Product/Service owner at the Corruption Prevention Commission of Armenia
Information Systems Agency of Armenia (ISAA) Foundation
Description
The Information Systems Agency of Armenia (ISAA) is supporting the Armenian Corruption Prevention Commission (herein CPC) to further enhance its digital product portfolio. As part of this activity, we are looking for an experienced digital product / service owner to help drive the ongoing development of the commission’s digital product portfolio.
The CPC is seeking to make improvements to its digital tooling, in particular is enhancing and expanding its Electronic Platform (E-Platform) for detecting and preventing corruption. The E-Platform – which currently includes the Asset, Income, Expenditure, and Interest Declaration System (DS), will be expanded to include new modules for Integrity Checks, Gift Register, Case Management, Political Party Financing, and sophisticated automated analysis using AI and ML.
Responsibilities
Working as part of the CPC team, you will:
- Act as the product/service owner for the CPC’s digital asset declaration platform, where public officials declare their incomes and assets as part of a transparent process mandated by law
- Document user needs through speaking to end users and internal stakeholders
- Work with the commission’s staff to validate the user needs for existing system updates, and for areas of new functionality
- Validate and document requirements as ‘user stories’ and data flow diagrams, ensuring they are validated with stakeholders
- Finalize relevant procurement documentation and act as a point of contact for procurement of updates to the system
- Communicate on a day to day basis with technical suppliers and act as the ‘conduit’ for enhancements and bug fixes.
Requirements
- 4+ years experience as a product owner on various applications, background in consulting is of benefit
- A clear, strong knowledge of user centric design
- Core technical knowledge on concepts such as data exchange, API usage
- Previous experience writing technical user stories for software engineers
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, including working with senior leadership
- A passion to improve digital government services
- Experience working with government bodies in Armenia or internationally is desirable
- Experience delivering training is desirable
- Ability to communicate in written Armenian and English
- Analytical and time management skills
- Ability to work in a team
- Ability to quickly navigate and solve problems in complex situations
- High sense of responsibility and integrity
Additional Notes
About the Employer
The Information Systems Agency of Armenia (“ISAA of Agency”) is responsible for ensuring the technological foundations and development of the digital society in RA. This new institutional setup has been launched to ensure Armenia’s digitization conforms to a unified national architecture, with the Agency providing the technical resources, organizational capabilities, legal/regulatory framework, and platform for collaboration needed for different state departments, as well as the private sector, to effectively implement this vision.
To execute the society-level transformation, the Government and the Central Bank of Armenia have agreed that, under the leadership of the Government, the Central Bank will serve as the implementing agency and co-finance the endeavor for the next 2-3 years (with the overall reform taking up to 5 years), working in close collaboration with the Ministry of High-Tech Industry.
The Government leadership role will be provided by the new Information Systems Management Board, which has been established by the Prime Minister Decree chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, who also serves as the Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) of Armenia. The CIO is responsible for developing the digitalization policy, launching development initiatives (locally and with international cooperation), managing the digital services portfolio and strategy, managing the public service delivery policy and reforms, ensuring a common approach among all stakeholders, and coordinating the processes of international funding and cooperation.
The Central Bank provides the secretary function to the Board and, as an interim solution, the ISSA has been established under the auspices of the Central Bank. The Agency will also house the Civilian Cybersecurity Operating Center and Cybersecurity Emergency Response Team, and will over time develop into a full-fledged regulatory and supervisory body of the digital infrastructure. The Agency’s mandate and functions will be legally defined as an independent public agency by early 2023.
BACKGROUND
The world is currently undergoing a fundamental digital transformation, whereby all aspects of our lives are currently data points. Therefore, the main challenge for governments globally is capitalizing on the opportunities created by this vast amount of data, for example in personalized finance or medicine, without jeopardizing personal or national security.
The Government of Armenia is firmly committed to embracing the digital agenda by creating the necessary institutional architecture to catalyze building a secure and thriving digital society and economy. Doing so requires the private, especially financial, sector to play a leading role in this process, and the current over-emphasis on e-government alone needs to change. Therefore, our mission is to build the necessary infrastructure and enablers for this digital society and economy, intended for shared use both by the private sector and the Government, with the explicit goal of improving the day-to-day life of Armenian people and businesses.
It is the Government’s perspective that taking on this digitalization endeavor is not a luxury, but a necessity. Recent diagnostics by various international institutions and independent experts have found that further ad-hoc digitalization in Armenia, if taking place without the mentioned enablers and institutional architecture (e.g. digital identity, cybersecurity, data interoperability and governing standards), represents a serious threat to national security.
VISION
Open and quality data is a critical asset, translating into national wealth! Developing an advanced and secure environment, enablers, and infrastructure is a necessary precondition for transforming Armenia into the e-Society and e-Economy. The key mission of the digital society and economy would be to empower the population to continuously improve their lives and wellbeing, provide opportunities for the private sector to enhance competitiveness, and ensure greater efficiency and good governance of public institutions through the development and widespread use of ICT solutions built around citizen experience and lifecycle. These imply Seamless, Proactive, Convenient and Personalized services.
Մենք Հայաստանի տեղեկատվական համակարգերի գործակալությունն ենք, և մեր ջանքերն ուղղված են Հայաստանի թվային հասարակության ստեղծմանը։ Գործակալությունը համագործակցում է ՀՀ կառավարության և Կենտրոնական բանկի հետ։ Մեր առաքելությունն է սահմանել հիմնական չափորոշիչներ, թե ինչպես պետք է մատուցվեն հանրային ծառայությունները և թվային նախագծերը։ Մեզ առաջնորդող հիմնական չափանիշը «Հայաստանի թվային ճարտարապետություն»-ն է։ Այն ՀՀ կառավարության կողմից հաստատված մոտեցումն է, որի հիմքում ընկած են փոխգործելիության, անվտանգության և բարձրորակ ծառայությունների մատուցման սկզբունքները։ Մեր թիմում համախմբվել են տեխնոլոգիաներ և քաղաքականություն մշակող մասնագետներ տարբեր ոլորտներից, և մենք ձգտում ենք աշխատել բաց ու թափանցիկ՝ պետական ու մասնավոր հատվածի ներգրավմամբ։ Դրանով իսկ փորձելու ենք աջակցել Հայաստանում իսկապես թվային հասարակության ստեղծմանը։
The Information Systems Agency of Armenia is supporting the creation of the Armenian e-society. In partnership with the Government and the Central Bank of Armenia, our mission is to implement key standards for how public services and digital projects should be delivered. Our guiding standard is the “Digital Architecture of Armenia”, a Government approved approach that places interoperability, security, and high-quality service delivery as its core pillars. Our team is made up of technology and policy making specialists from a wide variety of sectors, and our aim is to work transparently, and with the participation of the public and private sector, to support Armenia in its ambitions to become a truly electronic society.