Head of Governance, Business Technology
Dubai Airports
Total years of experience :20 years, 11 Months
Part of leadership team for Dubai Airports Business Technology department.
Responsible for :-
-management of IT budget of circa 100m usd
-project office, project governance
-Continuous improvement of IT processes and quality
-Supplier management
-liaison with Dubai government entities such as Dubai Government Excellence program
-oversee all IT audits and remediation program
Expert consultant to Ministry of Interior for national project for Emergency Services response.
Senior member of a PA Consulting team providing government-level advice and roadmap for the UAE government covering emergency services response.
Responsible for developing and managing programs of work to embed a continuous service improvement culture in the IT department resulting in increased operational maturity for key IT processes, based on use of appropriate IT frameworks, including ITIL, PRINCE2, and COBIT. Ensured process deviations investigated and root causes remediated.
• Implemented assurance program to increase process maturity for all IT processes as part of COBIT implementation. Oversaw complete re-write of all IT Policies and procedures.
• Accountable for defining quality criteria and ensuring adherence to quality reviews for all IT projects.
• Management of remediation of all audit actions across the IT organisation
• Implementation of a Professional Career Structure for IT department, including assessment of all professional staff and embedding the change into the recruitment process
• Design, development and implement the Emiratisation program for IT graduates (including Omani nationals)
• Deep technical reviews to assure operational availability and performance of critical IT systems
Responsible for initiating program for business continuity planning (BCP) and improved disaster recovery (DR) capability for the IT department.
• Management of corporate-wide IT Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and identification of critical systems. Used as one of the justifications for USD50m investment in infrastructure renewal for Etihad.
• Rationalised and published corporate-wide risk impact matrix across all business divisions, to align to ISO best-practice.
Responsible for management of all Etihad IT Project Managers, a group delivering projects valued at approximately AED50 million in 2009, with project benefits in excess of AED1 billion over 5 years. Worked closely with the Project Management Office to implement quality review process. Reported to SVP IT and CEO.
A complex multi-faceted role contributing strongly to both external and internal business development. Evangelist for the use of advanced technology to solve a client’s complex high-value business problems. Provided expert pre-sales support with in-depth industry knowledge and rapid comprehension of client requirements, client value and business opportunity. Worked with potential client C-level executives to show business benefits. Directly involved in achieving all Emergency Services sales. Developed new product opportunities through market and client interaction. Represented Optima at Emergency Services conferences and trade shows. Major contributor to responses to RFI/RFP proposals. Role required extensive international travel (on average one month out of every three).
Key achievements include:
• Successfully established Optima as a recognized and trusted solution provider for Emergency Medical Services.
• Successfully initiated all major client projects, representing Optima as Subject Matter Expert, training additional staff during each project, ensuring Business Domain knowledge is documented and transferred to Optima staff.
• Overseeing development of repeatable, scalable standardised scoping, implementation, training and support processes.
• Defining, architecting and overseeing delivery of real-time ambulance deployment solution.
Provided entrepreneurial vision and energy to move the company to a sustainable professional enterprise. Secured long-term software support contract for key airline client, providing platform for ongoing growth, and developed business opportunities with Australian airlines. Successfully oversaw initial Emergency Services industry solution and managed company through airline industry down-turn. Key achievements include:
• Managed initial organic growth of business. Developed Strategic Business Plan to move company to a “high-growth” model, including need for capital raising. Moved company into a business incubator to develop business processes, management capability and increase company value to shareholders. Appointed business development manager and oversaw plans to grow brand awareness and client base, including sales presentations, conferences and trade shows.
• Responsible for developing international awareness of company capabilities through networking, collaborative developments and publications, culminating in company being finalist in prestigious Franz Edelman competition.
• Successfully completed a capital raising round and appointed new CEO to accelerate company to next level.
• Instituted appropriate legal and governance controls for company.
Awarded Distinction for overall dgree.
Degree course covered Operations Research and Information Engineering