Director of Infrastructure and Networks

Chalhoub Group; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 300,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail and distribution company in the United Arab Emirates seeks a Director of Infrastructure and Networks to architect and drive the strategic vision for its global infrastructure. The ideal candidate will have over 15 years of experience, including significant leadership roles, and expertise in cloud integration and disaster recovery. This is a high-impact role focusing on operational excellence and innovation.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in infrastructure and network support, with at least 5 years in leadership roles.
• Strong expertise in observability tools and cloud platforms.
• Experience in vendor management and contract negotiations.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive a modern infrastructure and network strategy.
• Architect and manage a secure multi-cloud environment.
• Design and execute disaster recovery strategies.
• Oversee procurement processes for infrastructure equipment.

Skills

Technical leadership

Strategic vision

Cloud integration

Disaster recovery

Vendor management

Performance engineering

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field

Tools

Datadog

AWS

Azure

GCP

Oracle OCI

Job description

We are seeking a transformational leader and technical powerhouse to serve as our Director of Infrastructure and Networks. In this high-impact role, you will architect and drive the strategic vision, operational excellence, and innovation agenda for our global infrastructure ecosystem across a complex multicloud environment, including AWS, Azure, GCP, and ideally Oracle OCI. You will be responsible for shaping the direction of enterprise networking, cloud integration, and infrastructure services, enabling business velocity, resilience, and security at scale.

We are looking for a superstar who pairs deep technical expertise with strategic acumen, operational leadership, and a strong business mindset. As a key member of the Corporate Technology leadership team, you will lead the planning, development, and optimization of our infrastructure and network landscape. You will drive the successful delivery of critical programs—from large-scale network and cloud transformations to security modernization—ensuring high availability, performance, and compliance while managing cross-functional teams, vendor relationships, and enterprise-wide initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Define and drive a modern infrastructure and network strategy aligned with business objectives and growth priorities.
• Act as the thought leader for enterprise infrastructure, continuously assessing and advancing capabilities in cloud, networking, security, and observability.

Enterprise Infrastructure & Multi-Cloud Management

• Architect and manage a highly available, secure, and scalable hybrid cloud environment across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI.
• Lead cloud migrations, integrations, and workload optimization to ensure performance, cost-efficiency, and service continuity.

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

• Design and execute robust disaster recovery strategies to mitigate risks and ensure business continuity.

Operational Excellence & Performance Engineering

• Establish and measure KPIs, SLAs, and uptime objectives for proactive monitoring and optimization.
• Lead performance engineering initiatives to improve infrastructure responsiveness and resilience.

Governance & Documentation

• Implement best practices and governance frameworks for infrastructure management.
• Maintain detailed documentation of IT infrastructure processes and configurations for compliance and audits.

Procurement & Budget Management

• Oversee procurement processes for infrastructure and network equipment, ensuring cost-effectiveness and compliance.
• Develop and manage the infrastructure and network budget, ensuring expenditures align with financial targets.

Vendor & Contract Management

• Manage relationships with technology vendors, ensuring SLAs and performance expectations are met.

People Leadership & Development

• Inspire, mentor, and develop a high-performing infrastructure and networks team.
• Promote a culture of innovation, accountability, and technical excellence.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Evaluate emerging technologies and approaches to enhance infrastructure capabilities.
• Identify areas for process improvement to streamline operations and reduce complexity.

Technical Expertise & Hands-On Experience

• Deep knowledge of layered network models, BGP, Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols, MPLS, enterprise firewalls, wireless principles, DNS, DHCP, NTP, RADIUS, IPAM, SNMP, Syslog, and transport technologies.
• Experience with enterprise routers, switches, firewalls, wireless, and structured cabling systems.
• Proven ability to design, implement, and support complex network and infrastructure solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field.
• 15+ years in infrastructure and network support, with at least 5 years in leadership roles.
• Strong expertise in observability tools like Datadog, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle), and security principles.
• Experience in vendor management, contract negotiations, and strategic partnerships.
• Understanding of data analytics, ITIL certification, and experience in retail is a plus.

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