Manager, Cloud & Infrastructure

Job summary:

To manage TAQA Distribution's cloud and infrastructure services, supporting cloud migration strategies, managing cloud resources on AWS and Azure platforms, and ensuring the scalability, reliability, cost-efficiency, and security of cloud and on-premise infrastructure environments. This role oversees the balancing of reliability, cost, and security while ensuring seamless application performance across both legacy systems and modern, cloud-native architectures. The Manager, Cloud & Infrastructure is responsible for the day-to-day management and continuous improvement of TAQA's hybrid cloud and infrastructure estate, ensuring that infrastructure services underpin reliable IT operations, support business continuity, and enable TAQA's digital transformation agenda. This role works in close partnership with the VP, IT & Telecoms Infrastructure Management to deliver a resilient, secure, and cost-optimised infrastructure environment that meets the demands of a utility-scale organization.

General Responsibilities:

• Policy, Procedures, Process and Systems
• Follow the operational strategy in compliance with group delegation of authority policy.
• Ensure the compliance of organization’s policy, systems, processes, procedures, and controls in line with group delegation of authority policy so that all relevant procedural/legislative requirements are fulfilled while delivering a quality, cost-effective service in a consistent manner.
• Reporting
• Ensure that all reports are completed timely and comply with the business and organization’s policies and standards.
• Manage the preparation of periodical management reports and progress reports to keep the business senior management informed about the progress of various initiatives and to facilitate decision-making.
• Comply with organization’s requirements in a timely manner.

Job Specific Responsibilities:

Cloud Management — Azure

• Manage and optimise TAQA Distribution's cloud infrastructure across Azure platforms, ensuring the scalability, availability, performance, and cost-efficiency of cloud-hosted services and workloads.
• Support and execute cloud migration strategies for TAQA's on-premise workloads to Azure environments, planning and managing migrations with minimal disruption to business operations, using Azure Migrate, and related toolsets.
• Manage Azure cloud services including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Active Directory, Azure Monitor, Azure ExpressRoute, and Azure DevOps, ensuring alignment with TAQA's infrastructure standards and security policies.
• Implement and manage cloud cost optimisation strategies across Azure — including right-sizing, reserved instances, savings plans, auto-scaling, and resource tagging — to ensure TAQA achieves maximum value from cloud investments while controlling expenditure.
• Govern cloud resource management, ensuring cloud environments are provisioned, monitored, and decommissioned in accordance with approved processes, capacity plans, and security controls.
• Manage hybrid cloud connectivity between TAQA's on-premise infrastructure and AWS/Azure environments, ensuring secure, reliable, and high-performance connectivity via AWS Direct Connect and Azure ExpressRoute.

Infrastructure Operations & Management

• Oversee the management and performance of TAQA's on-premise and hybrid infrastructure — including servers, storage, virtualisation platforms, and data centre facilities — ensuring high availability, reliability, and security across all infrastructure components.
• Ensure seamless application performance across both legacy on-premise systems and modern cloud-native architectures deployed on Azure, managing integration points and dependencies between hybrid environments.
• Implement and maintain infrastructure monitoring and alerting frameworks using tools such as Azure Monitor, and third-party monitoring platforms, enabling proactive identification and resolution of performance issues and capacity constraints.
• Manage infrastructure capacity planning, ensuring compute, storage, and network resources are available to meet current and forecast business demand across both cloud and on-premise environments.
• Oversee patch management, vulnerability remediation, and infrastructure maintenance activities, ensuring all infrastructure components are kept current, secure, and compliant with TAQA's security policies.
• Develop and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity configurations for cloud and infrastructure services, using Azure native DR capabilities (e.g. Azure Site Recovery) to ensure rapid recovery from failures or disruptions.

Security, Governance & Continuous Improvement

• Implement and enforce cloud and infrastructure security controls across Azure environments, including identity and access management (AWS IAM, Azure AD), encryption, network security groups, security hub monitoring, and compliance with TAQA's cybersecurity policies.
• Manage cloud governance frameworks on Azure, including the use of Azure Policy, and Azure Blueprints, to ensure consistent governance, compliance, and cost control across all cloud accounts and subscriptions.
• Collaborate with the Cybersecurity function to embed security best practices across cloud and infrastructure environments, ensuring TAQA's cloud posture meets regulatory and organisational security requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement of cloud and infrastructure operations, identifying and implementing opportunities to enhance performance, reduce costs, improve resilience, and automate manual processes using Azure native automation tools (e.g., Azure Resource Manager, Terraform).
• Leverage AI-powered tools and cloud-native AI/ML services available on Azure (e.g., Azure AI Services, Azure Machine Learning) where applicable, to enhance infrastructure monitoring, anomaly detection, and operational efficiency.
• Lead and develop the cloud and infrastructure team, providing technical leadership, coaching, and professional development to build a high-performing, cloud-capable function that meets TAQA's current and future infrastructure demands.
• Manage relationships with Azure account teams, cloud resellers, and infrastructure vendors, ensuring TAQA maximises the value of its cloud agreements and stays current with new services and capabilities relevant to its infrastructure strategy.

Technical Competencies:

• Azure Cloud Services Management (Virtual Machines, AKS, Azure SQL, Azure AD, Monitor, ExpressRoute, Azure DevOps)
• Hybrid Cloud Architecture & Connectivity
• Cloud Cost Optimisation & FinOps
• Cloud Security & Governance (AWS Control Tower, Azure Policy, IAM, NSGs)
• Infrastructure Operations, Monitoring & Capacity Planning
• Infrastructure-as-Code & Automation (CloudFormation, ARM/Bicep, Terraform)
• Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity (Azure Site Recovery)

Strategic & Business Competencies:

• Cloud Strategy & Infrastructure Roadmap Development
• Vendor & Cloud Partner Management (Azure)
• Financial Management & Cloud Cost Governance
• Stakeholder Management & Technical Communication

Continuous Improvement & Digital Transformation Enablement

• Advanced to Expert in technical competencies
• Intermediate to Advanced in business competencies

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or equivalent
• 9 years of relevant working experience

Desired Requirements

• Master’s degree in Information Technology or equivalent
• 12 years of relevant working experience