Open to remote roles
Muhammad
Atiq-ur-Rehman
I lead large, multi-million-dollar IT programs that modernize infrastructure, move enterprises to the cloud, and harden their security — delivered on time and on budget. 17+ years across the UAE and South Asia turning complex, multi-vendor transformation into measurable business outcomes.
Profile
PMP-certified IT Project & Program Manager and Head of IT with deep delivery experience in regulated, mission-critical sectors — banking, government, defense, and telecom. I operate as the governance hub of every program: setting up the PMO, running RAID and steering-committee cadence, coordinating multi-vendor delivery, and translating technical progress into board-level decisions.
My security-governance foundation spans ISO 27001, NIST, and CIS Controls aligned to UAE IA (NESA), DESC ISR, and UAE PDPL — and I align IT delivery to national digital-transformation agendas including UAE Vision 2031 and Saudi Vision 2030.
Selected programs
National Banking Network Transformation
Full network and security rollout across 137+ branches nationwide — LAN/WAN topology, firewall and VPN policy, and multi-vendor integration with zero-downtime cutover at every site.
IP/MPLS DCN Backbone & Access Networks
Designed and implemented an IP/MPLS DCN backbone and access networks over NERA and Seral radios across 350+ sites with secure, scalable, high-availability connectivity.
SAP S/4HANA + Azure & M365 Governance
Led end-to-end ERP delivery — infrastructure readiness, vendor coordination, security-baseline enforcement, UAT and go-live — while governing a hybrid Azure environment that cut OPEX 20%.
C4I Netcentric System
Managed end-to-end delivery of a netcentric Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Intelligence system, coordinating multi-vendor integration under strict confidentiality.
What I bring as IT Project & Program Manager
Video résumé
A 60-second introduction to my background, signature programs, certifications, and how I work. Best viewed with sound on.
Experience
Senior Project & Delivery Manager
- Lead the full lifecycle of IT projects — initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and closure — applying PMP-aligned governance to deliver on scope, schedule and budget.
- Manage cloud adoption and migration initiatives across Azure, AWS and M365, including landing-zone setup, workload migration and cost governance.
- Oversee cybersecurity and IT-governance workstreams aligned to NIST CSF, PCI DSS and ISO 27001, ensuring regulatory and data-privacy compliance.
- Establish and enforce PMO standards, RAID logs, status reporting and change-control across concurrent projects.
Project Manager & Senior IT Manager
- Delivered a $6.2M SAP S/4HANA program end-to-end — infrastructure readiness, vendor coordination, UAT and go-live — on schedule and within budget.
- Managed a $7M defense-sector C4I program, coordinating multi-vendor integration for a secure, mission-critical architecture.
- Cut security incident-response time 40% with a layered CrowdStrike + Microsoft Defender stack and full SIEM integration; reduced cloud OPEX 20% governing Azure & M365.
- Led SASE / SD-WAN rollouts and managed teams of 15+ engineers and 5+ vendors, authoring HLDs, LLDs and runbooks across all programs.
Project Manager — Enterprise & Security Solutions
- Secured 3 enterprise contracts worth $500K+ by authoring winning technical proposals, HLDs and migration plans.
- Architected and delivered data-center, network and security platforms (firewalls, WAF, load balancers) across UAE finance, retail and government sectors.
- Managed PoCs, vendor negotiations and third-party integrations for regulated-industry clients.
Lead Networks & Project Coordinator
- Sustained 99.99% availability across critical links by planning and executing IP/MPLS backbone, DCI and WAN upgrades for a national defense operator.
- Authored LLDs and DR/BCP procedures; led vulnerability assessments and security hardening across all network segments.
Manager — Networks
- Led datacenter development and integration across 9+ remote facilities, implementing ISO 27001 / ISO 9001-aligned security policies.
- Operated nationwide IP core/access networks monitored via NetFlow, Syslog and SolarWinds, with risk-mitigation and change-management processes.
Manager — Networks
- Directed the $20M+ National Savings Bank network and security transformation — designs, SOWs, HLDs/LLDs and implementation across 137+ branches nationwide.
Certifications & education
Let's build something great together.
Available at short notice for remote and GCC-based IT leadership roles. I'd welcome a conversation about your infrastructure, cloud, or transformation programs.