Associate Director

Company Overview

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions: automotive, financial services, real estate, retail, and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration, and integrity, Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.

Overview of the role

The Associate Director, Digital Transformation & AI, is pivotal in driving enterprise-wide digital and AI-driven transformation initiatives. In this role, you will collaborate with executive leadership and regional business stakeholders to translate strategic digital priorities into scalable, high-impact solutions. You will be responsible for shaping strategy, execution, and governance, fostering long-term business growth, modernizing legacy systems, and enhancing customer and employee experiences. This position requires strategic partnership capabilities, advising leadership, and ensuring ethical and compliant AI practices, while governing change and adoption processes.

What you will do

• Digital Transformation
  Support the overall transformation agenda by leading end-to-end digital transformation initiatives, defining strategy, roadmap, success metrics, and execution plans aligned with business objectives and long-term growth.
  Drive modernization of legacy systems and operating models to enable scalability, agility, and improved customer and employee experiences.
  Identify and prioritize digital investments based on business impact, feasibility, and strategic alignment.
• AI Strategy & Execution
  Own and drive Real Estate's AI strategy, identifying high-impact use cases across functions such as operations, finance, HR, and customer experience.
  Oversee AI solution design, model development, deployment, and lifecycle management.
  Establish AI governance frameworks, ensuring responsible, ethical, and compliant AI practices.
  Monitor AI performance and value realization, continuously optimizing outcomes.
• Automation & Process Digitization
  Identify and prioritize automation opportunities across manual and legacy processes.
  Lead implementation of AI, RPA, and workflow technologies to improve efficiency, quality, and scalability.
  Drive standardization and simplification of processes before automation to maximize value.
• Stakeholder & Executive Partnership
  Partner with executive leadership and senior business stakeholders to translate strategic priorities into actionable digital and AI initiatives.
  Act as a trusted advisor, influencing decision-making through data-driven insights and clear business cases.
  Facilitate cross-functional collaboration across IT, business, and regional teams.
• Governance, Change & Adoption
  Establish governance models to ensure consistency, risk management, and alignment across digital and AI initiatives.
  Lead change management and adoption frameworks to drive user engagement, capability building, and sustainable transformation.
  Track benefits realization and ensure continuous improvement post-implementation.

Required skills to be successful

• Strategic thinking with strong execution focus.
• Business-first mindset with technology depth.
• Leadership, influence, and stakeholder management.
• Analytical, outcome-oriented decision making.

What qualifies you for the role

• 10-15+ years of experience in digital transformation, technology strategy, AI, or automation roles, with at least 3-5 years in a leadership capacity.
• Proven experience leading large-scale digital and AI initiatives with measurable business outcomes.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML concepts, automation technologies including RPA and workflow platforms, and digital ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to work with executive leadership and influence senior stakeholders.

About Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate

The real estate development and operations arm of Al-Futtaim, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate is responsible for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio across MENA. With high-quality residential, business, retail, tourism, educational, and healthcare developments, the master developer caters to the diverse needs of cities and communities in the region. From origination, conception, development, sales, procurement, and construction of mega-projects and the leasing, operation, and management of these projects after completion, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate (AFGRE) has been developing and managing owned landbanks, unlocking the economic potential of the region and contributing to future development for more than 40 years.

Our focus is to enable and invest in meaningful relationships to make our properties the best places to live and work, build additional products and services, and enable partnerships to create true value to our customers throughout their entire experience with us.

AFGRE is responsible for master planning of all projects in its portfolio, including two large scale mixed use destinations: Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City.