud Services
• Stakeholder Engagement