Senior Digital Specialist, Service Design & Products – Digital Government - req34035

The World Bank; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A global development organization is seeking a Senior Digital Specialist to lead digital government strategies and design user-centric public services in Washington, DC. This role will focus on innovative digital transformations using AI and ensuring interoperability across digital platforms. Candidates should have a master's degree and 8+ years of experience in service design and user research.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant professional experience in a similar role.
• Proven expertise in human-centered design, user research, and large-scale digital service design.
• Strong understanding of data exchange and digital government architectures.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical assistance to design digital government blueprints.
• Lead the design and prototyping of digital services products.
• Integrate digital initiatives across broader development programs.

Skills

Human-centered design

User research

Prototyping

Data exchange

Interoperability

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Master’s degree in service design or related field

Job description

Overview

Senior Digital Specialist, Service Design & Products – Digital Government (req34035) at The World Bank. The role focuses on advising and leading the design of digital government strategies, services, and products to deliver scalable, user-centric, data-driven public services in alignment with DPI and global best practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership and Innovation: Provide technical assistance to client countries to design and implement digital government and digital services blueprints and roadmaps that enable integrated, data- and user-driven service delivery.
• Develop and transform DPI and digital public services strategies, policies, institutional designs, architectures, standards, and tools to support digital service design and implementation.
• Advise on the use of AI in designing frameworks and advisory processes, and explore emerging trends to pilot AI-powered digital government services.
• Guide data lifecycle design and utilization for DPI and digital government services, from data capture and quality to sharing and use in AI-enabled solutions.
• Foster partnerships across government, academia, and the private sector to support capacity building and innovation.

Public Services Design & Transformation

• Ensure design and implementation strategies yield outcomes for individuals and businesses and streamline procedures.
• Support client digital teams to orchestrate digital service transformation, delivery pathways, and alignment with national priorities and institutional architectures.
• Provide guidance on defining and architecting digital services products aligned with needs, existing infrastructure, and best practices for DPI and digital public service delivery.
• Advise on policy and legislative improvements to make digital-ready policies and enable data reuse, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Support backlog management, design sprints, and co-creation with users and partners to map journeys and identify service gaps.
• Assist in designing and developing cross-agency services and unified citizen/business identity management; ensure consistent omnichannel experiences across web, in-person, and mobile channels.
• Support development of service bundles around life events and explore AI-powered personalized services and voice interfaces; promote interoperable and scalable architectures.

Public Services Products & Prototyping

• Collaborate with the Service Design Lab and private sector partners to ideate, design, and stress-test prototypes of digital services products.
• Support labs for agile experimentation, learning, and scaling of innovative public services through collaboration with practitioners, technology experts, sector specialists, private sector, startups, and academia.
• Advise on fit-for-purpose architectures, technology stacks, and tooling for digital service delivery, emphasizing data reuse and modular components while meeting domain-specific needs.
• Assist clients in designing scalable, interoperable digital services aligned with whole-of-government architectures and enabling platforms (DPI).
• Lead end-to-end service delivery ideation, prototyping, and scaling using proven and emerging technologies.

The Specialist collaborates with Vice Presidencies and regional teams to strengthen digital infrastructure, including literacy programs and access to essential services, and to foster partnerships, capacity building, and sustainable, scalable digital solutions.

Operational Engagement

The specialist will integrate digital government initiatives into broader development programs, work with government ministries, multilaterals, private sector, and civil society to design inclusive platforms, and contribute to knowledge sharing with clients and teams to advance digital society.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree in service design, product development, computer science, data engineering, data architecture, information systems, or related field.
• 8+ years of relevant professional experience in a similar role.
• Proven expertise in human-centered design, user research, prototyping, and large-scale digital service/product design and implementation.
• Strong understanding of data exchange, digital government architectures, interoperability, open standards; knowledge of AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and emerging tech.
• Experience in designing and implementing digital transformations for DPI and digitally enabled public services across regions, including policy, institutional, and digital dimensions.
• Experience with government data systems, interoperability standards, or public sector projects, especially in LMICs.
• Experience in developing countries’ digital government, DPI, or digital public service delivery; asset to have private sector and governmental exposure.
• Knowledge of data lifecycle for AI and its application to public services; capacity to work with cross-cultural, multidisciplinary teams in resource-constrained environments.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Problem-solving mindset and ability to operate in fast-paced environments.

Other Information

We are an equal opportunity and inclusive employer and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Closing Date: 9/8/2025 (UTC 11:59pm).

Language requirements: English; Location: Washington, DC, United States. This is an international recruitment for a 4-year term. The role aligns with World Bank Digital Transformation initiatives and DPI programs.