IT Director

Job Specification

  • Number of Vacancies: 1
  • Job Type: Full-time
  • Experience: Minimum 10+ years
  • Industry: Real Estate Finance
  • Preferred Nationalities: KSA or GCC national

Job Summary

  • Functional Area: Information Technology
  • Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • Job Role: Director of IT
  • Reporting to: Chief Operating Officer
  • Direct Reports: DBA Manager, System Administration Assistant Manager, Help Desk Associates

1. Job Purpose

To manage the companies IT Operations, including Database Management, IT Helpdesk, Disaster Recovery, daily health check and relationship with external system providers in order to enable a reliable IT infrastructure working environment.

Strategic Planning

  • Develop IT Unit strategy in line with Operations Departmental strategy to support in the achievement of Departmental objectives
  • Ensure implementation of Unit strategy and related strategic plans in order to achieve agreed upon strategic goals and objectives
  • Develop, and update IT Unit organization structure –with compliance to relevant policies- to ensure meeting different business needs and requirements

Budgeting

  • Prepare and recommend the IT Unit budget by conducting analysis and preparing data related to specific elements as directed
  • Monitor financial performance versus budget so the business is aware of anticipated costs/revenues, areas of under-performance are identified and potential areas of cost reduction or performance improvement opportunities are capitalized upon

Operations Management

  • Manage the daily operations of IT Unit to ensure that work processes are implemented as designed and comply with established policies and procedures
  • Manage the preparation of timely and accurate reports to meet company and Unit requirements, policies and standards
  • Manage the execution and delivery of internal project by planning, organizing, overseeing of various project activities to ensure meeting agreed project parameters (cost budget, timelines, scope and quality)

IT Strategy

  • Evaluate and identify appropriate technology platforms (including web application frameworks and the deployment stack) for delivering the company’s services
  • Collaborate with the appropriate Units to assess and recommend technologies that support company organizational needs
  • Direct development and execution of an enterprise-wide disaster recovery and business continuity plan

IT Operations

  • Establish and maintain an E-mail service for the company, and ensure that all employees have functioning E-mail address
  • Collaborate with a User Experience Designer and potential customers to prepare wireframes or mock-ups of a prototype of the company’s web application
  • Conduct code reviews and specification conformance testing as defined by the selected software development methodology
  • Establish and supervise a quality assurance process, including integration and system testing
  • Ensure company technical problems are resolved in a timely and cost-effective manner
  • Select, set up and maintain web-based internal communications systems, such as a wiki, blog, chartroom, project management, and bug tracking systems to enable communication across the organisation
  • Manage the IT Health Checks “ITHC” whether they are done internally or through a service provider, to make sure that both the IT Systems and Infrastructure are functioning properly

Database and Information Management

  • Direct the integrity and maintenance of Database centres on daily basis and ensure the availability of backups when required
  • Keep records of stored information by their importance and business impact

IT Helpdesk

  • Handles IT incidents related to misuse of IT facilities and information security according to the agreed SLA’s
  • Advise Unit Heads on the configuration and use of Hardware, Software and related communication infrastructure.

Information Security

  • Establish a governance process that meets government, partner, and company expectations for customer information privacy
  • Direct development and execution of an enterprise-wide information security plan that protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the company’s data and servers

Relationship Management

  • Select and manage IT service providers as per business needs and requirements, by issuing Requests for Proposal (RFPs)
  • Maintain the relationship with governmental IT service providers such as Simah and Yaqeen

People Management

  • Manage the activities and work of subordinates and evaluate their performance by providing formal and informal feedback to ensure that all work within a specific area is carried out in an efficient manner and in accordance with set individual targets
  • Stimulate subordinates and manage the identification of opportunities for continuous improvement of systems, processes and practices taking into account ‘international best practice’, improvement of business processes, cost reduction and productivity improvement

Policies, Processes & Procedures

  • Recommend improvements to Unit policies and direct the implementation of procedures and controls covering all areas of IT activity so that all relevant procedural/legislative requirements are fulfilled while delivering a quality, cost-effective services
  • Ensure compliance to all relevant safety, quality and environmental management policies, procedures and controls across the section in order to guarantee employee safety, legislative compliance and a responsible environmental attitude

2. Key Interactions

Internal Interaction

  • Staff:
    • To provide expert IT support and guidance as and when required
    • To communicate about IT matters
  • Department Heads: To assess new technologies
  • Finance Unit: To set IT budget and conform to it accordingly

External Interaction

  • SIMAH, SARIE & Yaqeen: To ensure that required services are delivered timely and in a proper manner
  • External Service Providers: To manage service providers as per business needs and requirements

3. Minimum Requirements

  • Bachelors degree in an IT related subject
  • MBA or equivalent post graduate qualification
  • 8-10 years of relevant experience in IT
  • 4 years in positions of progressively increasing managerial responsibilities
  • Ability to set and manage priorities judiciously
  • Superior analytical, evaluative, and problem-solving abilities
  • Fluency in Arabic and English
  • Excellent oral and written communications skills
  • Exposure to business theory, business process development, governance processes, management, budgeting, and administrative operations
  • Ability to articulate ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences

Interested candidates please send your CV and contact details to profiles@darlingtonme.com referencing ‘IT Director’ in the subject