Digital Identity Lead - Frontier Technologies Foundations

The Digital Identity Lead is a high-visibility, dual-engine role sitting at the intersection of technical architecture and commercial origination. The role's anchor specialism is Digital Identity (DID): you will bring deep, hands-on experience of building or implementing national-scale digital identity architectures, and you will ultimately own FT's DID service line.

Because identity is a load-bearing foundation beneath the rest of FT's foundations stack — every national data ecosystem depends on a trusted unique identifier, and every identity system depends on a cryptographic trust and security layer — this role is deliberately broader than a pure DID mandate. You will carry contributory technical responsibility into Data at Societal Scale (national data exchange, interoperability, data governance) and Cybersecurity (PKI, cryptographic trust frameworks, Zero Trust design), acting as FT's connective thread across these three foundations. You will not be expected to lead these adjacent domains, but to ensure DID engagements are architected coherently with them, and to lend specialist input when FT's Data and Cyber leads need identity-layer expertise.

You will also act as a core business builder for the practice, using your global network within the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the broader DPI ecosystem to originate new projects, secure funding, and scale Genesis's pipeline across all three foundations.

1 | Key Responsibilities

1.1 Business Origination & Strategic Networks (35%)

• Pipeline Generation: Leverage existing, high-level relationships within the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Co-Develop, and key regional development banks to position Genesis as the premier global choice for DPI implementation — opening doors for Data at Societal Scale and Cybersecurity mandates as a natural extension of DID relationships.
• Deal Structuring & Capture: Proactively identify, shape, and capture business opportunities across the DID and foundational ID ecosystem; lead high-value proposal development and pitches for donor-funded tenders, and contribute technical input to Data and Cybersecurity pursuits where identity is a component.
• Ecosystem Integration: Act as a primary interface between Genesis and the global identity, data, and digital government communities, aligning firm capabilities with emerging donor strategies, funding cycles, and country-level roadmaps.

1.2 Digital Identity — Technical Leadership & Implementation (35%)

• National-Scale Delivery: Serve as the chief subject-matter expert on the architectural design, governance, and roll-out strategies of foundational or functional national digital ID systems.
• Framework Champion: Embed international standards and best practice — specifically World Bank ID4D principles, ID4Africa frameworks, and open-source stacks such as MOSIP — into localised government roadmaps.
• Next-Gen Identity Architecture: Advise clients on the transition toward Decentralised Identity (DID) ecosystems, Verifiable Credentials (VCs), and self-sovereign identity (SSI) frameworks.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Ensure identity frameworks interoperate seamlessly with the other DPI pillars — payments, data exchange, and (in time) national cybersecurity architecture.

1.3 Contributory Technical Leadership: Data & Cybersecurity Foundations (20%)

• Data at Societal Scale: Advise on how unique identifiers and civil registries underpin national data exchange and interoperability architecture; contribute an identity lens to national data strategy and data governance engagements led by FT's Data practice.
• Cybersecurity: Bring your natural DID-adjacent expertise in cryptographic trust frameworks, PKI, and public/private key infrastructure to inform Zero Trust architecture, authentication and authorisation design, and identity-linked security posture assessments — supporting the build-out of FT's cybersecurity service line ahead of its 2027 launch.
• Coherence Across Foundations: Act as the technical bridge ensuring DID, Data, and Cybersecurity workstreams are designed as one interoperable stack rather than three siloed engagements, in line with FT's GOAT framework (Governance, Operations, Adoption, Technology).

1.4 Practice Building & Thought Leadership (10%)

• Mentorship: Guide and upskill a growing team of consultants and analysts across FT's foundations pillar, fostering a culture of technical excellence beyond DID alone.
• Global Presence: Represent Genesis at premier international forums — ID4Africa, World Bank Digital Government and Spring Meetings, and DID/data/cyber developer convenings — publishing high-impact insights and whitepapers that span the foundations stack.

How This Role Differs From a Pure DID Mandate

• Anchor specialism: Digital Identity — full ownership, national-scale delivery track record required.
• Contributory remit: Data at Societal Scale and Cybersecurity — working fluency and cross-practice coordination, not delivery ownership.
• Why broadened: Identity is the foundation layer beneath national data ecosystems and security architecture; FT's positioning requires these three foundations to be designed as one coherent stack.
• Reporting relationship: Leads FT's DID service line; partners closely with FT's Data lead and (from 2027) Cybersecurity lead rather than managing those service lines directly.

Requirements

Technical & Sector Expertise

• National-Scale Track Record (must-have): 5+ years of experience with a proven history of playing a hands-on, leading role in the design, engineering, or nationwide roll-out of a foundational digital identity system.
• Institutional Frameworks (must-have): Deep structural familiarity with World Bank ID4D (Identification for Development) criteria, ID4Africa integration models, and the open-source MOSIP architecture.
• DID Ecosystem Literacy (must-have): Thorough understanding of W3C DID standards, Decentralised Identifiers, cryptographic trust frameworks, and public/private key infrastructure.
• Data Interoperability Fluency (contributory): Working knowledge of national data exchange design, data governance architecture, and how digital ID underpins whole-of-government data ecosystems — broadly aligned to the World Bank's Digital Core / Digital Use framing of digital government.
• Cybersecurity Fluency (contributory): Working knowledge of PKI, e-signature infrastructure, Zero Trust principles, and alignment to standards such as ISO 27001/27701 and NIST CSF, sufficient to partner credibly with dedicated cybersecurity specialists.
• Emerging Technology Awareness: Familiarity with how AI, blockchain, and big data intersect with identity, data, and security architectures in public-sector deployments.
• Developing Context Experience: Extensive experience navigating the socio-political, regulatory, and technical realities of implementing technology infrastructure in emerging markets.

Commercial & Consulting Acumen

• Proven Rainmaker Status: A verifiable track record of originating, winning, and managing technical assistance or consulting projects financed by major global donors.
• Consulting Character: Exceptional problem-structuring capability, executive-level communication skills, and the agility to navigate complex multi-stakeholder ecosystems — aligning government cabinets with donor technical demands across identity, data, and security agendas.

Education

• An advanced degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Public Policy, Economics, or a related technical/development field.

Candidates are requested to submit a CV (no longer than 2 pages) and a cover letter (no longer than 1 page)

Benefits

• The opportunity to shape the foundational digital architecture — identity, data, and security — of rapidly growing nations.
• A highly collaborative, hybrid professional environment spanning global hubs (Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, London).
• A competitive remuneration package linked directly to practice growth and origination success across FT's foundations pillar.