Associate Director – Data Platform & Operations

FinOps Weekly; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

FinOps Weekly seeks an Associate Director to lead the Data Platform & Operations in Dubai/Abu Dhabi, guiding architecture, delivery, and governance across cloud and on‑prem environments. You will manage platform engineering, DevOps, and DataOps, driving scalable, cost‑efficient operations with self‑service capabilities for AI and analytics teams.

You will lead platform strategy, roadmap delivery, and cross‑functional collaboration in a fast-growing UAE enterprise, balancing hands-on execution

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or data infrastructure roles.
• 4+ years of leadership experience managing platform or engineering teams.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code frameworks.
• Proven expertise in big data technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Delta Lake, and modern data platforms.
• Experience across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.
• Strong understanding of observability frameworks, performance tuning, and self-service architectures.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders and contributing to platform strategy and roadmap delivery.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and operations across hybrid environments including Azure, Kubernetes/OpenShift, and on-prem storage.
• Build and scale modern data platforms using Spark, Kafka, Delta Lake, Parquet, and distributed storage solutions.
• Drive CI/CD, IaC (Terraform, Ansible), and platform automation across data and AI environments.
• Implement observability frameworks including monitoring, logging, lineage, and alerting to ensure platform reliability.
• Own platform performance, scalability, and cost optimisation strategies across cloud and on-prem environments (FinOps).
• Enable self-service capabilities for Data, AI, and BI teams to accelerate development and deployment.
• Manage end-to-end platform delivery, production readiness, and performance benchmarking.
• Lead platform engineering, DevOps, and DataOps best practices and mentoring.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to align platform strategy with organisational priorities.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Platform ownership

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/Engineering

Tools

Kubernetes/OpenShift

CI/CD

Terraform

Ansible

Observability

Job description

Discovered MENA# Associate Director – Data Platform & Operations## Job DescriptionAssociate Director – Data Platform & Operations – Dubai or Abu Dhabi Discover the Opportunity We’re partnering with a leading organisation in the UAE that is investing heavily in building a modern, enterprise-scale data platform to power AI, analytics, and business intelligence capabilities. This role sits at the core of the organisation’s data and AI ecosystem, responsible for leading the design, delivery, and ongoing evolution of a hybrid data platform spanning cloud and on-prem environments. This is a high-impact leadership position combining deep technical expertise across platform engineering and big data with ownership of platform strategy, scalability, and operational excellence. Discover the Role As Associate Director – Data Platform & Operations, you will lead the architecture and operations of a large-scale data platform supporting AI, data engineering, and analytics use cases. You will oversee platform engineering, DevOps, and operations teams, ensuring the platform is scalable, reliable, cost-efficient, and enables self-service capabilities for downstream teams. This role requires a highly technical leader who is hands-on, capable of driving platform modernisation while ensuring strong delivery, governance, and performance across a complex data ecosystem. Discover the Responsibilities Lead architecture and operations across hybrid environments including Azure, Kubernetes/OpenShift, and on-prem storage Build and scale modern data platforms using technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Delta Lake, Parquet, and distributed storage solutions Drive CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible), and platform automation across data and AI environments Implement observability frameworks including monitoring, logging, lineage, and alerting to ensure platform reliability Own platform performance, scalability, and cost optimisation strategies (FinOps) across cloud and on-prem environments Enable self-service capabilities for Data, AI, and BI teams to accelerate development and deployment Manage end-to-end platform delivery, dependencies, production readiness, and performance benchmarking Lead and mentor platform engineering, DevOps, and operations teams, embedding DataOps and DevOps best practices Partner with senior stakeholders across technology and business functions to align platform strategy with organisational priorities Discover the Requirements 8+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or data infrastructure roles 4+ years of leadership experience managing platform or engineering teams Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code frameworks Proven expertise in big data technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Delta Lake, and modern data platforms Experience working across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments Strong understanding of observability frameworks, platform performance tuning, and self-service architectures Experience working with senior stakeholders and contributing to platform strategy and roadmap delivery Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field Show more Show lessChange LocationFind awesome listings near you!