Delivery Lead | Product Owner (AI Platform)
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Contract format: 6 months extendable contract
Purpose of the role
Own the end-to-end delivery, from requirement definition through vendor build to client acceptance and adoption. The role sits between the client's business and data teams and the delivery vendors, and is accountable for keeping both sides aligned, informed, and moving.
This is a delivery and relationship role, not a technical build role. The single biggest determinant of success is the quality of communication with the client: whether meetings produce decisions, whether the client always knows where things stand, and whether issues surface early enough to be solved.
Key responsibilities
- Stakeholder management — Own the relationship with client sponsors, department heads, end users, and data owners.
- Meetings — Run every client meeting to a decision: agenda in advance, outcomes and owners captured, minutes within 24 hours
- Communication — Keep the client informed on status, risks, and timelines. Escalate early, with a proposed resolution.
- Requirements — Elicit, document, and secure sign-off on requirements, acceptance criteria, and data definitions.
- Vendor management — Convert requirements into clear specifications, track delivery against milestones, and drive UAT to acceptance.
- Problem solving — Unblock delivery issues and turn ambiguity into decisions that can be taken.
- Adoption — Support training, process change, and handover so the use cases are used, not just delivered.
Essential requirements
- 6+ years in delivery, business analysis, consulting, or product ownership on technology programmes, including client-facing accountability.
- Demonstrable experience delivering data, analytics, or AI/automation use cases end to end.
- Proven ability to run productive meetings with senior stakeholders and to produce clear written communication.
- Strong requirement elicitation and documentation skills, including user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Experience managing third-party vendors or system integrators against a delivery plan.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and competing priorities; takes initiative without waiting for direction.
- Arabic and/or Chinese language ability.
Preferred
- Experience with government or public sector clients in the UAE or wider GCC.
- Domain exposure to urban planning, land use, permitting, or the built environment.
- Working knowledge of BI and dashboarding tools, data governance, and data quality practice.
- Understanding of AI/ML solution patterns sufficient to challenge vendors credibly.
