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Mashreq

Head of Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture

Mashreq
United Arab Emirates · Full-time · Mid-Senior

Job Description

To lead and manage Mashreq's IT infrastructure and enterprise architecture, ensuring alignment with the bank's business strategies and objectives.

This role involves overseeing the design, implementation, and maintenance of Mashreq's IT infrastructure, ensuring high availability, security, and performance. Additionally, the role is responsible for developing and maintaining the enterprise architecture framework to support scalability, flexibility, and integration of new technologies, thereby enabling Mashreq to achieve its strategic goals.

Responsibilities

  • Strategic Planning and Alignment:
  • Develop and implement IT Infrastructure & Enterprise Architecture strategies in line with the bank's business goals, supporting growth and innovation goals.
  • Develop and maintain the Enterprise Architecture & IT Infrastructure framework to support scalability, flexibility, and integration of new technologies.
  • Collaborate with business units to understand requirements and translate them into effective IT solutions and engage with key stakeholders, including senior management, to communicate the strategic direction and performance of the IT Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture.
  • Provide key inputs to the Directors, Board, and other Senior Management personnel on IT-related issues and developments in the banking industry.
  • Promote sustainable IT practices to reduce the environmental impact of the bank's IT operations.
  • Drive the adoption of the latest technologies like Generative AI, APIs, Microservices, and Containerization strategies to ensure seamless integration and scalability across the organization.
  • Infrastructure Management:
  • Manage and administer the IT infrastructure verticals of the bank, including networking, virtualization, storage, and server administration.
  • Oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of IT Infrastructure & Enterprise Architecture ensuring high availability, security, and performance.
  • Ensure the continuous improvement and upgrading of IT Infrastructure to meet evolving business needs. This includes implementing Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI).
  • Architectural Design & Governance:
  • Investigate and evaluate key architectural choices, collaborating with architects to determine optimal solutions.
  • Create and maintain conceptual architecture documentation based on the organization's digital strategy.
  • Lead Architecture Review Boards to ensure solution designs adhere to architectural principles and best practices. Utilize frameworks such as TOGAF, Zachman, and ArchiMate.
  • Operational Excellence & Delivery:
  • Lead large-scale IT infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture projects, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and meet quality standards. Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure successful project delivery.
  • Implement quality assurance processes to ensure the reliability and integrity of IT systems and services. Implement project management best practices to manage risk, allocate resources, and track performance.
  • Ensure the stability, performance, and security of technology platforms and applications.
  • Drive the implementation of DevOps practices, including Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD).
  • Optimize technology assets by consolidating applications and eliminating redundancies. Provide guidance to technology teams in performance testing and tuning.
  • Security and Compliance:
  • Establish and enforce IT governance policies and procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
  • Ensure all IT services and AMC renewals are done on time and meet security/regulatory certifications. Implement security measures such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection, End Point Detection and Response (EDR), and Identity and Access Management (IAM).
  • Vendor and Budget Management:
  • Develop and manage the IT infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture budget, ensuring cost-effective use of resources.
  • Oversee IT vendor management, including service level agreements and timely renewals. Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers to ensure the delivery of high-quality IT services.
  • Risk Management:
  • Manage IT risks and ensure that the IT systems are compliant with established standards and regulations; develop and implement business continuity and disaster recovery plans.
  • Maintain detailed documentation of all architectural designs and associated frameworks.
  • Conduct regular system audits and software upgrades to ensure optimal performance and security.
  • Create heatmaps and identify hotspots in the current application landscape, providing solutions to rectify them.
  • Cloud Infrastructure Strategy:
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive cloud infrastructure strategy that aligns with the bank's overall IT and business objectives.
  • Oversee the migration of on-premises infrastructure to cloud-based solutions, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations.
  • Manage cloud service providers, ensuring optimal performance, security, and cost-efficiency.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and best practices for cloud infrastructure.
  • Foster a culture of cloud-first thinking within the IT team and across the organization.
  • Innovation and Improvement:
  • Keep abreast of the latest trends and advancements in IT architecture and infrastructure, incorporating innovative solutions to enhance the bank's capabilities.
  • Explore and evaluate new technologies, conducting proof-of-concepts (POCs) to assess their feasibility and potential value.
  • Drive innovation through the adoption of open-source architectures, cloud-native technologies, and serverless computing.
  • Recommend appropriate licensing models and optimize technology asset utilization.

Qualifications

  • Over 15 years of IT experience, preferably in banking or financial services, with a background in IT infrastructure management and at least 5 years in an Enterprise Architecture role.
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field; a Master's degree is preferred.
  • Strong knowledge of networking, virtualization, storage, and server administration.
  • Proven experience in managing large-scale IT projects and teams.
  • Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong understanding of banking operations, products, and the regulatory environment.
  • Experience with core banking systems, payment networks, and banking integration patterns.
  • Expertise in cloud migration strategies, API-driven architectures, and microservices.
  • Experience with data architecture, analytics platforms, and data governance.
  • Understanding of security architecture and financial compliance requirements.
  • Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Knowledge

  • Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: Deep understanding of frameworks such as TOGAF, Zachman, and FEAF
  • Cloud Technologies: Proficiency in cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, including cloud-native architectures and serverless computing
  • Security Standards: Knowledge of security standards and practices, including DDoS protection, EDR, vulnerability management, identity and access management, and privileged access management
  • Regulatory Compliance: Familiarity with regulatory requirements and standards relevant to the banking industry, such as GDPR, SOX, and PCI-DSS
  • Technology Trends: Awareness of emerging technologies and trends, such as AI, machine learning, blockchain, and IoT

Skills

  • Strategic Leadership: Ability to define and articulate the future state technology stack, enabling rapid application deployment and digital transformation
  • Architectural Design & Governance: Expertise in creating and maintaining conceptual architecture documentation, establishing and enforcing architectural standards, policies, and governance processes
  • Technical Problem-Solving: Strong skills in identifying and resolving technical issues related to infrastructure and enterprise architecture
  • Performance Optimization: Proficiency in enhancing system performance through solutions such as upgrading operating systems and migrating applications to more efficient platforms
  • Collaboration and Communication: Excellent communication skills to work closely with various departments and provide strategic guidance to senior management
  • Project Management: Experience in leading major projects, including digital transformation, eservices, mservices, RPA, and low-code/no-code solutions

About Us

The leading financial institution in MENA

While more than half a century old, we proudly think like a challenger, startup, and innovator

in banking and finance, powered by a diverse and dynamic team who put customers first.

Together, we pioneer key innovations and developments in banking and financial services.

Our mandate? To help customers find their way to Rise Every Day, partnering with them through

the highs and lows to help them reach their goals and unlock their unique vision of success.

Delivering superior service to clients by leading with innovation, treating colleagues with dignity and fairness while pursuing opportunities that grow shareholders value.

We actively contribute to the community through responsible banking in our mission to inspire more people to Rise.

Key Skills

Ranked by relevance

cloud virtualization identity and access management high availability serverless storage server ai continuous integration continuous deployment containerization machine learning microservices blockchain devops gdpr aws sdn
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Posted
May 01, 2025
Type
Full-time
Level
Mid-Senior
Location
United Arab Emirates
Company
Mashreq

Industries

Banking

Categories

Information Technology

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