Associate Director/ Director of Knowledge, Insights, and Client Support (KICS)

Job Title
Associate Director/ Director of Knowledge, Insights, and Client Support (KICS)

Business/Department
Global Shared Services

Job Category
Knowledge Management and Business Development

Location
Global (multi-location)

Closing Date
23/12/2024

Job Description
Maximize your potential. Tackle the world’s toughest problems.
Build expertise in areas that matter to you. Become a global development leader.
ABOUT DALBERG
We are a global group working to build a more sustainable planet and inclusive societies where all people can thrive. As a diverse, purpose-driven community of professionals, it works in collaboration with local communities and global networks to create bold and equitable solutions and develop the next generation of impact leaders. Dalberg brings together strategy and management consulting, equity-centered community design, data, research, implementation, and communications to achieve its mission of solving the most pressing challenges of our time through systemic change. We are from everywhere, at home anywhere - an African and American company as much as an Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and European one.

Dalberg is a place where a diverse mix of talented individuals are able to practice transparency and openness while maintaining independence of thought – whether it’s how you identify, where you come from, the languages you speak, the person you love, or the way you worship. Dalberg is a home where people feel safe, understood, nurtured, and encouraged to grow.

As a team of 640+ people from 55 countries, speaking over 90 languages collectively, with 46%+ female leadership team, Dalberg places diversity, equity and inclusion principles at the heart of our organization and the work we do alongside our clients, partners and communities.

Established in 2001 by experienced private sector consultants, Dalberg operates from 25+ worldwide locations. For more information, please visit Dalberg.

ABOUT DALBERG ADVISORS
Dalberg Advisors is a strategic advisory firm combining the best of private sector strategy skills and rigorous analytical capabilities with deep knowledge and networks across emerging and frontier markets. We work collaboratively across the public, private and philanthropic sectors to fuel inclusive growth and help clients achieve their goals.

ABOUT OUR CLIENTS
Our clients come to us with some of the most difficult global problems, seeking solutions where the obvious ones have failed. We are entrepreneurs and innovators, designers and creative problem solvers, thinkers, and doers who supply new ideas, drawing from a deep base of knowledge that cuts across sectors and geographies and is growing every day. We partner with and serve communities, governments, and companies throughout the world. Some of our recent clients include foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, corporations such as Pepsi and Vodafone, multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, UN agencies such as UNICEF and the UNEP, and government agencies such as the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology, USAID, and India’s NITI Aayog.

ABOUT THE ROLE
Our insights and knowledge are a key part of the value proposition we bring to our clients and of the impact we can have in the world. The engines of this knowledge and expertise are our Practice Areas and Client Service Teams. The Knowledge, Insights and Client Support (KICS) team is a core part of our Global Shared Services team; it is focused on harnessing this knowledge and helping to extract insights from our projects around the world. In doing so, the KICS team helps our teams to improve our client service delivery, strengthen our business development overall, and ultimately contribute to the social impact and development sector as a whole by sharing our knowledge and insights externally and internally.
The KICS Associate Director/Director role is a unique senior operations role within Dalberg Advisors that will serve as the nexus of all knowledge and expertise within the firm. You will be tasked with:

• Continuing to help Dalberg extract insights from its wealth of knowledge over 20 years of work;
• Actively championing our transition to AI-driven systems to make knowledge and insights more readily available for our teams around the world;
• Transforming our Practice Areas into first rate knowledge powerhouses that set the standard for topical expertise within the firm and make Dalberg a thought leader in the impact consulting space;
• Working with our Client Service Leads to help them to better serve their clients by providing stronger data, market intelligence, and insights from our knowledge base;
• Working with our external communications team to help translate our knowledge and insights into articles and thought leadership pieces;
• And throughout, leading, coaching and growing the global KICS team to coordinate and produce top of the line products and processes.

WHAT YOU WILL DRIVE
Our Associate Director/ Director of Knowledge Insights and Client Support is an essential member of Dalberg’s Global Shared Services leadership team. You will create and drive a coherent vision for the insight generation and client support experience across the globe, ensuring Dalberg offers the best possible knowledge in its engagements.
Reporting to Dalberg’s Global Operations Partner, the Associate Director / Director of Knowledge Insights and Client Support will oversee and manage the daily operations of the Knowledge Insights and Client Support team, a team of 3-5 globally located staff. The individual will:

• Drive and implement strategy on moving towards an insights-first organization (30%)
  • Champion insights generation and knowledge-driven client service across Dalberg and serve as the steward for our continued insights transformation process at Dalberg.
  • Refine and implement Dalberg’s strategy in moving from a knowledge rich organization to an organization that is continually driving and sharing insights across all projects, globally.
  • Work with the global Operations team including the KICS team itself, as well as the Finance, People, and Communications teams to put in place all systems, processes and tools required to bring this strategy to life. Specific initiatives are likely to include:
    • Develop new tools that project teams can use to harness insights from projects,
    • Develop training materials for staff to guide them on moving from knowledge management to insight generation,
    • Launch a new Insight Awards to celebrate strong performance,
    • Work with the People team to embed expectations for producing insights into our annual performance review processes,
    • Work with colleagues in the Global Strategic Communications team to develop an “insights to thought leadership” pipeline to grow Dalberg’s position as an insights leader in its sectors of operation,
    • ... and others to be defined.
  • Set KPIs to track progress against goals and report back on progress.
• Strengthen and structure Practice Area and CST networks (30%)
  • Formalize the support structures around Client Service Teams (CST) and Practice Areas (PA) and set norms for baseline activity, data sharing and reporting, while creating the infrastructure for quarterly performance reporting aligned with global finance data.
  • Dedicate time to supporting PA & CST leads, ensuring increased coordination and visibility of internal knowledge networks.
  • Facilitate access to and the creation of business development resources (project qualifications, past proposals, relevant thought leadership/POVs) for all Partners at the helm of CSTs and PAs.
  • Help drive the annual Client Feedback Survey and use that process to generate insights and training for our consulting leadership team on how to improve business development and project delivery functions.
• Drive innovation as well as maintain and automate internal systems (20%)
  • Work with Dalberg’s internal AI team to develop, pilot, and launch technologies and AI products that help to drive greater efficiency and user centricity to our KICS systems and processes.
  • Automate knowledge and business development processes where possible and find efficiencies in cross-operational processes.
  • Conduct quality and consistency audits and propose improvements to all current KICS content and system assets by working closely with the wider Operations team currently responsible for these assets.
• Team coaching and strategic engagement (20%)
  • Provide dedicated feedback, coaching, and support to the global KICS team members and support them in their professional development journeys.
  • Build relationships with other regional and global functional leads to help drive Dalberg’s collective strategy forward.
  • Participate in and provide leadership on additional cross-functional special projects that are critical for Dalberg’s strategy as a whole.
• COMMITMENT 1: We commit to publishing internal Dalberg DEI reports annually, to hold ourselves accountable, report on progress and share lessons from our regional DEI plans.
• COMMITMENT 2: We commit to delivering regular training for all staff (including leadership) on how to engender inclusive workplaces and mitigate unconscious bias.
• COMMITMENT 3: We commit to addressing imbalances in how power and privilege are formally distributed and informally exercised across the firm.

• Passionate about social impact and international development.
• Open minded and curious about the world and especially around understanding how and why social impact happens when it does.
• A self-starter and problem solver with an ownership mentality, identifying and acting on problems to achieve results.
• Comfortable working in an international environment, effectively collaborating across time zones in both synchronous and asynchronous settings.
• Exceptionally skilled at customer service and facilitation, adept at managing diverse stakeholders across business functions.
• Proficient with technology as a lever to unlock efficiency gains, and particular expertise with A.I. LLMs is preferred.
• Experienced in generating content based on project-derived knowledge, in overseeing Knowledge Management systems, and in working with communications, marketing and publications Professionals.
• A team player who excels at building consensus and fostering a collaborative environment, while being open to giving and receiving honest feedback.
• A strong coach, with experience in mentoring diverse global teams and supporting their professional development.

Successful candidates will also demonstrate the following experience and qualifications:

• Eight or more years of work experience with steadily increasing responsibility; at least four years in a client services environment (e.g., consulting, finance, or legal services).
• Demonstrated experience in setting up and/or managing a Knowledge Management team or overseeing Practice Area or Client Service teams in similar organizations.
• A bachelor's degree or higher in information and knowledge management, communications, international development, politics, economics, or other relevant field from a top university, or the equivalent’s worth of work experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including demonstrated ability to synthesize large amounts of information and ability to adapt messages for different audiences.
  • Fluency of French and/or Spanish is a plus.
• Strong research and quantitative skills, including mastery of Microsoft Suite, as well as familiarity with managing CRM software.
• Demonstrated strength in coaching and building teams and operating with humility and respect at all times.
• Ability to manage complex global operations processes.
  

JOIN OUR TEAM
Our current opportunities for this role are Dalberg Offices. You must have authorization to work in the country to which you are applying.

Your application should include a resume and cover letter elaborating on your experience.

Please submit your application at our Career Centre by 11:59PM EST on 23rd December 2024.
During the same recruitment period, please only apply to one position at Dalberg. This position should be the role best suited to your current professional experience and to your first preference location. You will have the opportunity to rank your next 2 location preferences within your application, in case there are openings in other offices.
Candidate applications will be considered on a rolling basis. A candidate’s specific title and level of entry will be assessed during the interview process.

Dalberg values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. Qualified and interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, religion, background, or ethnic affiliation are encouraged to apply for the vacancy.