Head of Information Technology

About the Organization

Orange Antelopes is a talent consulting firm that helps businesses manage and optimize their talent supply chain. The company supports a client search in Riyadh for a senior IT leader.

Role Overview

A major real estate developer in Saudi Arabia is seeking a Chief Information Officer / Head of Information Technology to lead the organization’s technology direction. The position is based in Riyadh and is open only to Saudi nationals.

Technology Strategy and Governance

You will be responsible for setting the IT vision, building a multi-year technology roadmap, and aligning all technology decisions with business priorities and the SAMA IT Governance Framework. The role also includes defining governance structures, architecture principles, policies, and standards, then ensuring they are consistently applied across the organization.

Infrastructure, Cloud, and IT Operations

The role owns cloud and on-premise infrastructure, with a requirement that data remains within the Kingdom in line with PDPL, CITC, and SAMA cloud rules. You will ensure 24/7 availability, performance, and capacity for the customer mobile application and internal back-office platforms. IT service management must run to agreed SLAs and cover incident, change, problem, and configuration management in an ITIL-aligned model.

Core Systems, Applications, and Integrations

You will oversee mission-critical integrations including SIMAH credit bureau, Nafath/Absher digital identity, SADAD, mada, payment gateways, and SAMA regulatory reporting. The role also supports partner and merchant onboarding and embedded financing workflows for the Online Checkout Financing proposition. In addition, you will help enable API and Open Banking capabilities within the SAMA Open Banking Framework.

Information Security and Cyber Resilience

The position requires implementation and maintenance of controls aligned to the SAMA Cyber Security Framework and the NCA Essential Cybersecurity Controls and Cloud Cybersecurity Controls. Responsibilities include identity and access management, vulnerability management, security monitoring, and incident response, with coordination across any separate CISO function. You will also promote secure-by-design delivery and lead organization-wide security awareness efforts.

Risk, Compliance, and Business Continuity

You must ensure IT compliance with SAMA finance-company and consumer-financing regulations, the Personal Data Protection Law, and applicable outsourcing rules. The role owns IT business continuity and disaster recovery in line with the SAMA Business Continuity Management Framework, including regular DR testing and recovery objectives. You will also support internal and external audits as well as SAMA inspections, ensuring findings are closed with timely evidence.

Vendor and Outsourcing Management

You will manage technology vendors and outsourcing arrangements according to SAMA outsourcing requirements, including due diligence, contract management, SLA oversight, exit planning, and notifications for material outsourcing.

Data Governance and Analytics Enablement

The role includes establishing data governance, data quality, classification, and lifecycle management practices aligned with PDPL. You will also enable data and analytics capabilities that support credit, risk, product, and Shariah-compliance functions.

Regulatory and Compliance Accountabilities

The post carries direct accountability for maintaining evidence of compliance across all relevant frameworks at all times. This includes the SAMA Cyber Security Framework, IT Governance Framework, and Business Continuity Management Framework; SAMA outsourcing rules and Open Banking Framework; SAMA finance-company and consumer-financing regulations and related regulatory reporting; NCA ECC and CCC; PDPL and SDAIA implementing regulations; CITC cloud regulations and in-Kingdom data residency; and Shariah-compliance requirements in system and product design.

Qualifications and Experience

A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field is required. A master’s degree or MBA will be considered an advantage. Candidates should have 15 years of total experience, including 5–10 years in IT and at least 5 years in senior IT leadership, ideally gained in a SAMA-regulated bank, finance company, or fintech in Saudi Arabia or the wider GCC. A proven history of operating within SAMA and NCA regulatory environments is essential.

Technical Expertise

Strong knowledge of cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or Oracle is expected, along with experience in infrastructure, networking, and enterprise systems.

Additional Information

This opportunity is for Saudi nationals only. The role is full time and based onsite in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Notes

No salary, stipend, number of openings, start date, or application deadline was specified in the source content.