Product Owner – Database

Now is the right moment to join EGA! Be part of our bold ambition to become a digital lighthouse for the region and our industry worldwide. As our Product Owner – Database, you are end-to-end responsible for all our database solutions. Your role will involve strategic planning, functional team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to drive operational excellence and innovation. Some of the key topics will be to optimise the database landscape, to adopt a hybrid model of traditional and cloud databases, and to evolve the product offering together with developer requirements. You will be responsible for the multi-year product vision that maximises current and future business value across all areas of the organisation. You will then incrementally turn this vision into reality by maintaining and prioritising a product backlog. With an interdisciplinary team of technical experts and customer representatives, you will ensure that new product releases deliver value on time, on cost, and on quality. Your deep understanding of the technology and industry, as well as close relationships with key stakeholders will be key to ensure that the team’s effort stays aligned with the overall vision.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Lead the strategic planning and execution of database installations, configurations, and maintenance.
2. Ensure optimal performance, high availability, and robust security of database systems.
3. Oversee performance monitoring, change management, and the application of patches and upgrades.
4. Develop and enforce comprehensive database standards, policies, and best practices.
5. Guide data modelling and advanced database design efforts to support organizational objectives.
6. Lead, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of database administrators (DBAs).
7. Conduct regular performance reviews and manage team dynamics to ensure high productivity and engagement.
8. Ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, and in alignment with business goals.
9. Ensure databases comply with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and organizational policies.
10. Lead regular security audits, risk assessments, and mitigation strategies.
11. Develop, implement, and oversee comprehensive database backup and recovery strategies.
12. Ensure the organization has effective disaster recovery plans and business continuity processes in place.
13. Lead regular testing and validation of recovery plans to ensure data protection and rapid restoration.
14. Foster strong relationships with software developers, network administrators, and other IT professionals to ensure seamless database operations.
15. Advocate for database needs and priorities within the broader IT and business strategy.

AUTHORITY/ DECISION MAKING:

1. Key decisions having significant impact on the department are referred to the reporting manager for approval before implementation.
2. Develop and manage the database management budget.
3. Develop, approve, and enforce database-related policies, procedures, and standards.
4. Job holder exercises financial authority as per the level established by the company board and stipulated in the authority matrix.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field from a university accredited by UAE authorities.
2. Advanced degree or relevant certifications (e.g., Oracle DBA, Microsoft Certified Database Administrator) is a plus.

Minimum Experience:

1. Proven experience as a Database Manager or similar role.
2. Extensive experience with database management systems (e.g., Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL).
3. Experience in managing a team of DBAs.
4. Good experience profile leading agile projects as a product owner and as a scrum master.
5. Formal project management qualification such as PMP, PRINCE2, Agile Project Management or equivalent.
6. Proven understanding of project management techniques in an agile environment.
7. Excellent project coordinator that can plan 2-3 steps ahead of the team and surface hidden risks 2-3 levels deep within the team.
8. Excellent knowledge on tracking and analytics setup.
9. Proficient with drawing storyboards, creating wireframes, creating / ‘grooming’ product backlogs, writing user stories and developing acceptance criteria.
10. Relentless prioritization and alignment with business and IT stakeholders to ensure highest value capture.
11. Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence senior client business and IT executives on transforming towards agile.
12. Ability to move between strategic discussions with senior business leaders to tackle on the ground agile coaching with teams.
13. Strong collaborator with cross-functional teams from tech, design, and business.
14. Demonstrable experience of managing a diverse change portfolio with concurrent initiatives underpinned by proven dexterity, creativity and the efficient use of resources.
15. Solid experience of all stages of the project delivery.
16. Experience of engaging and managing third parties (vendors, consultants etc.).
17. Strong planning and control expertise.
18. Experience working with design team to deliver top user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
19. Good to have experience delivering advance analytics, digital, automation and robotization project experience.
20. Good to have IT, automation & control system experience and training in similar fields.

Skills:

Technical:

1. Strong understanding of database structure, theories, principles, and practices.
2. Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
3. Strong leadership and team management abilities.
4. Effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Agile/Digital Experience:

1. Experienced in facilitating agile ceremonies, managing a backlog/release plan, tracking team level metrics, removing blockers (burndown chart, release burn up, etc.).
2. Deep experience leading with teams in an agile setting.
3. Strong people management skills.

Individual Skills:

1. Strong leader, collaborator, team player, and individual contributor.
2. Strong communication skills with comfort in speaking with business stakeholders.
3. Strong problem solver with ability to manage and lead the team to push the solution and progress.

Mindset / Behaviours:

1. Passion to challenge the status quo and find new solutions and drive out of the box ideas – loves and embraces change.
2. Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, safety, and trust.
3. Not afraid to “roll up the sleeves” and seeks to go outside comfort zone to learn – pushes teams to do the same.
4. Empowers others to fail, learn, and grow.
5. Experimental mindset to drive innovation.