Chief Technology Officer

About the Company

A Sharia-compliant Buy Now, Pay Later platform domiciled at the Qatar Financial Centre, currently in active QCB licensing. The business is post-MVP with established merchant network integrations and strategic payment scheme partnerships in place. A seed round is underway.

You will be the technology owner through licensing, launch, and early scale.

Why This Role Exists

QCB's technology and cyber risk framework requires documented controls, auditable SDLC, and a named senior technology owner. We need a fractional CTO who can deliver regulatory credibility now and build a scalable team post-license.

Scope \& Time Commitment

Approximately 2 days per week. Structured around QCB compliance milestones, board reporting, and vendor governance. This is a technology leadership and oversight role, not a hands-on build role.

What You Will Own

Regulatory \& Compliance — Priority 1

• Own the technology and cyber risk register, mapped to QCB licensing requirements and MLRO expectations
• Deliver and maintain control evidence: access management, logging, vulnerability management, backup/DR
• Prepare for and attend QCB technology review sessions; act as the named technical point of contact
• Ensure InfoSec documentation meets QCB submission standards

Architecture \& Roadmap

• Define and maintain the 12-month platform roadmap: payment gateway integration, e-KYC, credit bureau connectivity, cloud hosting
• Own target architecture decisions within cost, security, and regulatory constraints

SDLC \& Delivery

• Implement an auditable SDLC with change/release controls, testing evidence, rollback procedures, and traceability
• Establish incident management, monitoring/alerting, and post-mortem discipline

Vendor \& Partner Governance

• Lead due diligence and SLA/DPA governance across technology and payment partners
• Define security requirements, escalation paths, and exit plans for all critical vendors

Team \& Capability

• Define the lean engineering org: initial hire/contractor plan, coding standards, documentation, and runbooks
• Bridge between product intent and engineering execution; mentor junior technical hires

What You Bring

Requirement

Experience: 10+ years in software engineering; 5+ years in a CTO, VP Engineering, or Head of Technology role

Domain: Fintech, payments, or regulated financial services — GCC experience strongly preferred

Regulatory: Hands-on experience with a financial regulator (QCB, CBUAE, SAMA, or equivalent)

Integrations: PSP and payment gateway integration experience; e-KYC and credit bureau connectivity

Cloud Security: Secure cloud architecture track record; ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, or SOC 2 familiarity

Communication: Able to produce board-ready and regulator-ready documentation — not just technical specs

Preferred: Islamic finance or Sharia-compliant product experience. Prior QFC-regulated entity exposure.

90-Day Success Criteria

• QCB technology risk register complete and defensible
• SDLC and change control process documented and operational
• Payment integration architecture reviewed and hardened
• Engineering hiring plan submitted to the board

Work Location: In person

Work Location: In person