OT Manager - Manufacturing IT & Digital Operations

About the role

A client in Dubai is looking for an OT Manager to own the technology that runs its factory, the single point of accountability where IT meets manufacturing. The role reports to the Head of IT and covers the architecture, delivery, availability, security and continuous improvement of the full operational technology landscape, including MSD 365 F&O manufacturing and warehouse execution, MES, CAD/CAM and engineering data flow, machine connectivity, shopfloor infrastructure and production analytics.

Key responsibilities

• Define the OT strategy, target architecture and multi-year roadmap, and act as design authority across MSD 365 F&O, MES, CAD/CAM and analytics, aligned to ISA-95 and the Purdue model.
• Lead OT projects end to end (scope, design, budget, testing, cutover, hypercare) and chair change advisory for production systems.
• Govern production order, WIP control, advanced warehouse management and outbound/dispatch flows, partnering with Production, Planning, Design, Quality, Warehouse, Maintenance, Procurement and Finance.
• Own the integration touchpoint inventory and the production KPI library (OEE, downtime, yield, OTIF).
• Define SLAs/OLAs, multi-shift support and on-call, and own incident, problem and major incident management, plus OT business continuity and disaster recovery.
• Own OT cybersecurity with Corporate InfoSec (IEC 62443, NIST CSF), the OT risk register and audit readiness (ISO 9001/14001/45001).
• Build the OT team, manage vendor relationships with machine OEMs, MES, CAD/CAM and ERP partners, and own the OT OPEX/CAPEX budget.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, IT, Industrial or Automation Engineering; postgraduate qualification or MBA an advantage.
• 10+ years in manufacturing IT, OT or digital manufacturing, including 3+ years leading a team and delivering production-critical systems.
• Proven end-to-end ownership of at least one MES or shopfloor digitalization implementation in a discrete or engineer-to-order environment.
• Strong command of production order, advanced manufacturing, WIP control and advanced warehouse management in an ERP context; MSD 365 F&O strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated machine connectivity, integration across ERP, MES, CAD/CAM and warehouse systems, and vendor, budget and stakeholder management.
• Excellent English communication with shopfloor supervisors and leadership; preferred: woodworking, furniture or engineer-to-order interiors background, greenfield or major expansion experience, and certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, ITIL, IEC 62443 or GICSP.

Required skills

• MES, MSD 365 F&O, CAD/CAM, Power BI, ISA-95, IEC 62443, NIST CSF
• Industrial protocols, edge/gateway architectures, OT network and security, disaster recovery
• Preferred: PLM, APS, CMMS/EAM, Azure integration and data services