Available · Full-time & fractional CTO · Dubai, open to relocation

I scale e‑commerce platforms, payments and teams without the drama.

13 years building e-commerce and payments in the Middle East. I started on the payments side at Amazon Payment Services (then PayFort), then spent ten years at Golden Scent, Saudi Arabia's leading online perfume and beauty retailer. I joined as a web developer and left as VP of Technology, running a team of 25 across backend, web, mobile, QA, DevOps and data.

Book a 30-min call → See my work
13 yrsin e-commerce, 10 at the region's leading beauty retailer
25engineers led across six disciplines
5 hrscutover for a full platform migration
6payment partners launched across the Gulf
Selected work

Big changes, shipped safely, on a live business.

MODERNISATION · 2025–2026 Golden Scent

Modernising a 12-year-old legacy platform, with a new website and mobile apps

Replaced the 12-year-old system the whole business ran on, and launched a brand-new website and mobile apps alongside it. I set the strategy, planned and ran the programme, and merged three separate frontend teams into one product team. The move from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce went live with the business trading throughout.

T−0
Freeze, final data sync, DNS switch
T+5h
Live on Adobe Commerce, orders flowing
12-year legacy retired New website + apps 5-hour cutover Lower run costs 3 teams → 1
PAYMENTS · MENA Golden Scent

A payments strategy built for how the Gulf actually pays

I've worked on both sides of payments: first building the gateway at Amazon Payment Services (then PayFort), then as the merchant. At Golden Scent I set the checkout and payments roadmap and brought on local wallets, cards and buy-now-pay-later partners, designed in failover pairs so a failing provider could be switched out without losing checkout.

Apple Pay STC Pay Tamara Tabby Checkout.com Payfort
TEAM · GROWTH Golden Scent

Growing the team alongside the business

Grew the technology function as the company grew: from its first mobile apps to a global storefront that took the brand beyond Saudi Arabia. I built a team of 25 across six disciplines and promoted the backend, frontend and QA leads from within.

25 engineers 6 disciplines Leads grown in-house Global storefront
Fractional CTO

Senior technology leadership, without a full-time hire.

For e-commerce and consumer businesses that need a steady hand on their platform, team or roadmap. Fixed scopes, clear outcomes.

2–3 weeks · fixed price

Tech & architecture audit

An honest view of your platform, costs, team and risks, with a prioritised 90-day plan.

2–4 weeks · fixed price

Cloud cost audit & optimisation

Find where your cloud bill is going and cut it through right-sizing, better commitments and architecture changes, without putting reliability at risk.

Project-based

Replatforming & migration

Plan and lead a move to Adobe Commerce, headless or a new stack, with a cutover your customers won't notice.

Project-based

Checkout & payments for MENA

Add or fix wallets, BNPL and gateways to lift conversion and cut payment costs.

Monthly retainer

Ongoing fractional CTO

A set number of days a month to lead your roadmap, hiring, vendors and engineering practices.

A good fit if you're a growing online retailer or marketplace, a startup that needs its first technology leader, or a company whose platform has become too slow or costly to change.

About

Builder first, leader second.

I'm a Jordanian technology leader based in Dubai. I still think like the engineer I started as: I care about what ships, what it costs to run, and whether the team can own it after I leave the room.

I like end-to-end ownership, direct conversations and doing real scale with a small, strong team. I'm AWS-certified and open to relocating for the right role.

Looking for: a full-time CTO, VP or Head of Technology role in e-commerce, payments or large-scale platforms, or fractional CTO engagements.

Path
  1. 2013
    Web developer in Amman, building for media and digital clients
  2. 2015
    Software engineer at Amazon Payment Services (then PayFort): instalments, merchant billing and e-commerce plugins for the gateway
  3. 2016
    Joined Golden Scent as a web developer; grew to senior developer and team lead
  4. 2020
    Engineering Manager, Product: website, mobile apps and the MENA payments rollout
  5. 2021–2026
    VP of Technology, reporting to the CEO: roadmap, budget, vendors, and the legacy platform modernisation
  6. Now
    Open to full-time and fractional CTO work
Technology strategyTeam buildingOrg designReplatformingPaymentsCloud cost optimisation
Off the clock

Husband, and dad to a toddler who is easily my toughest stakeholder. She has taught me more about prioritisation than any roadmap.

Piano

Practice with no deadline and no shortcuts. Good for a mind that spends all day on systems.

Swimming

The one place where nobody can send me a Slack message.

Coffee

The first deploy of every day. Always happy to talk tech over one.

Contact

Hiring, or need a CTO for a while?

Tell me what you're building. I reply within a day.

Book a call 30 min → Email hello@yazantommalieh.com LinkedIn /in/yazantommalieh →