Associate Director - IT Operations and Compliance

Dubai Holding Asset Management; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 300,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the UAE is seeking an experienced IT Service Manager to oversee compliance initiatives and IT support services. The role involves managing a team, ensuring alignment with internal guidelines, and fostering a culture of security and compliance. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in IT management, risk management, and vendor management, along with a strong educational background in IT.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 - 10 years of IT experience required.
• Expert knowledge of IT standards such as ISO 27001, ITIL, and COBIT.
• Experience in process documentation and engineering.

Responsibilities

• Manage development and execution of compliance initiatives.
• Oversee IT support services and ensure compliance with IT policies.
• Lead IT support team and manage vendor relationships.

Skills

IT service management

risk management

compliance

vendor management

leadership

communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

ITIL or audit-related certification

MBA in information systems

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

The role holder is responsible for managing the development and execution of the standards and compliance initiatives to ensure alignment with internal guidelines and external regulatory compliance requirements to minimize noncompliance risks faced by DHAM. The role holder is also responsible for providing highly reliable end-to-end IT Services across the group by orchestrating service delivery and operations management through an ecosystem of internal and external service providers and lead the service management team which acts as a conduit between DHAM and DH to ensure DC Monitoring, Networks, Hardware's, Security, help desk and field support operate seamlessly.

The role is responsible for overseeing all aspects of IT support services and ensuring compliance with IT policies and regulations within DHAM. This role requires a strong understanding of IT service management, risk management, compliance, and vendor management, as well as excellent leadership and communication skills. The role ensures seamless IT service delivery to end-users, collaborates effectively with central IT teams, and champions a culture of security and compliance within the vertical.

Strategic Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development and review of Business Technology strategic plan in order to generate realistic financial and operational targets and ensure the achievement of targets via identification of significant strategic initiatives.
• Provide strategic input on the Service Management function to align with the vision for the development of corporate and departmental goals in support of the overall business strategy
• Develop and implement a forward-looking IT support strategy aligned with business goals, forecasting future needs, and optimizing service delivery.
• Drive IT compliance initiatives, proactively assess risks, and foster a culture of security awareness within the vertical.
• Lead, develop, and mentor the IT support team, ensuring talent acquisition, performance management, and effective team structure.
• Strategically manage vendors related to infrastructure, network, operations, and telecommunications, optimizing contracts, performance, and partnerships.
• Champion innovation and technology adoption within IT support, staying current with trends and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Manage the IT support budget, optimize resource allocation, and demonstrate the ROI of IT support initiatives.

Core Responsibilities

IT Services Management

• Collaborate with central IT (service management, operations, cybersecurity, infrastructure, network) for seamless service delivery and incident resolution.
• Prioritize and manage infrastructure/network/security requests for new services, upgrades, and projects, aligning with business needs and IT strategy.
• Act as a liaison between the vertical and central IT teams to facilitate effective communication and collaboration
• Manage and assist in the analysis, development, design, and implementation of new information systems and infrastructure.
• Ensure new services have a fully developed end-to-end support structure (processes, SLAs, KPIs).
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure project delivery complies with standards and policies.
• Ensure 3rd party contracts include an agreed support schedule and SLAs.
• Interface with project teams for service transition and back-office operations coverage.
• Ensure high-quality operational support material.
• Ensure training and non-functional requirements are defined and delivered.
• Ensure effective performance metrics and service levels for new services.
• Identify and manage operational risks.
• Oversee operations readiness and assurance.
• Manage the service desk team, tracking KPIs and escalations.
• Oversee service desk performance reports and analysis.
• Manage incident escalations for infrastructure or security issues.
• Propose and manage the IT service catalog. Ensure that the service provided is in-line with the service catalog.
• Leads the daily operations of all server systems, data networks and voice systems, including advanced tuning and performance of systems and network, capacity planning, systems and network configuration, network design, implementation, maintenance, and all related cyber security concern.
• Manage and assists with ongoing analysis, development, design and implementation of new information systems and infrastructure including setting standards, data design and integration of standards.
• Ensure new Services have a fully developed end to end support structure, including Processes, SLAs, KPIs monitoring are adequate with business requirements and priorities.
• Act as a gate keeper function that ensures effective Transfer to Operations for all new services introduced via the business project lifecycle.
• Provide fully documented services, which are updated and maintained throughout the life of the service and are aligned to best practice.
• Ensure effective decommissioning of services that are deemed `end of life` - to confirm the remove of all operational facilities, and redundant equipment, whilst ensuring any operational dependencies are effectively managed
• Represent the Operations team at all project meetings to define and implement service acceptance criteria for both new and changing services.
• Work with Project Managers, Business Owners, Service Owners, Managed Service Partners, Operations teams, and 3rd parties to ensure that projects are delivered in compliance with approved standards and policies.
• Ensure that any new 3rd party contracts contain an agreed support schedule which aligns with the proposed support model and is backed up with SLAs managed through regular service reviews.
• Interface with the project team to ensure adequate Service Transition and Back Office Operations Team coverage across all relevant work requests.
• Ensure all operational support material is completed to a high standard by all relevant functions.
• Ensure training requirements and any other non-functional requirements are defined and delivered against the agreed Service Acceptance Criteria.
• Ensure an effective set of performance metrics and service levels are delivered for new services.
• Identify and manage Operations risks ensuring a successful transition to service.
• Operations readiness and assurance to ensure support model is in place

Change Management

• Chair the change management board leading and evaluating all changes before deployment to production; ensuring all changes in production are governed via the Change Authority Board (CAB) and are evaluated against the impact and risks
• Lead the design authority responsible to govern the architecture design and creates a forum to discuss solution design issues faced by the teams for IT projects.
• Act as the point of contact between DHAM and DH for demand management related

Quality Assurance

• Responsible for working closely with the respective application owners to ensure availability of IT systems as per business requirements acts as a point of escalation for technical issues and support
• Monitor the performance of IT services against related key performance indicators (KPIs) and recommends changes to improve quality of performance. Monitor and identify quality assurance problems relating to the performance & deficiencies of IT services against related key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Responsible liaison between IT function and business areas, managing service levels and the ongoing relationship between IT and the business areas.
• Act as a custodian for Business Technology ensuring that all licenses and inventory records are maintained and comply with internal and external standards.
• Contribute to the design, develop, test and release activities across applications and infrastructure for DHAM and DH subsidiaries.
• Supervises the application changes and configurations as part of the transition and deployment of the developed solutions
• Define and highlights areas for service improvement or cost reductions, as appropriate, such as consolidating infrastructures and highlighting redundancies and duplications of effort.
• Identify development and implementation risks and analyses potential impact on Business Technology projects and on the achievement of scheduled objectives.
• Establish and govern DHAM Data governance framework including review and management of approved authority matrix, data inventory, data access models

Additional Scope

• Collaborate with cyber security teams for incident resolution and service continuity.
• Participate in cross-functional teams and initiatives impacting IT services.
• Ensure proper change management board evaluations before deployments.
• Monitor and track license usage and consumption for the vertical, ensuring cost optimization and compliance.
• Report on license usage and consumption to relevant stakeholders.

Minimum Qualification:

• Bachelors degree required in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Applications, or related field
• ITIL or audit-related certification (e.g. CISA, CISSP, CGEIT, CRISC, ISO 27002) preferred;
• MBA in information systems preferred

Experience:

• Minimum 8 - 10 years of IT experience required and exposure to reviewing/auditing IT Projects
• Expert knowledge of IT standards such as ISO 27001, ITIL, and COBIT
• Experience in process documentation and process engineering
• Competent with Microsoft Office
• Risk Management protocols
• Incident response and management.