The Scope
The Digital Product Expert is responsible for the design, development, implementation, and management of FSC's digital products, including the FSC Trace blockchain platform. This role offers a unique career opportunity that has a direct impact on sustainable forest management and requires strong, hands-on leadership in defining and executing product roadmaps, managing cross-functional teams, interfacing with business stakeholders, and ensuring alignment across IT leadership, architecture, engineering, and other team members. The Digital Product Expert will own the entire product lifecycle, lead agile design and development, drive efficiencies, and ensure that FSC's digital products deliver value and quality across the organization and the external stakeholders that it serves.
Main Roles & Responsibilities
Define Digital Product Roadmaps
* Develop and maintain comprehensive digital product roadmaps through direct engagement with FSC business and IT management teams, while ensuring successful selection, procurement, hosting, and support of new products.
Engage and Manage Architecture, Engineering, and Infrastructure Teams
* Collaborate with internal and external architecture and engineering teams to prioritize and optimize resources, schedules, and deliverables that align with broader program objectives using proven agile techniques.
Refine and Define Product Requirements
* Lead the iterative refinement and definition of digital product requirements, balancing needs of diverse stakeholders with engineering feasibility and strategic objectives.
Drive Implementation and Decision-Making
* Oversee the delivery and closure of product implementation decisions, ensuring continual alignment between business leaders and delivery teams.
Develop Operational Processes
* Create and own modern agile processes and procedures to guide daily operations, driving clarity, efficiency, and consistency in digital product development and management.
Adapt Existing Processes
* Continuously adapt existing processes to meet evolving organizational and product needs, with a focus on speed, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Prioritize Outcomes and Impacts Over Ownership
* Foster a collaborative environment where the integrated team prioritizes outcomes to ensure that collective efforts lead to impactful, high quality and more efficient results.
Communicate with Precision
* Drive alignment across teams through clear and precise communication, ensuring that all stakeholders are informed and engaged.
Facilitate Team Collaboration
* Effectively collaborate, build relationships, and influence team members across the organization to achieve program objectives.
Your profile
Education and Training
* University degree or equivalent training in digital product management, computer science, architecture, engineering, information technology, business administration, or related disciplines.
* Training and certifications in digital product management (e.g., Certified Scrum Product Owner, Agile Product Owner) are a plus.
Working Experience Style and Skills
* At least 5 years of professional experience in digital product management, with a strong track record in leading the agile development and implementation of digital solutions.
* Experience in managing complex projects that require coordination across multiple internal and external stakeholders and teams.
* Strong understanding of blockchain/related technology and its application in supply chain management is preferred.
* Proven ability to design, develop and implement operational processes that drive efficiency and clarity.
* Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex concepts to a diverse technical and non-technical audience.
Leadership
* Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive product initiatives.
* Maintains a deep understanding of the technical and regulatory aspects of digital products, enabling informed discussions and guidance with architectural and engineering teams, and meaningfully contribute to solution designs and problem-solving.
* Ability to see the big picture and align digital product initiatives with FSC’s long-term goals.
* Talent in articulating complex ideas and strategies in a clear, concise manner to diverse audiences, e.g., leadership, internal teams, external stakeholders.
* Strong sense of accountability to take responsibility for the success and failures of digital products, ensuring transparency and ownership at every stage.
* Ability to pivot and adjust strategies in response to changing organizational needs and conditions, stakeholder needs, or technological advancements.
* Strong ability to encourage teams’ autonomy, create clarity in expectations, and empower team members to take ownership of their individual work contributions, while aligning with related work streams to ensure high quality outcomes.
* Drive to ensure and insist that all digital product decisions are made with a high degree of integrity, aligning with the FSC’s values and ethical standards.
Technical Skills
* Proficient in digital product lifecycle management and Agile delivery methodologies.
* Knowledge of blockchain fundamentals with a focus on traceability solutions.
* Familiarity with data management and cybersecurity best practices in application and service design and development.
* High proficiency and hands-on experience in modern mobile and web application development (e.g., Figma and/or Adobe XD, cross-platform/Flutter, DevOps, AI/ML, APIs, Cloud databases, Blockchain as a Service, CRM integrations, multilingual/machine translation service integrations, Agile Scrum, Asana, etc.)
Language and Communication Skills
* Fluency in English; proficiency in Spanish and/or French is a plus.
* Strong verbal and written communication skills, capable of driving alignment and collaboration across diverse teams.
Others
* Commitment to FSC’s mission and values.
* Cultural awareness and sensitivity in a diverse, global team setting.
Why us?
Why Join FSC in Bonn, Germany?
* Be part of a globally recognized organization at the forefront of sustainable forestry and contribute to the mission to help protect the world’s forests.
* Play an active role in the FSC global community of 400+ forest stewards who come together in-person at least once a year.
* Benefit from cross-cultural collaboration and networking opportunities by working in a dynamic, inclusive, and diverse international culture with over 60 nationalities represented under one roof.
* Enjoy comprehensive benefits, including relocation assistance if needed, and investment in training and development opportunities (e.g., LinkedIn Learning, Learning Lunches and more) to advance your career.
* Explore the vibrant federal city of Bonn, home to Beethoven, Haribo, and the beautiful Rhein River promenade including many urban parks and close access to nature. As Germany's UN City and second capital, Bonn is an international city with a rich cultural heritage, recently celebrating its 2000th anniversary. Learn more about the city or take a virtual stroll.
* Embrace work-life balance: beyond Bonn's borders, unlock Europe's wonders with 30 working days of vacation at your disposal. Whether it's skiing in the Swiss Alps or basking in the sun on Mediterranean shores, your European adventures await.
Ready to make a difference? Join FSC and help shape a sustainable future. Apply now with your resume and cover letter, showcasing your achievements and how you can contribute to FSC's mission.
The Fine Print
* Location: Bonn, Germany.
* Working Hours: Full time - 40 hours per week.
* Duration of Employment: Temporary contract - 2 years (extension possible, subject to satisfactory performance).
* Starting Date: As soon as possible.
How to Apply
Ready to make a difference? Join FSC and help shape a sustainable future. Don't delay - apply now!
* Please apply by submitting your CV in English.
* Please do not send any photos of yourself.
* The deadline for applications is 9 April 2025.
For FSC, inclusiveness and diversity are important values. As such, we welcome and encourage applications from all backgrounds and are entirely committed to consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age and disability.
We will confirm receipt of your application. Should you not receive a confirmation of receipt please check your spam filter and if you cannot find it there contact us at careers@fsc.org
Please be informed, that by applying for this position you automatically accept our Data Protection Information on processing your personal data.
We are looking forward to your application!
About us
Welcome to FSC!
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a globally recognized non-profit organization at the forefront of promoting sustainable forestry. With over 150 million hectares of certified forests and a trusted reputation among NGOs, consumers, and businesses, FSC is leading the way in ensuring the long-term health and resilience of the world’s forests.