Mohammed Owais's Email

I am an accomplished CTO with 15 years' experience in building highly-scalable SaaS systems on the Microsoft technology stack. I have also been responsible for setting up and managing our data centre (with our hosting partner, Rackspace) in the UK, that handles 50 million users a year. I am equally business-savvy with an academic background in Accounting. I also have a huge interest in marketing and have been able to combine it with technology in the form of career portals and innovative online employer branding. Born and brought up in Dubai, I have a rather unique perspective of the culture in the Middle East. I am not an ivory-tower executive and remain a very hands-on techie. Key Strengths: - Enterprise software architecture - Microsoft technology stack - SQL Server: high performance, high availability setup - Large-scale web and SaaS applications - Building and mentoring development teams - Creative Direction and aesthetics - User Experience and Usability - Localized systems (particularly Arabic and Chinese) - Understanding of Middle Eastern culture

Director of Technology / CTO @ I run an incredibly lean and efficient technology department that has continued to deliver high-quality results on time. There are four key divisions: - Research and Development: The R&D division is responsible for delivering upgrades to the Sniperhire e-recruitment platform, and have consistently been able to provide minor version releases every 3 weeks and major releases every 3 months. We follow a hybrid methodology that borrows from both Agile and CMMI; it allows us to deliver bug-free software with a strong focus on usability and performance. - Data Centre: Our data centre in the UK hosting our SaaS application handles 50 million users a year, on a fraction of the budget usually reserved for hosting by competitors. - Creative and Client Projects: This team has produced outstanding work for our clients – superb career brands, award-winning career sites and innovations in online as well as offline employer branding. I provided creative direction for the branding and website designs. We also specialize in building mobile-friendly websites using responsive design. - Local technology infrastructure: I am also responsible for internal-use software and hardware across 4 countries. Judicious use of external hosting (Exchange, Sharepoint, etc), outsourcing (network management) and use of good quality hardware with management tools help us provide high service levels at a reasonable cost. At Cazar, I have directly worked with clients in over 25 countries; companies such as DHL, Alshaya, Al-Futtaim Group, DP World, Jumeirah, Ooredoo group (formerly Qtel), Sharaf DG, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Sky News, Ikea, Zara, Forever 21, Starbucks and Lexus. From January 2010 to Present (6 years) Head of Research & Development @ The Research & Development team is responsible for delivery of regular enhancements to our Sniperhire e-recruitment platform, as well as client projects, particularly career websites. Key responsibilities include: · Be the bridge between business and technology · Lead and mentor a team of software professionals · Consistent and quality delivery of R&D and Client projects · Ensure applications meet requirements of usability and functionality · Provide technical consultancy to sales teams for large or complex accounts · Act as Technical Project/Account Manager for implementations · Search Engine Optimization (SEO) · Provide technical support to bid teams for RFIs/RFPs · Lead technical discussions with IT people at prospects, partners and clients · Provide high-level technical support to clients · Conduct scoping and creative sessions for career site projects · Liaise with translation teams for Arabic, French and other language packs · Integration with other systems, including HRMS/ERPs, intranets, job boards, SMS providers From January 2005 to December 2009 (5 years) Systems Analyst @ My role required close interaction with the company’s founder, transforming his vision into its key products. I also worked closely with the sales team, supporting their business development efforts with technical and solution consultancy. I also gathered in-depth knowledge of the e-recruitment domain, enabling me to extensively advise prospects and customers on the subject, which was then fairly new to the Middle East. From September 2003 to December 2004 (1 year 4 months) Team Leader @ A medium-sized ISV that developed bespoke bi-lingual systems for government institutions. Major projects included: · Manasek Travel Reservation System · Quality Award Management System · Production & Inventory Control System From August 1999 to August 2003 (4 years 1 month)

Higher Diploma in Software Development, Software Design and Development @ National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) From 1996 to 1999 B.Com, Accounts @ University of Mumbai From 1996 to 1999 NIMSNIMS Mohammed Owais is skilled in: Management, Microsoft SQL Server, .NET, Team Building, Architecture, Team Management, Change Management, Team Leadership, Vendor Management, Business Development, Software Development, Project Management, Application Architecture, Database Design, Query Optimization