New Jobs for the New Economy

By Sean Donahue

Technology has always both created and destroyed jobs. Think of the pony express riders rendered obsolete by the completion of the transcontinental telegraph in 1861. As the dejected riders were leading their horses to pasture, a new job market was emerging for skilled telegraph operators.

But the effect of new technologies on business is more profound than just the jobs created to support them. The telegraph's significance as a communication device, for example, had ramifications far beyond the fates of pony riders and Morse code experts. Writing in the 1930s, economist Ronald H. Coase cited use of the telegraph as a contributing factor in the development of the vertically integrated, geographically scattered business firm. This new structure, in turn, required a larger set of administrators whose new responsibilities included overseeing specific departments and processes within the firm. In effect, the telegraph helped create management as we know it.

Substitute the Web for the telegraph, multiply exponentially the effects on business, and you see the process occurring again. "What's more significant is not the multitude of these new Internet jobs, but rather the new organizational structures they are imposing on traditional companies," says Walid Mougayar, an ebusiness strategy consultant, author of Opening Digital Markets, and Business 2.0 columnist. "If you haven't organized entire departments to operate like an Internet company, you're not effectively competing in the New Economy."

Business 2.0 set out to find 10 examples of jobs created by this technological shift-10 innovative ways companies have responded to the opportunities, or threats, the Web represents. The tasks and responsibilities of these new jobs vary, but they share some qualities shaped by their common Web heritage, and these characteristics are rapidly becoming the new fundamentals of working in the Digital Age. In particular, the distinctions between job categories and descriptions are collapsing. Instead of being pegged to a clearly delineated role, more of today's workers straddle departments and shoulder multiple tasks within an organization. That's why workers with the broadest skills and experience often thrive in new positions. What's more, skilled technical workers are no longer only an IT department resource. As technology moves into the core of business operations, technical expertise is required in key management roles to help shape a company's strategy and development.

"In the past, the IT department was the last place you'd go to find a [business] strategy guy, and vice versa," says Geoffrey Champion, a managing director for recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International. "Now technology and strategy are inextricably linked." The downside to these new jobs is their massive time and energy requirement, and the toll that takes on family and personal lives. But as compensation, pioneering workers often enjoy an unprecedented freedom for experimentation and self-determination. Many are simply inventing their own jobs-conceiving new ideas, developing the business and technical systems to launch them, and then managing those operations. Creativity is king.

1. New Metrics Analyst
This numbers guru digs beneath the surface of page views and traffic reports to create a detailed picture of what's really happening on a Website. By spotting patterns in user behavior data, such as visit frequency, visit length, and who's shopping at certain times (and what they're buying), a new-metrics analyst helps Web companies set advertising rates, identify cross-selling opportunities, reduce churn, and develop new marketing strategies. This analysis also helps the company make crucial decisions about strategic alliances and acquisitions, for example, by putting a dollar value on the traffic they will generate.

"I move us away from the gut [instincts] and toward the quantifiable," says Ted Wham of his role as Excite's director of consumer activity analysis. The position didn't exist at Excite until six months ago. Now Wham, with a small staff of analysts, works frequently with Excite's product managers and business development executives, and to a lesser extent with higher executives such as the CFO and COO. For example, Wham's analysis of user activity in its community sites has helped Excite determine the return it's getting from the 1998 purchase of community-building technology company Throw.

Evolution: Classic database marketing updated for the Digital Age, in which data are richer and more varied than ever before. This type of deep user analysis, and the informed decisions it leads to, are essential to the maturing Web industry.

Skills needed: Ability to perform quantitative analysis and database experience are necessary. But above all, Wham says, you must have a strong business sense. "You can spin Oracle databases all day long, but if you can't sit down with someone and translate that data into a useful course of action, you'd die in this job."

Favorite part of the job: "Creating value for the business. I can say, 'Because I did this [analysis], things will change.'"

Toughest aspect of the job: "You spend a lot of time alone, manipulating data. If that's not something you find personally satisfying, it would be a drag."

Salary: $80,000-$110,000 manager; $60,000-$85,000 basic analyst

2. Virtual Organization Leader
The Internet has drastically shortened product cycles, increased globalization, and created a need for more real-time communications services. As such, entrenched, single-purpose teams aren't necessarily the most effective or nimble solution to many of today's business problems. Jumping from project to project, virtual organization leaders assemble teams of experts from around the world to achieve specific goals. When the task is complete, the leader disbands the team and moves on to the next problem. The work is typically coordinated online, where the manager can oversee results and cut back on international calling expenses to boot. Helen Stefan, an account manager with the high-tech PR firm Copithorne & Bellows, began managing virtual PR teams to cope with changes the Internet has imposed on the PR industry, such as accelerated product launches, and clients' requests for announcements on everything from the Melissa virus to market news and industry mergers.

Now, Stefan can absorb that increased demand, and catch unplanned, quick-turnaround projects by assembling virtual teams of employees from the firm's global offices in places such as Boston, Singapore, and Paris, plus a roster of outside contractors. Team sizes can range from just a few people to as many as seven experts. Research materials, progress reports, budget information, and communication is handled through the corporate intranet, while Stefan manages the project from her office. Overseeing disparate team workers hasn't been difficult, Stefan says, because most are highly skilled and experienced contractors, accustomed to working on targeted deadlines.

"We can jump on major projects, and we never have to say no," says Stefan. "It's almost a bottomless resource."

Evolution: Companies need to maintain a lean staff and still compete in a rapidly changing business climate. Virtual teams give companies access to specific expertise from specific people as needed, no matter where they are, with potential applications in areas such as marketing and product design.

Skills needed: Virtual organization leaders must understand the business' goals and strategies, and know how to find the resources to complete a project quickly. Highly developed people skills also help leaders handle the various personalities of contractors and clients, and serve as the main contact for the project sponsor.

Favorite part of the job: "I get to work with the best of the best."

Toughest aspect of the job: "Not knowing how busy you're going to be from week to week-but that's also the exciting part." Salary: $60,000-$90,000

3. Content Engineer
If Websites were houses, content engineers would be the architects. These polymaths are responsible for the overall organization and presentation of a Website's content. Content engineers work with almost every part of an Internet business, hashing out infrastructure requirements with the IT department, assisting with marketing campaigns, strategizing with executives, and working directly with suppliers to gather product information.

"You bring things from the theoretical phase, talking about ontologies and how to classify materials, to actually creating a system and trying it on hundreds and thousands of users," says Thomas Kudrycki, vice president of engineering, who manages the content engineering department for Chemdex. Creating an online "catalog of catalogs" for laboratory and life-sciences supplies is particularly complex. Chemdex content engineers start the process by suggesting to marketing and executive teams specific supplies or vendors needed for the site. Once those departments secure the necessary deals, content engineers design automated interfaces to collect product information directly from suppliers, systematically categorize that information ("building the ontology," according to Kudrycki), choose additional materials to add context, and ultimately design the presentation and layout of that content, handing off the plans to a separate group of Web designers and builders.

Evolution: Content engineering combines traits of old-fashioned catalog marketing with computer science, creating something unique to the Web.

Skills needed: Content engineers must have some technical background. But a deep understanding of the content they are working with, and the audience they are serving, is most important. For example, Chemdex content engineers all hold advanced degrees in life sciences.

Favorite part of the job: "It's a fusion of so many different traditional job descriptions, which provides for variety and potential career growth into multiple areas."

Toughest aspect of the job: "Bringing together in a standardized manner the plethora of information and formats is a very significant challenge. And doing it all in an Internet-time environment takes a lot out of you."

Salary: $50,000-$80,000

4. Chief Community Strategist
Building Web communities has always been a slippery task, but for some sites they're a vital business resource. Some companies have created a position to develop and manage all aspects of building a sense of community online. A chief community strategist is equal parts policy maker, minister of culture, ombudsman, and operations manager. Matthew Bannick, vice president of customer support, handles this role for eBay, the site that is the ultimate in convergence of community and business. He is a direct link between eBay's 3.8 million community members and the company's top executives. He and his team develop reports for managers based on feedback from eBay message boards, customer email, and monthly face-to-face meetings with community members. The company uses that information throughout its operations. For example, chat from eBay's "discuss new features" message board is collected, organized, and delivered to the company's product marketing team. And the majority of changes to eBay's Website come directly from community suggestions, such as a new feature that allows users to rate their satisfaction with other traders to create a collection of positive and negative comments that becomes each trader's community reputation.

Bannick also sits in with eBay's executive management as a community advocate. But that task isn't difficult if the community strategist has successfully embedded community issues into the corporate culture.

Evolution: Businesses that once scoffed at community as a touchy-feely concept now recognize it as a major force in ecommerce. Its role is likely to gain importance as Websites focus on customer retention. Skills needed: General management skills and operations experience are important, but understanding how the community interacts and how it relates to the company is essential. Bannick traces the development of his community instincts to a stint as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, where he reported on economic and political developments after German reunification.

Favorite part of the job: "Working with the people in the community, understanding their needs, and creating a successful company around that."

Toughest aspect of the job: "You can't meet all of the community's needs at once."

Salary: $125,000

5. Ethical Hacker
It's the dream job for a generation of hackers: A company paying you to break into its network. By simulating attacks from the Net or from an internal source, ethical hackers locate weak spots in a company's network. Then they work with clients to prioritize which are the most serious threats, and suggest solutions. Jeff Moss, director of security assessment services at Secure Computing in San Jose, Calif., and founder of hacker convention Def Con, got his first computer around age 12 and was a network consultant before he found this outlet for his hacking hobby.

Network weaknesses usually develop when fast-growing companies add new technologies to their networks without following a defined security policy or having a dedicated security expert manage the process. Another potential open door for hackers, says Moss, is a router or firewall programmed to let in too many protocols and applications. Clients are often rattled by his team's quick break-ins that exploit these common weaknesses. "First they're in denial, then they're terrified," says Moss. "We usually have to tell them that it's not the end of world, that problems are solvable." Besides performing intrusion tests, Moss also puts on hacking demonstrations at trade shows to evangelize the need for intrusion testing.

Evolution: Only the "ethical" part of the title is new. The best hackers, like Moss, were illegally penetrating networks long before there was a market for that skill. But as more companies put operations and sensitive data on the Web, demand for intrusion testing experts (once known as "tiger teams") is exploding. "This is a huge paradigm shift for those of us who grew up learning how to break into things and are old enough to have real jobs," says Moss.

Skills needed: An ethical hacker with a college degree is rare, says Moss. Instead, expertise in multiple operating systems, applications, security software, and networking protocols, along with a good reputation, are the best credentials.

Favorite part of the job: "Constantly dealing with new situations, new technologies, and new networks. And there's always something interesting to talk about."

Toughest aspect of the job: "There's a lot of demand to generate business and do billable work. You can't spend a week on an interesting problem just because it's fun."

Salary: $60,000-$140,000

6. Email Channel Specialist
Some top Web businesses believe plain-old email is the next great channel for new products, services, direct-marketing efforts, and sales. In-house experts such as Robert Seidman, vice president of email at Schwab's Electronic Brokerage Enterprise, oversee outbound email channel operations, from product development and strategic planning to corporate policy issues. Defining a policy for the use of outgoing email, Seidman says, is a simple step to ensure email products provide value to customers, and aren't just a cheap and easy solution for the company.

By designing subscription-based services, email developers offer content that customers choose to receive-not spam. Schwab's daily email alerts deliver information such as closing results for market indices and the client's customized list of stock and mutual fund holdings. Seidman directly oversees the testing of new products to learn what customers will find acceptable. Schwab is currently experimenting with HTML email, which allows for richer content and graphics. Later this year, Schwab will begin testing the addition of some marketing messages, such as updates on financial services or new features on Schwab's Website, within the body of its existing email products. n Evolution: Initially, Internet businesses focused their Web efforts on creating online brands and securing customers. Now, email looks like a natural complement to existing Web products.

"If we're communicating with customers by email five times a week, that may drive more traffic to our site," says Seidman. "It's potentially a tremendously powerful tool."

Skills needed: Software development experience is required to work with technicians on design issues and rollout schedules. But an email channel manager must also understand customers' needs and anticipate how they would use certain services. Seidman has worked on product development in the software and Internet space for the past seven years, but he is also uniquely qualified for his new role: In 1994, he created Seidman's Online Insider, an email newsletter that now has 50,000 subscribers.

Favorite part of the job: "Being at the forefront of the industry. Schwab wants to be the smartest company in the world about email, and I've been given license to figure out how to do that."

Toughest aspect of the job: "Adapting quickly and changing on the fly as we learn what works and what doesn't."

Salary: $95,000-$180,000

7. Consumer Experience Manager
Mark Reese, the chief ecommerce officer for educational-toy seller toysmart.com, monitors the total quality of a customer's experience, from shopping the company's site to the delivery of orders. Reese works with the content team and Web applications developers on new features and functions that will make the shopping experience better and easier. For example, toysmart.com's new Website includes customized, one-click searches based on toy category, age group, and price range. Reese also oversees operations for the back end of the transaction process, such as order fulfillment, supply-chain management, delivery, and billing. He's often in the warehouse watching orders go out the door, and frequently shops toysmart.com under false names. For all strategic decisions, and with any proposal of new technologies or services, Reese ensures that first consideration is given to how it will affect customers.

"I put every idea through that filter to make sure that we have considered its effect on any part of the transaction process," says Reese. "Our CEO likes the fact that there's one person accountable for the end-to-end customer experience."

Evolution: In the race to launch ecommerce operations, companies may have neglected customer service in favor of issues such as marketing, price, and strategic alliances. But the Web offers new ways to develop relationships with customers, collect personal information, and design better-targeted products and services (see "Devil's in the Details," May '99). An expert dedicated to the online customer experience can help bring ecommerce to the next level of personalization and customer interaction.

Skills needed: Reese likens his role to that of a chief operating officer. Operations experience, systems engineering skills, and creative and strategic thinking capabilities are essential. "You have to be both a right-brain and a left-brain person," says Reese. Favorite part of the job: "The breadth of responsibilities and the challenge to find ways to better coordinate resources."

Toughest aspect of the job: "The time commitment; it's an all-consuming business."

Salary: $125,000-$150,000

8. Metamediary CEO
The Web makes room for a new third party in a shopping transaction. A metamediary sits between buyers and sellers, offering a centralized, unbiased source of information and resources related to a specific task, such as buying a home or car (see "Making New Markets," May '99). From this one point, customers can educate themselves on the topic, research options and prices, and when ready, jump directly to related vendors in the marketplace. For example, Edmund Publications, an automobile metamediary, offers pricing information, comparisons, and reviews of new and used cars. Buyers can also go directly to car dealers, insurance companies, financing and warranty providers, and even spare-parts dealers. "We're the only Website that comes at the automotive market strictly from the consumer's point of view," says Edmund's CEO Peter Steinlauf. "Maintaining the consumer's trust is paramount."

Steinlauf is constantly working on initiatives to enhance the site's content and features, and finding strategic partnerships with other consumer-oriented sites. To maintain Edmund's reputation for neutrality, Steinlauf has no direct role in developing or editing the site's editorial content. That task is handled by the editor in chief.

Evolution: Metamediaries developed in reaction to one of the Web's drawbacks: With so many information resources available online, it's difficult for consumers to use it all efficiently. Steinlauf launched the Edmund's Website in 1994 with basic content from the company's traditional car buyers' guides.

But he rapidly expanded the offerings with help from reader requests for additional resources and features.

Skills needed: A metamediary CEO must have the negotiating skills and business acumen to strike deals with content and distribution partners. The CEO must also have product development and marketing skills to help conceive new features and services for the Website.

Favorite aspect of the job: "Being on the cutting edge of different programs."

Toughest aspect of the job: "Having to stay on top of changes in technology."

Salary: $250,000

9. Chief Knowledge Officer
The CKO is responsible for building and managing a company's internal knowledge management efforts-a system that organizes vital information from documents, databases, and people in a reusable and searchable body of institutional knowledge. Chris Newell, the CKO for Internet business consulting firm Viant, says the first task is to extend the necessary technology infrastructure, including applications that capture, categorize, and retrieve information entered by employees or stored in company databases. The CKO must continually work on new applications to add functionality, scalability, and efficiency to that system. For example, Newell plans to enhance Viant's knowledge management systems with better search capabilities and collaboration applications that would allow project teams to share data online.

The CKO's additional responsibilities are educational and strategic. Newell must teach Viant's employees what resources are available and how to use the system. The goal is to create an online collection of information such as former project proposals, task methodologies, best practices, meeting transcripts, and documentation of employees' project experiences that may be useful in additional projects or in ongoing employee training. He also works closely with the CEO and the heads of IT and HR to align knowledge management with the company's overall strategy. "A knowledge manager brings the company's technological and anthropological pieces together. It's a multidisciplinary problem," says Newell.

Evolution: Increased globalization and accelerated business cycles strain a company's ability to connect the right people and information for certain projects. But effective knowledge management was difficult until the development of Internet technologies, especially searching and collaborative technologies.

Skills needed: Although a CKO needs strong technical skills to handle the technical infrastructure, Newell says a deep understanding of how individuals really work together is crucial.

Favorite part of the job: "It's exciting to create the central nervous system of a company that will bring multiple disciplines together in a way they haven't been before."

Toughest aspect of the job: "Whatever you build is going to work for some people and not for others. You're not able to make everybody happy."

Salary: $100,000-$500,000

10. Chief Internet Officer
The embodiment of a company's commitment to the Web, a CIO oversees all online strategy and operations. Brooks Fisher, vice president and general manager of community and marketspaces at Intuit, was picked by CEO Bill Harris to transform Intuit from a packaged software vendor to a top online personal-finance business. Fisher brought in a new editorial staff and Web technology experts, while imparting the firm's Web strategy and direction to Intuit's existing employees. He also created a revenue model and made crucial early decisions, such as avoiding offline marketing in favor of online marketing and distribution deals. Today, he runs Intuit's three consumer online businesses, Quicken.com, Quicken Mortgage, and Quicken Insure Market. "You just don't kick back and watch the business grow," says Fisher. "You've got to make big calls every week on important investments, staffing decisions, marketing dollars, and distribution." And he's got to keep the finances in line with Wall Street's expectations.

Evolution: Traditional businesses like Intuit rely on dedicated Web specialists to avoid getting left behind in the New Economy.

Skills needed: Leadership skills are essential to guide the entire organization. A CIO must combine sound management practices and a fundamental understanding of the economics of business with the ability to move quickly and take risks. Fisher gained most of his business experience in old media, managing operations for magazines such as U.S. News and World Report. But he also spent a year at Infoseek before joining Intuit. "My experiences in operations management, general management, and in the chaotic early phase of the Internet industry prepared me well for this job."

Favorite part of the job: "We're just making it up as we go along. I find that really exciting."

Toughest aspect of the job: "The pace of this industry, and how it affects family issues. The personal sacrifice is daunting."

Salary: $200,000-$300,000

Sean Donahue (spd2@earthlink.net) is a San Francisco-based journalist who wrote "To Search and Protect" in Business 2.0's June issue.