Chief Technology Officer

Client of Emerald Zebra Talent Solutions; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Global fintech trading group seeks a Technology Strategy and Architecture Leader to define and execute a long-term technology roadmap for prop trading and brokerage operations. You will drive scalable cloud-native architectures, ensure 24/7 reliability, and align platform, data, and security initiatives across multiple jurisdictions.

Responsibilities include building shared services, data infrastructure, governance, and an engineering operating model that fosters excellence, speed, and

Qualifications

• 12+ years of technology leadership in fintech, brokerage or trading platforms.
• Minimum 5 years in a senior leadership role within fintech, brokerage or trading platform businesses.
• Deep understanding of CFD and/or prop trading infrastructure and MT4/MT5 integrations.
• Proven experience scaling engineering organisations across distributed hubs and cultures.
• Strong grounding in cloud-native architecture, distributed systems and high-availability design.
• Experience embedding regulatory compliance, data governance and security controls.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the group s long-term technology strategy and architecture roadmap.
• Lead platform reliability, latency, and performance across trading environments.
• Build shared services, data infrastructure and foundational platform capabilities.
• Shape the engineering operating model, OKRs, and high-performance culture.
• Drive regulatory readiness, risk management, and vendor governance.
• Foster AI-native engineering initiatives and data-driven product features.
• Manage vendor relationships and cloud infrastructure strategy.

Skills

Technology leadership

Cloud-native architecture

Distributed systems

Real-time data

High availability

Observability

Incident response

Vendor management

Build vs buy decisions

Regulatory compliance

Tools

MetaTrader 4/5 integrations

Liquidity provider connectivity

Execution routing

Job description

Technology strategy and architecture leadership

Define and execute the group s long-term technology strategy establishing the architectural roadmap that supports both prop trading and brokerage operations Lead all major architectural decisions with deep grounding in scalability reliability observability and modern cloud-native engineering practices Establish a clear separation between platform shared services and infrastructure and product business-facing feature delivery to reduce duplication and accelerate delivery velocity Build shared services data infrastructure and foundational platform capabilities that serve both businesses without creating coupling or delivery bottlenecks Drive the architecture required to support multi-asset expansion including CFD Futures and Crypto business lines ensuring the platform can absorb new instruments without structural re-work

Trading platform reliability and performance

Ensure 24 7 availability and ultra-low latency execution across all trading environments evaluation programmes and brokerage alike Define and enforce clear SLOs observability frameworks incident management protocols and post-incident review processes across both platforms Oversee the stability performance and resilience of all trading platforms including MetaTrader integrations execution routing liquidity provider connectivity and order management systems Establish and maintain robust disaster recovery and business continuity frameworks ensuring no single point of failure in trading infrastructure Lead optimisation of integrations across CRM back-office payment systems liquidity bridges and client portals to ensure end-to-end reliability

Shared platform infrastructure and ecosystem build

Architect and deliver the shared infrastructure underpinning the group ecosystem including unified KYC AML verification single sign-on cross-platform referral tracking and affiliate infrastructure Build the technical foundations for the prop-firm-to-broker conversion flywheel enabling seamless account transitions shared identity and cross-platform data flows Own the data infrastructure strategy warehousing real-time analytics pipelines and the tooling that enables product risk and finance teams to operate from a single source of truth Evaluate build vs buy decisions for key platform components including payment gateways KYC providers risk engines and trading infrastructure with a clear framework for vendor governance and progressive internalisation

Engineering capability and operating model

Lead grow and develop the engineering organisation across multiple countries and jurisdictions building a high-performance accountable engineering culture rooted in craft velocity and ownership Define and implement a modern engineering operating model squad-based delivery clear domain ownership OKR-aligned execution and continuous improvement rituals Drive best practices across the full engineering lifecycle CI CD pipelines automated testing deployment safety on-call culture and production readiness reviews Attract develop and retain world-class engineering talent across backend frontend DevOps data engineering QA and security functions Establish and enforce engineering standards coding practices and architectural governance that scale with the organisation without becoming bureaucracy

Security compliance and regulatory readiness

Lead cybersecurity strategy risk mitigation and regulatory technology compliance across all systems with particular focus on the broker s DFSA licensing requirements and data sovereignty obligations Embed compliance- and risk-by-design principles into engineering workflows auditability access controls data governance and immutable audit trails Ensure all technology systems meet the data protection cybersecurity and regulatory standards required across the group s operating jurisdictions including the UAE Malaysia Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Cyprus Partner closely with Risk and Compliance to ensure platform infrastructure supports regulatory examinations client money segregation requirements and trading record retention obligations Oversee technology readiness for DFSA licensing milestones ensuring the broker s infrastructure controls and security posture meet regulatory expectations before commercial launch

AI-native engineering and future readiness

Drive an AI-builder mindset across engineering evaluate and deploy AI ML capabilities that create genuine operational leverage such as intelligent monitoring anomaly detection automated compliance checks and predictive infrastructure scaling Institutionalise AI-assisted engineering workflows to accelerate delivery reduce toil and improve code quality across the team Build the data and ML infrastructure required to support AI-powered product features developed with the CPO including real-time trader analytics personalisation engines and risk intelligence tools Ensure the technology architecture remains adaptable to emerging asset classes trading modalities and regulatory technology requirements over the long term

Vendor and infrastructure management

Manage all technology vendor relationships including trading platform providers cloud infrastructure security vendors and third-party integrations with a clear governance framework and cost optimisation discipline Define and execute cloud or hybrid infrastructure strategy balancing performance cost regulatory data residency requirements and operational resilience Oversee infrastructure cost management as the organisation scales ensuring technology spend tracks revenue growth without disproportionate overhead

12+ years of technology leadership experience, with a minimum of 5 years in a senior leadership role within fintech, brokerage or trading platform businesses. Deep understanding of CFD and/or prop trading infrastructure: MetaTrader 4/5 integrations, bridge systems, liquidity provider connectivity, execution routing and back-office architecture. Must have worked in the sector with specific exposure to trading infrastructure. Proven experience scaling engineering organisations across multiple distributed hubs, with strong people leadership and engineering culture development credentials. Strong grounding in cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, real-time data infrastructure and high-availability system design. Demonstrated track record of owning platform reliability, including SLO design, observability frameworks, incident response and continuous improvement in trading-critical environments. Experience embedding compliance, data governance and security controls into engineering workflows in regulated financial services environments. Strong vendor management capability, including build vs buy decision frameworks, contract governance and infrastructure cost optimisation. Hands-on technical credibility sufficient to lead architecture reviews, challenge technical proposals and earn the respect of senior engineers.