Head of Network & Security (Infrastructure) - Relocate to Dubai in EMEA

We are looking for a Head of Network and Security (Infrastructure) for a leading UAE bank.

Location – Dubai, UAE (Hybrid Work Model)

Salary – 55,000 – 60,000 AED/ month + relocation assistance + additional benefits

*Any person applying, must be able to relocate to Dubai*

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or an equivalent field is required.
• Minimum of 10 years in a senior managerial role within large organizations, preferably with a background in banking.
• Proven enterprise-level Network Engineering experience in service provider or technology environments.
• Deep technical expertise in routing, switching, datacenter networking, and link connectivity.
• Strong knowledge of WAN and LAN infrastructure, as well as WiFi technologies.
• Hands-on experience with Network Access Control (NAC) solutions.
• Significant experience in network transformation and large-scale migration projects.
• Familiarity with Software-Defined Networking (SDN), SDWAN technologies, and Open Networking solutions.
• Solid experience in cloud networking across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCP environments.
• Expertise in IPSec tunnels and secure connectivity implementations.
• Advanced skills in network automation using Python scripting, Ansible, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and CI/CD pipelines within a NetDevOps framework.
• Good working knowledge of network monitoring and observability tools.
• Proficiency in virtualization technologies such as VMware ESXi, KVM, Docker, OpenShift, and Kubernetes, along with understanding of product licensing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish a standard set of network that caters for different workloads at all layers (Virtualization, Containers)
• Continuous update of the Group IT product catalogue with the approved stack.
• Enforce a standard build and housekeeping checklists: this will simplify the environment and drive cost down.
• Sponsor and drive projects to move the non-compliant products into the standard stack.
• Build the products Strategy and Roadmap for our network portfolio.
• Establish the product backlog that require to be addressed on quarterly basis.
• Sponsor and drive backlog projects to completion.
• Continuous R&D and vendor engagement.
• Lead the adoption of cutting-edge network solutions.
• Lead the introduction of automation using scripting and configuration management tools (Python, Ansible) to achieve Zero touch unattended deployment.
• Review all housekeeping activities and identify key processes that should be automated.
• Design solutions that cater for enhancing the operational stability.
• Address Problem tickets, Risk and Audit items in the products’ backlog.
• Take the lead in working with the relevant stakeholders to finalize the relevant products decisions.
• Develop PDPs for the staff.
• Provide technical guidance.
• Act as a level 3 escalation point for operational activities