What we do

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. We take action in response to emergencies and, at the same time, promote respect for international humanitarian law. We are an independent and neutral organization, and our mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We work closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence. We direct and coordinate the international activities conducted in these situations.

Purpose of the Position I

The Product Line Lead – Digital Operations is a technology leader with business acumen, capable of influencing peers and other leaders while striving to maintain alignment between technology strategy and institutional priorities. The product line leads job is mainly focused on creating an environment where delivery teams can thrive while delivering outcomes. The digital product landscape includes several digital products in the domains of protection, health and assistance, most of which contain critical humanitarian information and therefore key asset to the institution. Specifically, the evolving geopolitical landscape and rapid technological advancements necessitate a reimagining of the entire digital protection ecosystem. The current system, while reliable in its core functions, is technologically outdated and ill equipped to address emerging challenges such as restricted access to conflict zones, internet disruptions, and rising operational costs. The Digital Protection Ecosystem initiative represents a strategic opportunity for the Product Line Lead – Digital Operations to strengthen the institution’s ability to deliver its mandate in complex and evolving environments. The ecosystem is expected be transformed into a resilient, modular, and user-centric platform that adapts to the realities of modern protection work.

Therefore the Product Line Lead – Digital Operations will act as a key influencer in the organization, continuously aligning iterative digital deliveries with evolving priorities and stakeholder expectations, balancing transformation and business continuity needs.

Purpose of the Position II

The Product Line Lead is a key contributor to the Product Management Function, integrated in the Technology and Information Division of the Support and Digital Transformation Department.

Product Management is the cross-departmental function responsible for:

• defining desirable, viable, feasible, and sustainable solutions that meet the institution needs
• supporting delivery teams who are responsible to manage the product life cycle ensuring that the existing products supporting ICRC’s digital operations deliver the expected value
  

This function is composed of Product Line Lead, Release Train Engineers, Architect and Business Owners.

The Product Line Lead is also a people manager enabling, developing, and supporting individuals and teams within an agile environment. These teams are cross-functional, and thus include a network of different skills and hierarchies. They operate with maximum autonomy, while relying on strong standards provided by the architects and the CTO. Teams are responsible for implementing new features and projects but also to respond to user’s issues raised to them by service desk. In such environment, the product line lead focuses on coaching, career development, organizational alignment, empowerment and continuous improvement.

The Lead is also using and following the enabling governance standards provided to all product lines by the Technology and Information centers of excellence, such as the Value Management and Information Security.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Owns the digital operations products

• In partnership with the Metier and based on user research, creates and maintains a product line vision strategy and roadmap that is consistent with institutional strategy and contributes to to transversal initiatives as defined in the institutional strategy, in particular with regards to the digital protection ecosystem transformation, information security and ICRC technology strategy.
• Manages the T&I budget related to the product line and maintains cost transparency.
• Collaborates with architecture on enabling the product line technology roadmap.
• Supports the product teams to implement the backlog (or the projects), potentially including both internal and contract resources.

Grows and transforms the digital operations technology landscape

• Factors in required architecture or engineering effort to use or build common components, in partnership with the Architecture and the Tech teams.
• Manages cross-dependencies with other product lines and shared technical capabilities, balancing transformation of the Digital Protection Ecosystem and business continuity needs.

Misc Duties

• Responsible for the staffing of the product teams and accountable for compliance regarding procurement/sourcing processes
• Guides career development for individuals in Agile Teams, helping them grow within their roles and prepare for future responsibilities and supports skill-building initiatives
• Provides mentorship and promote coaching to develop new competencies.
• Promotes cross-functional collaboration between teams, supporting Product Owners and Team Coaches in removing organizational roadblocks
• Establishes and tracks measurable objectives for the team creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement based on experimentation and learning

Desired profile & skills

• Possesses strong project analytics skills to assess costs, risks and benefits of projects.​
• Promotes cross-organizational collaboration.​
• Maintains a competent level of technical expertise to work effectively with team members and the broader technical community.​
• Engages with external providers to enhance the internal teams when needed with external services.
• Keeps abreast of technology industry trends, solutions, standards and methodologies.​

Scope & impact

• Accountable for the satisfaction of the users of the digital products, the lifecycle and the budget projects at product line level.
• Has an estimated 15-30 internal direct and indirect reports across several locations – with variations depending on the phase of the lifecycle and the portfolio of business initiatives.

Relationships

• Partners with Metiers stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of a product driven operating model.
• Internally, interacts with staff and mangement at all level of the organization, including with Directorate.
• ​Externally, interacts with suppliers and thought leaders in their functional domain.
• Participates in external events, with professional communities and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement

Education required

• Master’s degree in computer science or equivalent.
• Excellent command of English; knowledge of French an asset
• Certification in project management, SAFe certification preferred.
• Experience in Lean or Six-Sigma
• Design-thinking or UX design certification an asset.

Experience Required

• Typically over 15-20 years’ professional experience, including at least ten in project management, application management, operations management.
• Technical proficiency in relevant domains (Open source, CRM, Microsoft technologies, Web applications, data & analytics, or integration platforms).
• Comprehensive experience in ICRC field operations, other humanitarian actors or ICRC field.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in a fast-paced start-up/scale-up environment, with a strong track record of delivery.

Additional Information

• Type of role: Required Rotation
• Working rate: 100%
• Starting date: 1st Jan 2026
• Location: GVA
• Job level: C3
• Length of assignment: until 31st Dec 2031
• Application deadline: Sun, 9th Nov 2025

The ICRC values diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates.

Our values

• At the ICRC, we value impact, collaboration, respect, and compassion. We seek candidates who demonstrate behaviors based on these shared values. For more information on the ICRC values, please visit this page.