System Engineering Manager

The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

A federal regulatory agency in the UAE is looking for a System Engineering Manager to oversee the design, implementation, and operation of secure and high-performing IT systems. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in systems engineering with a focus on RHEL Linux and excellent leadership skills. Responsibilities include driving automation initiatives and ensuring that systems comply with security standards. The role demands a deep understanding of infrastructure management and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years technical experience in systems engineering with focus on RHEL.
• Expertise in engineering RHEL systems in cloud environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize enterprise-grade systems solutions.
• Ensure compliance with engineering standards for system designs.
• Drive automation and improvement initiatives in system operations.

Skills

RHEL system management

System architecture

Automation using Ansible

Disaster recovery

Security compliance

Performance optimization

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

The System Engineering Manager is responsible for designing, engineering, implementing, and operating – directly or via managed resources and third-party vendors – scalable, secure, and high-performing workloads across GCGRA on-premise data centre and IaaS/PaaS private and public cloud environments. The System Engineering Manager must have a comprehensive and solid understanding of system engineering principles and configuration best practices across enterprise Linux OS distributions, and proven technical experience with RHEL core services, including system, networking, storage, applications, and security. Technical knowledge and professional experience on Microsoft Windows Server OS is highly desirable. This position involves the management and coordination of technical engineering resources – internal and external consultants – as well as hands-on technical configuration to translate GCGRA systems engineering strategy into operational deployments, ensuring resiliency, optimizing performance, and enhancing security.

Responsibilities

• Design, lead, and optimize complex, enterprise-grade systems solutions — supporting infrastructure, platforms, data management, and CI/CD ecosystems — ensuring they meet the highest standards of resilience, security, scalability, and observability.
• Define, implement, and enforce system engineering standards, policies, and procedures across GCGRA on-prem, private, and public cloud IaaS/PaaS environments.
• Ensure systems are designed and operated according to best practices for reliability, scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Review and approve system designs, architecture documents, and operational runbooks to ensure compliance with engineering standards.
• Promote documentation, repeatability, and operational rigor across all system engineering activities.

System Architecture, Availability & Resilience:

• Oversee the design, engineering, and operation of enterprise Microsoft Windows Server and RHEL Linux systems supporting GCGRA business application platforms, aligned with business requirements and SLAs.
• Ensure systems meet high-availability, disaster recovery, and business continuity requirements.
• Drive capacity planning and performance optimization initiatives for Microsoft Windows Server and RHEL Linux systems.
• Balance performance, scalability, cost, and risk in system architecture decisions.
• Serve as the technical authority for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) environments.
• Oversee RHEL systems architecture, engineering, configuration, hardening, and ongoing operations.
• Manage the full OS lifecycle, including provisioning, patching, upgrades, migrations, and decommissioning.
• Stay current with Red Hat technologies and the broader Linux ecosystem, proactively introducing improvements. Security and Compliance.

Security, Compliance & Risk Management:

• Oversee OS hardening, vulnerability management, and secure configuration of Microsoft Windows Server and Linux systems.
• Ensure compliance with applicable UAE regulatory frameworks, industry standards (e.g., CIS benchmarks), and GCGRA organizational security policies.
• Support audits and compliance activities related to system infrastructure and operating systems.
• Collaborate with GCGRA InfoSec and Cyber Operations teams to design and operate secure system environments.

Automation & Operational Efficiency:

• Drive automation and standardization using tools such as Ansible, scripting (Bash, Python), and Infrastructure-as-Code approaches.
• Establish best practices for configuration management and system consistency.
• Reduce operational risk and manual effort through repeatable, automated processes.

Collaboration with Internal Teams and External Service Providers:

• Work with and support GCGRA IT, Application, Data/AI, DevOps, and internal business units to ensure secure application development, deployment, and maintenance.
• Support the Head of Cyber Security and Infrastructure in the supervision of third-party service providers to ensure the delivery of high-quality cybersecurity services.
• Provide technical leadership during system migrations and transformation projects.
• Evaluate vendor performance against SLAs and recommend improvements or changes as needed.
• Attend meetings with business and tech partners, note key requirements, support translation of basics into team guidance, promote respect.

Innovation and Continuous Improvement:

• Drive innovation by recommending and adopting new infrastructure capabilities to enhance operational efficiency.
• Optimize systems resource allocation and cost management.

Documentation and Reporting:

• Maintain comprehensive documentation of system architectures, processes, and configurations, also through collaboration with the GCGRA IT Application Team
• Provide detailed reports on system performance, costs, and security metrics to the Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure, the CIO, and other stakeholders.

Qualifications

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 15 (fifteen) years of extensive technical experience in systems engineering and IT infrastructure management, with at least 10 (ten) years focused on RHEL Linux.
• Proven expertise in designing, engineering, implementing, and managing RHEL systems running in on-prem and IaaS cloud environments (e.g., Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform).

Technical Skills:

• Extensive hands-on experience designing, installing, and operating Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in large-scale enterprise environments, including bare metal, virtualized, and hybrid infrastructures.
• Deep knowledge of RHEL installation and provisioning mechanisms, including Kickstart, PXE-based deployments, image-based provisioning, and post-install configuration workflows.
• Strong expertise in RHEL system management and lifecycle operations, including subscription and repository management, Red Hat Satellite, patching strategies, minor/major version upgrades, and in-place migrations.
• Advanced understanding of Linux kernel and OS internals relevant to RHEL, including kernel tuning, CPU and memory management, I/O scheduling, NUMA considerations, and boot process (GRUB2, initramfs, systemd).
• Proven experience with storage and filesystem technologies on RHEL, including LVM, XFS, ext4, NFS, multipathing, and performance tuning for local and SAN-backed storage.
• In-depth experience implementing and maintaining RHEL security controls, including SELinux policy management, firewalld/iptables, auditd, system hardening, and compliance with CIS and organizational security baselines.
• Hands-on expertise with automation and configuration management using Ansible and Red Hat Automation Platform to standardize builds, enforce configuration drift control, and streamline operational tasks.
• Strong background in monitoring, logging, and diagnostics at the OS level, including journald, rsyslog, performance analysis tools (top, vmstat, iostat, perf), and proactive capacity monitoring.
• Experience managing high availability and resilience on RHEL systems, including clustering concepts, service failover, backup integration, and disaster recovery considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex, low-level system issues, including kernel panics, resource contention, filesystem corruption, and performance degradation in production environments.

Certifications:

• Professional Certifications: Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA), or equivalent enterprise Linux certifications; ITIL or similar service management certifications considered a plus.
• Technical Certifications: Relevant certifications in Linux systems, automation, security, or infrastructure platforms, demonstrating ongoing professional development and deep technical expertise in enterprise environments.
• Attention to detail, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly in infrastructure optimization and integration.
• Decision making under intense workload and pressure.
• Resiliency and adaptability to dynamic professional environment, new technologies and emerging trends.
• High emotional intelligence and positive attitude.
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities, with a track record of working effectively with cross-functional teams and vendors.
• Ability to work collaboratively with internal teams and external service providers.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects, balance competing priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying updated with emerging technologies in cloud and IT infrastructure domains.

About Us

The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) is the federal executive agency responsible for regulating and overseeing commercial gaming in the United Arab Emirates. We aim to drive sustainable growth by cultivating world-class commercial gaming operations and implementing efficient regulation, grounded in the principles of integrity, innovation, and responsible practices.

Established by Federal Law by Decree and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the GCGRA is the executive authority that holds exclusive jurisdiction to regulate, license, and supervise all commercial gaming activities and facilities in the UAE.