Manager - Software Licenses

Role purpose

Key responsibilities

• Manage licensing governance and oversee entitlements, deployments, usage, ownership, costs, and renewal dates.
• Coordinate compliance reviews, true-ups, declarations, and responses to internal and external software audits.
• Optimize licenses by reviewing demand, identifying unused or duplicative software, coordinating reclamation and consolidation, and reporting savings and cost avoidance.
• Manage enterprise, cloud, subscription, SaaS, and perpetual licensing arrangements, including major publishers such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and Red Hat.
• Manage the strategic renewal portfolio; facilitate requirement reviews and validate demand, usage, quantities, licensing metrics, and BoQs.
• Represent licensing in architecture, technology selection, and approval forums; review new software demands, entitlements, and licensing models.
• Provide licensing input to RFP/RFQ evaluations and coordinate contractual matters with Procurement and Contracts.
• Govern SaaS subscriptions and cloud marketplace purchases, monitoring consumption commitments, credits, rewards, and licensing implications.
• Support software budget planning and forecasting; validate quantities, usage, billing periods, credits, and cost allocations.
• Maintain licensing data in SAM tools, ServiceNow, CMDB, Excel, Power BI, and procurement or contract systems; report spend, compliance, utilization, renewals, savings, and risks.
• Serve as the licensing contact and escalation point, build stakeholder and vendor relationships, and communicate risks and recommendations.
• Maintain licensing controls, procedures, and evidence; coordinate remediation and escalate compliance, unsupported software, unapproved applications, shadow IT, and business-continuity risks.

Experience and qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in software licensing, Software Asset Management, IT asset management, or similar profiles.
• Experience managing complex enterprise licensing environments, strategic renewal portfolios, and major publisher engagements.
• Strong understanding of SaaS, subscription, perpetual, enterprise agreement, ULA/ELA, cloud, and consumption-based licensing models.
• Practical experience with license compliance, internal reviews, vendor audits, renewals, optimization, and cost management.
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Finance, or a related discipline.
• UAE and/or banking or financial services experience is an advantage.
• ITIL, Software Asset Management, IT Asset Management, or FinOps certifications are advantageous.

Required skills

• Understand key software licensing provisions and coordinate contractual matters with the Contracts team.
• Advanced analytical and reporting skills, including strong working knowledge of Excel and Power BI.
• Working knowledge of SAM platforms, ServiceNow, CMDB, Excel, Power BI, and procurement or contract systems.
• Strong stakeholder management, influencing, vendor management, facilitation, and management communication skills.
• Coordinate diverse stakeholders, support decisions, and manage multiple licensing portfolios, renewals, and compliance priorities.