About us : We are developing a new convenience grocery retail chain in Saudi Arabia as a joint venture with a leading regional retailer. With 10 pilot stores planned in 2025 & over 1,250 stores targeted by 2030, the model blends neighborhood retail with a digital layer — fresh-led, tech-enabled & built for scale.
Scope of role : As Head of IT, you will be fully accountable for defining & delivering the end-to-end technology strategy of the venture. This includes stabilizing the first wave of stores running on the partner’s pilot IT stack, owning the full transition to a fit-for-purpose, scalable IT architecture & leading all infrastructure, systems & data workstreams going forward. You’ll serve as the central point of coordination between business stakeholders, technology vendors & integration partners. This role blends high-level strategic architecture with hands-on program leadership.
Key Responsibilities
- Own IT across all dimensions — pilot stability to long-term architecture
- Take over the live pilot IT environment, stabilizing operations & documenting learnings
- Lead the full transition away from partner systems toward standalone, scalable platforms
- Set IT direction across infrastructure, applications, data & integration layers
- Design & implement the target IT architecture
- Lead the definition of architecture across POS, ERP, WMS, OMS, loyalty, finance, analytics, middleware
- Develop current vs. future state system landscapes, integration models & rollout plans
- Define enterprise architecture principles aligned to business ambition & regulatory requirements
- Lead vendor engagement & tech stack selection
- Drive selection of best-fit solutions across domains considering local relevance, cost & scalability
- Manage implementation partners, contract terms & roadmap alignment
- Build IT team & delivery capability
- Lead transition from initial team (including managing handover from the junior IT manager currently supporting pilot rollout) to in-house IT function
- Establish foundational SOPs, documentation & training across tech touchpoints
- Coordinate cross-functional business enablement
- Ensure systems are designed around scalable business processes, not short-term workarounds
- Translate business process requirements into tech system design
- Partner with Ops, Commercial, Finance, Supply Chain & Marketing to ensure end-user readiness
- Lead internal onboarding to new tools, workflows & capabilities
Qualifications & Experience
6+ years in IT leadership roles across retail, QSR, FMCG or other distributed physical formatsStrong track record owning multi-system tech architectures : POS, WMS, OMS, ERP, Loyalty, Middleware, etc.Demonstrated experience building greenfield IT environments & managing end-to-end transitionsExperience working in high-growth, build-mode environments a strong plusExperience managing vendor RFPs, solution evaluations & contract negotiationsStrong program management and stakeholder alignment skillsFamiliar with Saudi regulatory landscape incl. ZATCA, local hosting, data residencyBackground in IT consulting or architecture frameworks (TOGAF, etc.) preferredCore Competencies
Architect & operator : Can design robust systems while driving execution & scaleStrategic systems thinker : Sees the full picture across layers & translates business needs into architecturePragmatic delivery focus : Able to prioritize MVP vs. future-ready and build in agile wavesCross-functional collaborator : Works seamlessly with tech & non-tech stakeholdersHands-on leader : Ready to get into the detail while setting long-term directionPersonal Attributes
Relentlessly execution-driven, with ability to juggle multiple workflowsAble to influence across partners, vendors, store staff & internal stakeholders#J-18808-Ljbffr