About the Role

DEPARTMENT: Technology IT Development

SECTION: Applications Development

JOB TITLE: Middleware Development Specialist

REPORT TO: Middleware Team Leader

JOB PURPOSE:

The Middleware Specialist is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining middleware solutions that ensure seamless communication between diverse applications and systems. The role involves overseeing the integration, configuration, and optimization of middleware technologies to enhance system performance, scalability, and reliability. Additionally, the Middleware Specialist ensures that the middleware infrastructure is secure, efficient, and compliant with industry standards and best practices.

KEY TASKS & ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. 1.       Analyze business and integration requirements, translating them into technical specifications to guide the design and implementation of scalable, efficient, and secure middleware solutions and API ecosystems.

2. 2.       Lead middleware and API integration efforts with southbound systems such as BSS, OSS, VAS, enterprise applications, and core network components, ensuring seamless interoperability, real-time data exchange, and optimized communication flows.

3. 3.       Architect and maintain a robust API Gateway to centralize API lifecycle management, enforce security and governance policies, and enable scalable and reusable API integrations across the platform.

4. 4.       Automate CI/CD pipelines specifically for API and middleware deployment workflows, leveraging tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or Azure DevOps to accelerate development and maintain seamless versioning.

5. 5.       Design and implement API-driven middleware services to create reusable, service-oriented components that enable streamlined development and integration for internal and third-party developers.

6. 6.       Streamline operational tasks related to middleware and API management by automating processes such as testing, deployment, and version updates using tools like Ansible, Terraform, or custom scripting.

7. 7.       Implement advanced observability frameworks for middleware and APIs using tools like ELK Stack, Prometheus, or Splunk, ensuring end-to-end monitoring, real-time issue detection, and performance optimization.

8. 8.       Orchestrate middleware and API deployments in containerized environments using Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, or OpenShift, enabling auto-scaling, efficient resource utilization, and cloud-native compatibility.

9. 9.       Continuously evolve middleware and API platforms, focusing on new features, capabilities, and enhancements to meet the changing needs of downstream consumers and business requirements.

10. 10.   Develop and manage SOA and ESB architectures, ensuring consistent API orchestration, seamless integration, and optimized resource management across distributed systems.

11. 11.   Build event-driven middleware services leveraging Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar technologies to support real-time provisioning, orchestration, and messaging between APIs and connected systems.

12. 12.   Oversee the creation and governance of APIs and mediation layers for billing, charging, service orchestration, and OSS integration, ensuring consistency and reliability across the platform.

13. 13.   Maintain detailed middleware and API documentation, including architectural diagrams, API specifications, governance standards, and operational procedures, to facilitate ongoing development and knowledge sharing.

14. 14.   Lead release management processes, ensuring smooth API and middleware deployments, effective go-live strategies, and minimal disruptions during platform transitions.

15. 15.   Supervise comprehensive middleware and API testing, including unit testing, integration testing, and operational validations, ensuring all components meet quality benchmarks and functional requirements.

16. 16.   Monitor middleware and API performance, applying capacity management techniques and proactive optimization strategies to maintain high availability and scalability.

17. 17.   Champion middleware and API best practices, fostering a culture of adherence to ITIL, API governance, and SDLC methodologies while driving continuous improvement in integration processes.

18. 18.   Ensure compliance with regulatory, security, and data protection standards for middleware and API management, implementing appropriate safeguards to mitigate risks.

19. 19.   Conduct architecture assessments, identifying middleware and API limitations, documenting improvement opportunities, and recommending solutions aligned with organizational goals.

20. 20.   Collaborate with stakeholders to prioritize middleware and API features, manage technical backlogs, and deliver integrations that align with strategic business objectives and technical requirements.

TYPICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

1. Quality of Team Contribution

2. Effectiveness of new and enhanced Solutions

3. Efficiency of solving problems, decision-making, and issue resolution.

4. Trusts, supports, and has genuine concern for other team members.

5. Understands and is committed to team objectives.

6. Acknowledges and works through conflict diplomatically.

7. Support through action one or more of the organizational or location objectives.

8. Time management.

9. Effectiveness of issue resolution/decision making/change control and risk management.

10. Adaptability of work plans/resources in response to change.

DIMENSIONS

1. Reports to Middleware Team Leader.

2. Familiarity with the principles of agile and lean development methodologies

3. Ability to work efficiently in a constantly changing environment where the process is fluid and unique solutions are desired.

4. Highly self-directed and able to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent and competing or conflicting challenges.

5. Significant experience designing and delivering complex Enterprise systems and applications in a data centric environment.

6. Deep experience with software development practices, standards, and technologies.

7. Able to effectively engage product management, project management, and IT stakeholders.

8. Able to effectively manage risk in the implementation of architecture.

9. Strong communication, documentation, presentation, and modeling skills.

10. Adhering to ITIL & TMForum Processes & Best Practices.                     

What We Need From You

PERSON SPECIFICATION       

QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE

1. Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related discipline.

2. Minimum 2 years of experience in a related field.

3. Experience in designing and developing integration solutions (ESB / Middleware, Kafka).

4. Experience in designing API using SOAP/Rest/GraphQL

5. Understanding of Microservices Architecture Design Patter (Decomposition, Integration, Gateway, Tracing, CircuitBraker, Service Discovery,)

6. Knowledge and Skills in DevOps Tools and CI/CD Pipeline Automation (e.g. Git, Jenkins, ELK, Zabbix,..)

7. Knowledge and Skills in Cloudnet (K8s and Docker)

8. Experience in Object-Oriented Languages like Java Python & C++ languages.

9. Experience in Mobile app development is an advantage.

10. Knowledge and experience of RDBMS.

11. Knowledge and experience with Linux and Windows OS.

12. Knowledge in the telecommunication domain is an advantage.

13. Vendor-Specificific Certification is a Plus

14. TMForum certification is a Plus.

SOFTE SKILLS:

1. Strong communication skills.

2. Strong presentation Skills.

3. Ability to interpret and apply best practice methods/processes.

4. Excellent numeracy and analytical skills.

5. Management of external suppliers and software/hardware vendors.

6. Conflict handling and resolution skills.

7. Highly developed communication and reporting skills (verbal and written) in English &Arabic

8. Ability to impart knowledge to others in a 1-2-1 and 1-2-many environments.

KEY BEHAVIORS FOR SUCCESS

1. Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving.

2. Creative thinker.

3. Forward Planning.

4. Results Drive.

5. Concern for Standards/Efficiency.

6. Being Collaborative.

7. Tenacity, Resilience and Self-Management.