Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

HUMAN-CRAFT -FZCO; Dubai; On-site; AED 380,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology company in Dubai is seeking a Senior Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead the design and management of mission-critical transactional systems. The ideal candidate will ensure the systems operate securely and reliably, with responsibilities that include overseeing security, and providing architectural leadership. Candidates should have a strong background in payments, idempotency, and experience in regulated environments. Fluency in English is mandatory for this role.

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on experience with payments and reconciliation.
• Experience running live production systems with defined SLAs.
• Hands-on experience with role-based access control and audit logs.

Responsibilities

• Design and launch transactional infrastructure.
• Oversee system security including access rights.
• Provide architectural leadership and accountability.

Skills

Experience with payments

Understanding of idempotency

Design of state machines

Role-based access control (RBAC)

Experience in regulated environments

Strong ownership mindset

Job description

About the Role

We are publishing on behalf of a client searching for a senior-level Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role focused on building, operating, and owning mission-critical transactional systems. The CTO is responsible not for writing code personally, but for ensuring that systems operate correctly, securely, and reliably at all times.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and launch transactional infrastructure (payments, bookings, statuses)
• Build and own state machine and event-driven architecture
• Implement idempotent operations to prevent double charges and inconsistent states
• Integrate payment providers (webhooks, retries, reconciliation)
• Ensure full auditability and traceability of all system operations
• Oversee system security, including access rights, roles, and secrets
• Organise and govern production support (SLAs, incidents, post-mortems)
• Provide architectural leadership and accountability for system outcomes

Skills

Experience

Transactions & Payments:

• Proven hands-on experience with payments, webhooks, idempotency, and reconciliation
• Clear understanding that a successful HTTP response does not necessarily equal a successful transaction

Architecture:

• Design and operation of state machines and event-driven systems
• Ability to clearly explain system states, recovery after failures, and handling of repeated or delayed events

Security & Control:

• Hands-on experience with role-based access control (RBAC), audit logs, and secrets management
• Experience working with legally or financially sensitive data

Production & Accountability:

• Experience running live production systems with defined SLAsExposure to incidents and post-mortem processes
• Strong ownership mindset and responsibility for system reliability

Strong Advantages

• Experience in FinTech, escrow, booking, or wallet-based systems
• Experience in regulated or quasi-banking environments
• Scaling of transactional platforms
• Involvement in incidents with real financial impact

Profiles Not a Fit for This Role

• Experience limited to marketing websites, landing pages, CRM, or admin panels
• Primary focus on UI/UX with limited backend responsibility
• No exposure to real-money transactions or production incidents

Work Format

• High level of autonomy and responsibility
• Direct impact on core product architecture
• Quality-driven engineering environment
• Role requires 100% professional involvement

Language Requirements

• English – fluent (mandatory)
• Additional languages are a strong advantage

Recruitment Process & Application

This role is published on behalf of a client. Kindly submit your CV in English.