Product & Deployment Lead, APAC & Project Planner

Location: Otis L.L.C, 37th floor, The One Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesDate Posted: 2026-02-11Country: United Arab EmiratesRole OverviewWe are seeking for a Product & Deployment Lead, APAC & Project Planner in charge of a team deploying the Global SMS application across multiple countries.This role ensures that:Deployment activities are delivered on time, within scope, and in compliance with local regulations and organizational standards.The deployment framework is always enhanced and scalable for future deployments.The position requires:Close collaboration within the team and with cross‑functional teams, including development, infrastructure, security, and business stakeholders.Analytical skills to identify opportunities (automation, simplifications, continuous improvements, …).Key ResponsibilitiesLead a SMS deployment team.Execute initial discovery of SMS solution in “MT0” session, identify enhancements and support adequate functional specification requirements definition.Prioritize enhancements as pre or post Go Live.Ensure pre‑Go Live enhancements are within the allocated budget and timeline.Lead Data Migration, performance testing, integration testing, business continuity testing, …Lead UAT (including Data and integration signoff, performance testing if applicable, business continuity testing if applicable, …).Support change management (Lead country Expert/key user training, support/monitor champions training execution).Successful deployment within time and budget.Handover support post go live to sustain team.Monitor post Go Live adoption and defects.Monitor team resource allocation with support of project planner to avoid under and over utilization.Monitor and reconcile weekly progress with the project plan.Communicate to stakeholders on progress and budget.Have a deployment MFA and increase score to be above 5.5 (out of 7).Deployment Strategy & FrameworkContribute to designing the deployment strategy.Enhance and improve the existing deployment template in order to:Reduce deployment timeline and cost.Support standard modular approach.Optimize the overall process (Country discovery “MT0”, enhancements definition and prioritization, UAT, signoff, …).UAT / Test Planning & StrategyContinuously enhance the Azure DevOps (ADO) structure to efficiently collect, manage, and act on UAT feedback.Review and refine existing test plans and scripts, ensuring they reflect current system requirements and user expectations.Maintain and evolve testing assets based on:Functional Specification Documents (FSDs),System updates and enhancements,Real‑time user feedback during UAT cycles.Develop testing strategies that align with product goals, emphasizing traceability, coverage, and risk mitigation.Collaborate to define and improve the ADO framework for test management and traceability.Include data migration, interface, perf testing, DRP/Business continuity, etc.Test Execution & ValidationLead and execute functional, performance, and user acceptance tests (UAT) to validate system behavior under diverse conditions.Monitor and report on test progress, ensuring transparency and timely escalation of issues.Drive defect resolution by coordinating with development and QA teams, ensuring root cause analysis and timely fixes.Collaboration & Stakeholder ManagementPartner with country stakeholders.Support change management.Partner with CTO teams (build, interface, data load) and PMO to ensure alignment across deployment and testing activities.Engage with product design engineers, robust design leaders, and business analysts to ensure test coverage reflects business needs.Facilitate cross‑functional workshops and syncs to align on priorities, timelines, and quality expectations.Automation & Continuous ImprovementPropose and contribute to the development of automated regression test suites to enhance testing efficiency and reduce manual effort.Participate in root cause analysis (RCA) for defects and document lessons learned to improve future testing cycles.Advocate for continuous improvement in testing practices, tools, and team collaboration.Documentation & ComplianceMaintain comprehensive documentation of test results, deployment procedures, and validation reports.Support internal and external audits by ensuring traceability, compliance, and quality assurance standards are met.Contribute to knowledge bases and training materials to support onboarding and knowledge transfer.Governance & MetricsDefine and track KPIs for deployment success, test coverage, defect resolution, and UAT satisfaction.Establish governance models for deployment approvals, rollback procedures, and change control.Provide regular updates to leadership on deployment health, risks, and improvement opportunities.Qualifications & SkillsExcellent communication and stakeholder management skills across technical and business domains.Fluent English; additional languages are an asset.Negotiation skills (with partner teams, with country, etc).Lead exte