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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Head of Unit, Digital Solutions - **Company:** The Norwegian Refugee Council - **Location:** Berlin, Germany - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Agile Methodology, Software as a Service, Data Systems, Software Engineering, Information Technology - **Published:** July 27, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.adzuna.de/details/5816420882 ## About the Role * Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, Information Technology or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience. * Significant professional experience (7+ years) in relevant roles such as line management, engineering management, project / product management, or senior technical leadership. * Proven experience delivering software projects on time, within scope and within budget across multiple concurrent projects. * Experience managing, coaching and developing technical staff, including remote teams. * Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex technical ideas for non-technical stakeholders * Fluency in English, both written and verbal - other languages like French, Spanish or Arabic are a plus. * Experience with agile software development methodologies and evolving delivery processes and practices over time. * Proven stakeholder management experience across organisational boundaries, including senior management. * Experience balancing resource allocation across competing priorities, including work with external suppliers * Experience and/or knowledge of the humanitarian sector is considered an asset. ## Description The Digital Solutions Unit brings together software developers, data engineers, and product managers who design, build, and maintain innovative digital solutions that support NRC's country operations. The team also serves as a centre of technical expertise, advising development teams across the organisation. Its portfolio spans custom-built applications, SaaS platforms, data solutions, and externally developed tools that strengthen both global operations and country-specific programmes. As Head of Unit, you will provide leadership across stakeholder engagement, project delivery, and people development. You will ensure the team focuses on the highest-value priorities, delivers high-quality digital solutions, and continuously develops its technical capabilities. Leading a geographically dispersed team, you will work closely with business stakeholders, the Architecture Working Group (AWG), and cross-functional project teams to align product strategy with organisational needs, drive successful delivery, and foster a collaborative, high-performing culture where people can grow and thrive. What you will do: Here are some of your generic responsibilities * Line management responsibilities for directly reporting staff. This includes the performance management process; setting clear goals aligned to unit strategy and priorities and following up and supporting staff's achievement. * Responsible for key processes such as workforce planning, recruitment, staff induction and development, and ensuring Duty of Care for own staff. * Ensure that unit projects are delivered on time, within scope and within budget. * Allocate resources to projects based on the needs and priorities of the business and the unit. * Engage with stakeholders across NRC to understand their needs and priorities, and mediate communication between stakeholders, project managers and technical teams. * Report to the CIO and the AWG on project progress, risks and issues, ensuring visibility of the unit's work across the organisation. * Ensure adoption of standards and best practices by project teams and surface any issues or challenges to the AWG. * Understand resource allocations within the unit and its suppliers and communicate these to the AWG and other relevant parties. * Engage with external partners, vendors, and technology providers to explore collaborations and leverage external expertise. * Compliance and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures. Here are some of your specific responsibilities * Product strategy and alignment: Engage with stakeholders with a focus on product strategy, roadmaps, alignment and prioritisation; help see patterns across countries and needs and identify gaps or duplication in solutions. * Solution ideation: Collaborate with stakeholders, the AWG, and others on ideating high-level solutions for abstract business problems. * Communication: Simplify complex technical ideas for non-technical stakeholders, and ensure that stakeholders, project managers and technical teams stay connected and informed. * Cross-project management: Provide cross-project project management and prioritisation across the unit's portfolio, helping to identify commonalities and building around a common organisational data model. * Unblocking delivery: Un-block teams and individuals so they can meet their goals, dealing with external dependencies and internal blockers. * Provide visibility: Ensure that the work being delivered by the unit is visible across the organisation and ICT, on a unit and individual level. * Process development: Work with project teams to develop software development processes and practices that are efficient, effective, and evolve over time based on agile methodologies. * Project management capacity: Act as additional project management capacity where needed. * Staff development: Help staff develop their skills and careers by providing opportunities for learning and growth; identify areas for improvement and personal development required to meet the needs of the business, the unit and staff's own career goals. * Coaching and mentoring: Provide coaching and mentoring to staff where relevant, or facilitate access to coaching, mentoring and other experts in the organisation for learning and development opportunities. * Team culture: Work with the unit to develop a strong team culture within a geographically dispersed team. * Prioritise security: Ensure teams treat security as a non-negotiable priority in both development and maintenance, keeping data of vulnerable populations safe and critical operations running. ## Related Videos - [Bringing digital education to refugee and host communities in remote regions of Africa](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/644-bringing-digital-education-to-refugee-and-host-communities-in-remote-regions-of-africa) - [From Messy Queries to Scalable Systems - How Data Engineering actually works](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100203-from-messy-queries-to-scalable-systems-how-data-engineering-actually-works) - [ShapeShift: Reinventing Agile for a B2B SaaS Scale-Up](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1655-shapeshift-reinventing-agile-for-a-b2b-saas-scale-up) - [The Avengers Initiative (Practical Ethics for Software Engineers)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2070-the-avengers-initiative-practical-ethics-for-software-engineers) - [Modern Data Architectures need Software Engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1030-modern-data-architectures-need-software-engineering) - [The user in the eye of the Cargo1492 storm](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/96-the-user-in-the-eye-of-the-cargo1492-storm) ## Related Articles - [The Most Popular IT Jobs on the Market](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/376-the-most-popular-it-jobs-on-the-market) - [System change: restart as developer?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/39-system-change-restart-as-developer) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Where to Find Entry-Level Software Engineering Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/397-where-to-find-entry-level-software-engineering-jobs) - [The 12 Best Jobs for Software Engineers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/401-the-12-best-jobs-for-software-engineers) - [The Netherlands – Europe’s powerhouse for software development?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/31-the-netherlands-europe-s-powerhouse-for-software-development)