DDC Operating Model & Roles
The DDC operating model explains how the organization works in practice. It has six key components and a clear split between strategy (Domains) and execution (Capability Teams).
Accountabilities: strategy vs. execution
| Team type | Accountable for |
|---|---|
DDC Heads |
Overall realization of the DDC mission and delivery on DDC commitments to stakeholders. |
Domain Teams (Strategy) |
Stakeholder partnership — the why, prioritizing the what, and approving scope & roadmaps (the when). |
Capability Teams (Execution) |
Defining how and who tackles products/projects; technical excellence; integrated, best-in-class solutions; effective partner collaboration. |
Product/Project Teams |
Cross-functional teams delivering against a product/project scope and timeline with urgency and quality. |
Six components of the operating model
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Accountabilities — who is accountable for what, with guardrails that reduce ambiguity.
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Decision-Making Framework — who makes which decisions, enabling speed and effective escalation.
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Roles & Responsibilities — key roles and how teams partner across domains, capabilities, and initiatives.
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Talent Development & Management — foundation for people development and career progression.
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Innovation — space to test new concepts and explore emerging technologies.
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Individual Goal Setting — connecting personal objectives to organizational goals.
Key roles
These roles form the framework and starting point for product/project responsibility discussions. Not all roles are needed for every product/project.
- Product Family Lead (PFL)
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Accountable for the strategic direction, prioritization, and value delivery of a bundle of related products/projects within a domain. Provides cross-product strategic and operational oversight and ensures alignment with domain, capability, and enterprise priorities.
- Tech Lead
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Accountable for the technical solution, landscape architecture, and technical delivery quality across a product/project and its product family. Provides technical leadership to ensure solutions align with DDC technical and architecture standards, are scalable and AI-enabled, and deliver best-in-class outcomes.
- Data Lead
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Accountable for the data architecture, modeling, and standards for a product, project or product family — ensuring data structures are fit-for-purpose, interoperable, and reusable.
- Execution Lead
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Accountable for end-to-end delivery execution, partnering closely with the PFL, Tech Lead and Data Lead. May be held by any of those leads or a capability/domain member depending on the initiative’s complexity, scope, and priority.
Decision-making at a glance
| Level | Example decisions |
|---|---|
Cross-Domain (DDC LT / Anna & Ryan) |
DDC scope, org changes, HC allocations, strategy pivots, sourcing strategy, major budget, escalations. |
Domain |
Domain strategy; prioritization of what/why/when; scope & roadmaps; start/pause/stop decisions. |
Capability |
Definition of who (FTEs/external + budget) and how (build vs. buy, technology choices); standards; best practices. |
Product/Project |
Product/project-level plans, implementation planning, and day-to-day decisions. |