Data Architecture Manager

Who we are:

GIG Gulf (a Fairfax company) is part of the Gulf Insurance Group (GIG), the #1 largest regional composite insurer in the Middle East and North Africa, with presence in 12 markets including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Turkey. GIG Group reported consolidated assets of US$ 3.83 billion and $69 million net profit for the year 2023. The majority shareholder of GIG Group is Toronto based Fairfax Financial Holding, a global leader in insurance and reinsurance with a presence in 40 markets.

GIG Gulf is an A rated regional insurer with a top 5 position in each of its markets (UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain). GIG Gulf has been present in the region for over 70 years with a strategic focus on both growth and investments and is a one stop shop offering a wide range of insurance products and services that cater to a broad variety of needs for corporates, SMEs and individual customers throughout UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. GIG Gulf also owns a 50% stake in GIG Saudi. Our strategic objectives and guiding principles are focused on Regional Growth, Customer Experience and Digital Transformation.

GIG Gulf has created a diverse and inclusive working environment and culture with a workforce of over 800 employees, with over 60 nationalities, across 15 branches and retail shops region-wide and over 1 million customers. GIG Gulf is a caring partner that encourages customers to achieve their goals and live an inspiring and fulfilling life. We are obsessed with customer feedback and continuously evolving to become the region's digital insurer of reference, committed to running our operations in a responsible, sustainable way.

Job purpose:

Are you enthusiast in contributing to the business purpose of a Regional Insurance Leader Are you Data driven, technologically savvy and hands-on Data Architect with Data Engineering exposure on AWS and Azure Cloud Express your Passion with GIG Gulf business and IT stakeholders to:

• define and maintain GIG Gulf IT Data standards, architectural guidelines and solutions.
• lead pilots, POCs and exploration of new innovative solutions, practices and patterns
• influence delivery of GIG Gulf Data & AI projects on time, quality and budget,
• actively contribute to GIG Gulf Data & AI vision and roadmap, including business case definition, project requirements, organization, and methodology,

Key Responsibilities:

In collaboration with GIG Gulf business and IT stakeholders and considering information system landscape, business ambitions, recommendation, best practices, technology evolution and market trends:

Architecture

• Lead the definition and maintenance of GIG Gulf's enterprise data and AI architecture and delivery roadmap
• Drive the data and AI architecture aligned with GIG Gulf's business and technology strategy
• Contribute to the IT Strategy Plan, including cloud, data, analytics, and AI capabilities
• Support selection and evolution of data and AI platforms, technologies, and strategic partners

Data & AI Platform Leadership

• Define architectural patterns for data platforms supporting analytics, reporting, AI/ML, and GenAI use cases
• Guide the design of AI-ready data foundations, including structured and unstructured data pipelines
• Ensure architectural consistency, reuse, and alignment across data, analytics, and AI solutions
• Work closely with information security, risk, and compliance teams to embed governance and controls

Technical Leadership

Strong technical leader with broad and in-depth understanding of:

• Data architecture, data modeling, and data governance
• Data engineering and cloud-native data platforms
• Analytics, BI, and AI/ML solution patterns
• Generative AI concepts including LLM-based solutions, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and vector-based retrieval architectures etc.
• Maintain practical knowledge of data and AI services from AWS and Azure along with modern development practices

Operational & Technical Responsibilities:

Data & AI Architecture

Function as an active, initiative‑taking Data and AI Architect for GIG Gulf initiatives:

• Refine and maintain data and AI architecture frameworks, guidelines, and design patterns
• Define target-state architectures for master data (customer, product, provider, referential data)
• Contribute to solution and technical architecture covering:
• Data lakes and analytical platforms
• AI/ML and GenAI-enabled use cases
• Design architecture that support AI workloads, including (desirable):
• Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) patterns
• Vector storage and semantic retrieval for enterprise knowledge use cases
• Secure integration of public or foundation models with internal data

Tangible Outcomes & Delivery Focus

Maintain a strong delivery and results orientation:

• Contribute to the data and AI roadmap aligned to business priorities
• Lead implementation of data and analytics solutions on AWS (e.g., S3, Glue, Redshift, RDS, Lambda, Athena) and/or Azure (e.g., Data Lake Storage, Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, Azure Functions, Event Hubs)
• Oversee data modeling for OLTP and OLAP systems, including data quality, cleansing, and de-duplication initiatives
• Guide data engineering practices using Spark (Python, Spark SQL), data workflows and automated pipelines
• Support AI-enabled analytics and reporting use cases through curated data marts and BI extensions
• Ensure solutions are production-ready, documented, and maintainable

AI Solution Governance & Integration

• Define architectural guardrails for enterprise AI usage, including (desirable):
• Responsible and compliant use of LLMs and GenAI services
• Data access, privacy, and residency controls for AI solutions
• Integration patterns for AI agents and automated workflows where applicable
• Support evaluation and controlled adoption of AI technologies, avoiding fragmented or unmanaged deployments
• Ensure AI solutions are aligned with enterprise architecture, security, and regulatory requirements

Communication & Stakeholder Engagement

• Prepare clear, structured architectural proposals and decision papers with supporting rationale
• Communicate architectural choices to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Provide clear recommendations aligned with business outcomes and strategy
• Promote collaboration, reuse, and shared ownership across delivery teams

Quality & Operational Excellence

• Ensure high-quality testing, data validation, and operational readiness of data and AI platforms
• Support incident, problem, and defect analysis related to data and AI solutions
• Track and follow up on issues to ensure timely resolution and continuous improvement

People Leadership

• Manage recruitment and onboarding of data and AI team members in collaboration with HR
• Set, review, and track team objectives and performance
• Support team development through coaching, mentoring, and targeted training
• Foster a collaborative culture aligned with GIG values and delivery commitments

Business / Domain knowledge requirements

• Knowledge of Health Data industry
• Basic knowledge of the insurance business
• Basic understanding of market practices/business processes
• Understanding of regulatory challenges, including compliance, data privacy and residency

Minimum requirements of role

Qualifications & Technical Skills

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• Master's degree or relevant professional certifications (cloud, data, or architecture‑related) are an advantage but not mandatory

Experience

• 8 –12 years of overall experience in data architecture, data engineering, or closely related roles
• 3-5 years in an architecture role responsible for data platforms on cloud
• Proven experience designing and delivering data and analytics solutions on AWS and/or Azure
• Experience in regulated environments (insurance, financial services, healthcare) is preferred

Core Skills

• Data Architecture – Ability to define conceptual, logical, and physical data architectures aligned to business strategy
• Cloud Data Platforms – Hands‑on experience with AWS and/or Azure data and analytics services
• Data Engineering – Hands on experience designing and delivering scalable ETL/ELT pipelines using Spark and Python
• Analytics & BI – Hands on experience with analytical use cases, data marts, and BI platforms (such as Power BI or others)
• AI‑enabled Data Architectures (desirable) – Hands on experience enabling AI/ML and GenAI use cases through data foundations, including exposure to LLM‑based solutions, RAG patterns, and vector‑based retrieval where applicable
• Data Governance & Security – Strong understanding of data quality, privacy, residency, and security‑by‑design principles

Collaboration

• Proven experience leading data or analytics teams
• Strong stakeholder management skills across business, IT, and control functions
• Ability to communicate architectural decisions clearly
• Comfortable working in a high‑demand, delivery‑oriented environment

Communication and Soft Skills

• Excellent communication skills in English, both verbal and written
• Team player – ability to work with a team and influence a positive collaborative culture
• Ability to prioritize workload appropriately based on the impact on the business
• Demonstrated ability to work independently while efficiently managing multiple projects simultaneously.