Director Digital Business Services

Requisition ID: 43132 

Organization

Located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples, Vancouver has a commitment to becoming a City of Reconciliation. Vancouver consistently ranks as one of the world’s most liveable and environmentally sustainable cities. Named among Canada's Top 100 Employers, BC's Top Employers, and Canada's Greenest Employers, the City of Vancouver seeks colleagues who can help shape and embody our core commitments to sustainability, reconciliation, equity and outstanding quality of life for all residents.

Consider joining our committed team of staff and being part of an innovative, inclusive and rewarding workplace.

Development, Buildings, and Licensing (DBL) provides essential services that shape the City’s built environment. The department stewards permitting, inspections, business licensing, and bylaw enforcement to ensure safe, sustainable, and well-regulated development. DBL facilities building approvals, supports local businesses with licensing and regulatory guidance, and enforces standards that maintain public health and safety. From residential construction permits to business startup support, the department strives to deliver efficient, customer-focused services that help Vancouver thrive.
 

DBL is modernizing the way users interact and engage with City services by advancing delivery of permitting and licensing services through digital innovation, end-to-end service design, collaborative partnerships and regulatory excellence. Our goal is to continue deliver timely, accurate, predictable, transparent and consistent public and internal services that support a healthy, safe, accessible and sustainable City.
 

We adopt a continuous digital services improvement approach, while embracing iterative methodologies and product delivery models, focusing on enhancing customer experiences and staff efficiency by co-creating with our users to ensure we truly understand and meet their ongoing needs.

Main Purpose and Function

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of Digital Business Services (DBS) who is passionate about customer experience, has a service and product mindset for problem-solving, and is an advocate for building reusable capabilities that can be leveraged enterprise-wide across services and products. Their empathetic listening skills will enable them to tailor their approach to diverse audiences. By engaging stakeholders at all levels, the Director will foster alignment, understanding, and enthusiasm for the City’s evolving vision and operational framework.

The Director of Digital Business Services (DBS) is responsible for leading the transformation and modernization of the City of Vancouver’s permitting and licensing services.

The Director, DBS will also play a pivotal role in guiding the organization through its next phase of growth, transitioning from a transformation-focused approach to a sustainable operating model. They will lead a shift from a capital-funded structure to an operational funding model, ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic and financial objectives. The Director, DBS will develop and execute strategies to integrate capital-funded programs into ongoing operations, with a focus on scalability, efficiency, and long-term success. They will collaborate with cross-functional teams to establish robust frameworks, processes, and governance structures to transition while maintaining high service standards.

A key aspect of this role is the ability to drive cultural change across the organization by leveraging strong influential and communication skills. The Director will act as a strategic storyteller, crafting compelling narratives that simplify complex ideas and highlight customer, staff, and organizational value of new models, methodologies, and practices.

The Director will manage a team of senior product managers, product and project managers, service designers, business, data and process analysts, responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle for the range of enterprise level, customer-centric, digital business services and capabilities from permitting and licensing.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Leads the DBL’s transformation program including development, implementation, and ongoing management of organization-wide digital technology plans and programs, including managing web/mobile development and design, information architecture, web application and all other emerging digital channels.
• Accountable for controlling the transformation budget and other special project funding.
• Provides broad direction to projects staffed by diverse staff not only from own team but other staff in department and city and external consultants.
• Provides expert advice and formal presentations to senior City management in the planning, prioritization, development and execution of a digital strategy for DBL
• Participates in policy development and project steering committees responsible for the formulation and planning of the City's overall direction in Digital Channel evolution.
• Oversees the design, development and performance of a range of public facing applications. Directs life-cycle planning, ensuring that migration and consolidation opportunities, technical innovations, key business events are factored into portfolio planning.
• Ensures continued improvement of departmental process such as work intake management, resource planning, demand management, capacity planning, service level metrics definition.
• Provides departmental leadership, including hiring, assigning responsibilities, evaluating performance, coaching, mentoring, training and development, and discipline up to and including termination.
• Assesses risks, scopes resource requirements and manages budgets and operating costs to ensure value for money and sustainable development of teams and services
• Provides technical advice, guidance and consultation to business unit clients and project teams. Leads policy and framework development for technology oriented product and program management. Develops and implements processes and application mechanisms to support the end to end product management lifecycle.
• Develops and implements processes and application mechanisms to fully support a program management delivery framework.
• Responsible for the creation and maintenance of all technology product roadmaps, including liaison with stakeholders to manage business and technology driven product changes.
• Responsible for ensuring technology programs are planned, managed and delivered within a consistent framework, enabling transparent communication with key stakeholders (via use of the DARCI framework). Promotes customer satisfaction with technology products, through the implementation and management of technology focused programs.
• Ensures operational model meets objectives including providing accurate and timely delivery of dashboards and reports to business unit directors, city executives and internal clients for distribution and decision support analysis.
• Sets strategy for leveraging performance data from across all direct channel sources e.g. Digital, Online, Mobile Apps, Social Media, and Contact Centre.
• Supports multi-channel activation and the move of business processes to digital
• Identifies and prioritizes opportunities to improve value-for-money through the reconfiguration and integration of digital, contact centre and in-person delivery channels, with emphasis on a “digital first” principle.
• As the primary contact point for direct channel service delivery within DBL, liaises with General Managers and operational leaders to report on performance, address service issues, identify business unit needs and advance improvement opportunities.
• Using customer insights and cross channel analytics, champion excellence in end-to-end citizen experience across channels
• Identifies data and analytics requirements to manage service channel performance.
• Guides the continuous improvement of digital services and processes; prioritize opportunities to transition to digital channels and improve services throughput.
• Remains current on progress, trends and products in the digital/direct/omni channel/service desk/client support/digital work landscape and seek opportunities to inject best practice and strategy into City initiatives wherever possible.
• Proactively looks for ways to improve the overall support delivery experience to end user and takes action to implement those enhancements.
• Other duties/responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• University degree in a discipline related to information systems/management, business, public administration (or an equivalent combination of education and experience)
• 10+ years’ experience in operations management with a focus on digital service delivery.
• 10 years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas: multi channel operations, business strategy, communication strategy, digital project management, digital product management, digital technologies, digital strategy, user experience design and/or information sciences.
• Demonstrable experience leading complex digital transformation initiatives and programs including accountability for managing roadmaps, process improvement, programs, projects, portfolios.
• Experience of managing the expectations of stakeholders with conflicting needs and demands, engaging with senior stakeholders, and developing a pipeline of customer adoption.
• Demonstrated experience in managing complex work flows and multi-tasking under pressure and on deadline. Experience managing employees (preferably in a unionized environment), project team and contractors.
• Demonstrated experience in guiding and working in a collaborative environment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Extensive understanding of current and emerging best practices related to customer service operations, multi channel service delivery, IT, digital technology, digital channel strategy, user-centered design and web analytics.
• Understanding of direct channel technology and service delivery models, with specific application in a local government context
• Strong program management and analytical skills.
• Extensive knowledge of performance management, data and analytics in an operational context Strong ability to think strategically.
• Strong orientation toward detail, customer service and creativity in problem-solving, expertise in relating to vendors, c-suite stakeholders and business colleagues.
• Strong problem solving approach and ability to understand new business models and domains. Demonstrated ability as a valued senior team member who can effectively and positively influence others in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Exemplary editorial, presentation and communications skills.
• Ability to switch contexts fast between generating ideas, experimenting with solutions and collaborating with stakeholders and users and executing with rapid turnaround times.
• Ability to communicate effectively; foster high standards; coach; inspire and manage multi-disciplinary teams in a fast-paced, performance-focused environment using excellent interpersonal, visual design, presentation and written skills.
• Strong sense of accountability and commitment to end-user advocacy, with demonstrated ability to work under pressure, manage multiple priorities and respond to requests in a timely manner.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts and team members to provide advice, information and assistance.
• Ability to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, develop solutions to service delivery challenges, generate buy-in and advance digital strategy initiatives.
• Ability to evaluate current and proposed programs and identify areas of potential improvement Highly trustworthy; capable of handling business critical, confidential and sensitive information.
   

Where operationally appropriate and subject to change, the City of Vancouver has a Flexible Work Program. This program allows staff to work remotely 1 – 4 days a week from locations that are a daily commutable distance from their work at a City worksite.  At this time this position is eligible to be part of the Flexible Work Program.

Business Unit/Department: Development, Buildings & Licensing (1250) 

Affiliation: Senior Exempt 

Employment Type: Regular Full Time 

Position Start Date: April, 2025 

Salary Information: Pay Grade RNG-121: $136,537 to $179,642 per year

Application Close: February 26, 2025

At the City of Vancouver, we are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that represents the community we so proudly serve. Indigenous peoples, people of colour, 2SLGBTQ+ persons including all genders and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.  Accommodations will be provided upon request during the selection process. Learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

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