IT Manager – Enterprise Applications & Technology

About the Role

We seek a seasoned IT Manager to join a premier golf, hospitality, and leisure company based in Dubai. This role focuses primarily (70-80%) on managing Enterprise Applications, supported by oversight of IT infrastructure and platform operations (20-30%). The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in customer-centric sectors such as Golf, Hospitality, Leisure, Lifestyle, Loyalty/Membership, Resorts, or Clubs, acting at the nexus of business needs, technology strategy, and vendor collaboration.

Core Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the portfolio of enterprise and customer-centric applications across varied properties, including CRM, Loyalty/Membership, POS, ERP, Guest Management, and back-office systems.
• Champion technology projects throughout their entirety—starting from the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase, through requirements analysis, discovery, solution architecture, implementation, integration, user acceptance testing, deployment, and operational handover.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to capture operational needs and convert them into robust functional and technical solutions.
• Oversee application integrations, APIs, middleware, data pipelines, custom developments, alongside managing testing, change controls, and release governance.
• Ensure all application solutions adhere to enterprise-wide standards concerning architecture, cybersecurity policies, integration frameworks, and IT governance.
• Implement consistent Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) practices, DevOps processes, release management, and quality assurance across internal teams, third-party vendors, and managed service providers.
• Supervise infrastructure elements supporting enterprise applications, including cloud platforms, network systems, servers, storage solutions, disaster recovery/business continuity plans, and platform capacity management.
• Critically assess and advise on technical designs and proposals from vendors, system integrators, and managed service providers.
• Monitor and manage vendor relationships to ensure deliverables, service levels, solution quality, and project transitions meet organizational standards.

Required Experience

• Proven track record managing enterprise and business-critical applications in multifaceted, multi-system environments.
• Hands-on expertise in CRM, Loyalty/Membership, and POS systems is essential.
• Experience in sectors such as Hospitality, Golf, Leisure, Lifestyle, Resorts, Clubs, or Loyalty programs is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with Golf Management Systems, Property Management Systems (PMS), Hospitality or Guest Management platforms, and Yacht/Marina Management Systems is advantageous.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively across both business and technical domains rather than focusing solely on infrastructure or operations.
• Strong consultative skills engaging with senior business leaders, enterprise architects, vendors, and technology teams.
• Ownership of technology projects from inception through go-live, including business requirements gathering, RFP management, implementation, and user acceptance testing.
• Comprehensive understanding of APIs, middleware, SQL and data flows, integration principles, and enterprise architecture frameworks.
• Experience in managing managed service providers (MSPs), system integrators, and third-party technology vendors.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, infrastructure management, Identity and Access Management (IAM), Single Sign-On (SSO), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), cybersecurity principles, monitoring, and disaster recovery/business continuity planning.
• Experience supporting technology infrastructures across multiple locations or business units is highly desirable.

Technology Environment

This role involves proficiency with CRM, Loyalty & Membership, Point of Sale (POS), ERP, Golf Management Systems, Property Management Systems (PMS), Guest Management applications, APIs, Middleware, ETL processes, SQL database management, cloud services (Azure and AWS), IAM/SSO/RBAC frameworks, Power BI reporting, and collaboration tools such as Jira and Confluence.