Sr Director – AI Data Leader
Field Details
Location Dubai
Language Preference Arabic ,English
Role Summary and Overview
The AI Data Leader spearheads the organization's data and AI strategy, aligning it with business goals and product priorities in a player–coach capacity that blends technical depth with strategic vision while mentoring and developing teams.
We are looking for an entrepreneurial, value-driven senior Data & AI executive with 15+ years leading Data and AI transformations across MENA, UK & Europe, proven in Data & AI practice pipeline forecasting, P&L ownership, Go-To-Market and Delivery Excellence, who builds high-performing diverse teams, delivers enterprise-scale data platforms, AI/ML Ops and responsible AI programs, and translates complex technical capability into measurable business outcomes as a trusted C-suite advisor and industry thought leader.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and drive the organization's Data & AI strategy, covering data infrastructure, AI/ML models, partnerships and talent.
- Own P&L for Data & AI across MENA, setting the strategic growth path for transformation, sales growth and operational leadership.
- Establish and grow regional delivery centers serving MENA, UK & Europe.
- Lead the AI/ML lifecycle from research and prototyping through deployment and monitoring to improve detection accuracy, reduce false positives and uncover new use cases.
- Create and scale unified DataOps, BI/DW and AI teams for Advanced Analytics using agile practices across tools, code and cloud infrastructure.
- Define and execute enterprise Data & AI strategy covering architecture, data platform roadmaps and productization of AI models.
- Provide architectural guidance and hands-on oversight across Azure Data Services (Data Factory, Synapse, Data Lake), Azure Analytics, Databricks, GCP and Informatica.
- Review and validate data engineering pipelines, cloud architecture designs, data platform builds and AI/ML model deployments, embedding data governance, data quality, security and compliance best practices.
- Track emerging AI, GenAI and cloud data platform technologies and bring relevant innovations to client solutions.
- Collaborate with Product and Engineering to embed AI into the product roadmap and customer solutions with production-ready, continuously optimized models.
- Drive consultative selling and commercial capture: lead RFP responses, develop sales toolkits and playbooks, and orchestrate multi-service-line structured deals.
- Advise clients across sectors and translate business problems into data and AI solutions.
- Partner with best-in-breed vendors to accelerate capability while building internal data and AI foundations and growing the Data & AI partnership landscape.
- Ensure AI/ML initiatives are ethical, explainable and compliant with regulations such as AML and data protection laws.
- Build and lead a high-performing team, mentoring engineers in Data/AI/ML practices and fostering an inclusive, collaborative culture with communities of practice.
- Hire, coach and mentor senior managers and Data & AI capability leaders, driving growth-minded culture and high retention of top talent.
- Enhance Client's position as Trusted Thinking Partner of Choice by developing innovative data transformational solutions and building Client brand through industry events, conferences, Data/AI marketing initiatives and POVs.
Must Have
- AI Certifications & Relevant Project Experiences.
- 15+ years in Data & AI, including P&L ownership, Go-To-Market and Delivery Excellence across MENA, UK & Europe.
- Proven leadership in end-to-end Data transformations and enterprise-scale data platforms across multiple countries and verticals.
- Deep hands-on expertise in Azure Data Services, Databricks, Informatica, Snowflake and GCP, with strong command of data engineering, cloud architecture and AI/ML model lifecycle.
- In-depth knowledge of end-to-end Data & AI practices, architectures, ML techniques and Data/AI trends and transformation.
- Demonstrated consultative selling, RFP response and multi-service-line deal orchestration against sales targets.
- Experience building, growing and mentoring large, diverse teams including senior managers and Data & AI capability leaders.
- Development and delivery oversight across cloud, on-prem and hybrid models.
- Strategic thinking to align technology with business objectives.
- Education: Bachelor's degree, MBA.
Good to Have
- Experience at Tier 1 advisory, consulting or large systems integrator firms, preferably with an onsite-offshore model.
- Experience in ethical AI, regulatory compliance and explainable AI.
- Experience orchestrating global, matrixed deal structuring teams across TCO, multi-tower, digital, consulting and managed services deal types.
- Strong references from key stakeholders (buyers, influencers) in large local enterprises and top buyers within and adjacent to the industry.
