Head of Development / Senior Solutions Architect Offline

Executive Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced technical leader to take ownership of both our forward-looking AI initiatives and the strategic takeover of a mission-critical public safety/mobility platform.

This is a hybrid role bridging executive engineering leadership, AI operationalization, and hands-on solutions architecture. You will be responsible for leading the transition of a complex, mixed-documentation legacy estate (ASP.NET 4.8/WCF) from an external vendor, designing its modernization path to .NET 8, and simultaneously building out production-ready, localized AI/ML capabilities.

The ideal candidate is a pragmatic, highly technical leader who can walk into a complex legacy environment, make it understandable, steadily modernize it without breaking production, and seamlessly integrate advanced AI/ML capabilities within strict governance frameworks.

The Real-World Context

• You will see legacy code and uneven documentation. Some services are modern .NET 8; others are ASP.NET Framework 4.8 and WCF relying on "tribal knowledge."
• You will own the vendor transition. You need to define the boundaries, repo strategy, and handover steps to move ownership safely in-house.
• You will build the future. You will have the authority and influence to leave this platform cleaner, safer, and AI-enabled, transitioning from partly manual deployments to automated, secure DevSecOps pipelines.

Key Responsibilities

1. Platform Takeover & Architecture Modernization

• Map the As-Is: Figure out what is currently running. Map components, integrations, environments, and deployment paths of the vendor-operated platform.
• Own the Modernization Path: Design a phased, risk-controlled architectural roadmap from ASP.NET 4.8/WCF to a clean .NET 8 (LTS) microservices ecosystem.
• Set the Standards: Establish API contracts, coding standards, and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) to ensure the new internal team operates consistently.

2. Engineering Delivery & DevSecOps

• Execute the software development lifecycle (SDLC) in line with approved governance and Zero Trust security principles.
• Partner with Ops/DevOps to replace manual deployment habits with auditable CI/CD pipelines (approval gates, mandatory SAST scanning, artifact integrity, zero-downtime rollbacks).
• Oversee technical delivery timelines, resource allocation, and overall release readiness.

3. AI Implementation & Operationalization

• Execute the AI roadmap, leading the development, integration, and deployment of AI/ML models (NLP, Computer Vision, Predictive Analytics).
• Implement MLOps pipelines and full model lifecycle management to ensure AI solutions are scalable, monitored, and production-ready.
• Ensure AI systems strictly comply with data governance and enterprise security policies.

4. Cloud Infrastructure & System Integration

• Implement cloud architecture standards within Azure, optimizing for both modern AI workloads (GPU, model hosting) and legacy .NET integrations.
• Oversee complex data architectures bridging legacy and modern systems (SQL Server, MySQL).
• Monitor cost optimization, system performance, and infrastructure scalability.

5. Team Leadership & Localized AI Optimization

• Build, manage, and mentor an onsite, high-signal team of senior engineers, architects, and AI specialists.
• Translate tribal knowledge into structured, understandable documentation for the team.
• Supervise AI localization, ensuring Arabic NLP tuning, validation, and regional adaptability are culturally and linguistically precise.

6. Stakeholder Communication & Authority

• Translate deep technical challenges (both legacy untangling and AI scaling) into structured risk reports for executive leadership.
• Present updates clearly in both Arabic and English.
• Authority Level: Approves technical implementations, enforces governance, and escalates architectural risks. (Cannot override enterprise architecture board decisions).

Required Qualifications

• Education: Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, or a related technical field (or equivalent extensive architectural experience).
• Experience: 10+ years of engineering experience, with 3-4+ years in a dual architecture/AI leadership role.
• Modernization Reality: Proven experience in "vendor takeover" scenarios, legacy decoupling, and migrating legacy .NET to modern frameworks.
• Tech Stack Fluency: Deep, hands-on knowledge across ASP.NET Framework 4.8 + WCF, .NET 8 (LTS), SQL Server, and MySQL.
• AI Leadership: Proven experience deploying and operationalizing AI systems (MLOps) in production environments.
• Language: Native or professional fluency in Arabic and English (written and verbal).
• Location: Must be able to work 100% onsite at the Dubai office.

Core & Technical Competencies

• Hybrid Architecture: Ability to bridge legacy enterprise patterns with modern distributed/microservices architectures.
• Azure Cloud Execution: Deep implementation knowledge of Azure-native services, cloud scalability, and migration paths.
• AI/MLOps Mastery: Moving models from POC to monitored, production-grade environments (drift detection, retraining strategies).
• Governance & Risk: Identifying architectural and scalability risks, and structured decision-making within strict security/compliance mandates.
• Frontend/Integration (Nice to have): Working knowledge of React/Angular ecosystems to design BFF (Backend for Frontend) approaches, Python, or mobile integrations.

Required Technical Certifications

• AZ-204 – Azure Developer Associate
• AZ-104 – Azure Administrator Associate
• AI-102 – Azure AI Engineer Associate
• AZ-305 – Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• AZ-400 – Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
• DP-100 – Azure Data Scientist Associate

Optional but Valuable: Kubernetes on Azure (AKS), Azure Security Engineer (AZ-500), Advanced MLOps/Model Monitoring specializations.

To Apply: Please include a short note detailing the largest legacy system you have modernized (what it was, what you changed, and how you managed risk) alongside your experience in operationalizing AI systems.