Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Khizer RehmanProgram Director — Security & Infrastructure

Program Director | Airports, Critical Infrastructure & Security Programs

22+ years delivering large-scale airport, national security and digital transformation programs across the UAE.

View experience urkhizer_2002@hotmail.com

About

Senior technology and business leader with 22+ years of experience delivering large-scale airport, critical infrastructure, security, ICT and digital transformation programs across the UAE and international markets.

As Program Director at Atlas Group / Atlas Security in Abu Dhabi, I lead strategic technical planning, PMO governance, budgeting and ROI-driven initiatives, and report program performance directly to the Board of Directors.

I also oversee the company's AI Department, directing the preparation and development of AI software and products that translate operational data into predictive, decision-support tools for aviation and national security customers.

My delivery record spans enterprise CCTV, access control, PSIM, AI video analytics, data centres, SAN/NAS storage platforms, command & control centres and classified national security projects.

Experience

Jan 2025 — Present
Program Director
Atlas Group / Atlas Security · Abu Dhabi
- Set integrated technical direction, budgets and expected value returns for the group's major and sensitive programs, and build the organisational structure to deliver them.
- Manage 3 Airports SLA — security systems SLA operations across three airports, ensuring compliance and efficiency.
- Projects handling more than 500M AED — design and implementation support across multiple sites.
- Lead technical discussions with stakeholders and international technology manufacturers to secure the best design, most efficient solution and strongest return on investment.
- Build and equip the PMO team with research and development tooling, and submit high-level executive reports to the Board of Directors.
- Spearhead AI solutions and innovation initiatives in the aviation industry, and oversee the AI Department's preparation and development of AI software and products.
Jan 2019 — Dec 2024
Senior Project Manager & Technical Manager
Atlas Group / Atlas Security · Abu Dhabi
- Developed, led, designed and executed the first enterprise SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) building in the UAE and the wider region (2019).
- Delivered the Main Control Center (MCC) city-wide CCTV solution for UAE mosques and Al Ain City (2019–2022).
- Delivered turnkey and special-system solutions for mega complex national security projects using AI, data science and classified technologies (2019–2022).
- Owned solution architecture, strategic technology partnerships, vendor negotiation and service management across the portfolio.
Apr 2016 — Dec 2018
Technical Program Manager — Airports
Atlas Group / Atlas Security · Abu Dhabi
- Core PMO member for the MTB & MTC new Abu Dhabi International Airport technology program: a networking backbone engineered for 24,000 cameras (12,000 deployed), virtualised enterprise VMS and 4,400+ access control endpoints.
- Delivered the AI investigation package — 1,100 face-recognition IDS cameras plus 1,100 TNT and video analytics streams — alongside BDRM, BLTS baggage tracking and LPR solutions.
- Oversaw active/active SAN with dynamic failover and flash, and 92 PB NAS storage managed through an enterprise SMIS application layer, fully integrated with Customs and ATRS systems.
- Managed network and system engineers and delivered end-user training on Genetec Security Center, Ipsotek and IPSecurityCenter PSIM.
Apr 2013 — Dec 2016
SLA Technical Lead — Airports
Atlas Group / Atlas Security · Abu Dhabi
- Accountable for 24/7 maintenance operations across three mission-critical sites, vendor-led infrastructure upgrades and yearly support renewals.
- Led site and project commissioning for CCTV and access control estates at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
- Covered VSS, SACS, video analytics, multicast MPLS, Windows Server clustering, blade servers and EMC storage.
Feb 2009 — May 2013
Senior Network Engineer
S&P Global (SNL Financial), Pakistan · Islamabad
- Primary owner of enterprise network infrastructure for 20 global offices across the UK, Canada, US, Manila, Singapore, India and Pakistan.
- Ran OLA/SLA management for the Network Operations Center and global ISPs, with level-3 24/7 on-call support and monthly uptime reporting to senior executives.
- Configured and troubleshot DMVPN, BGP, EIGRP, OSPF and GRE tunnels, plus PIX/ASA and VPN concentrators for site-to-site and remote access IPsec.
- Implemented disaster recovery and failover plans for remote office networks; managed Zscaler/Bluecoat content filtering, Juniper WXC WAN compression and Quantum backup.
Jan 2008 — Jan 2009
Network & System Administrator
Habib Rafiq International ISP · Pakistan
- Built and maintained DSL network infrastructure across multiple cities, including BRAS provisioning, ATM and Catalyst switching.
- Delivered corporate VPN, VLAN and inter-VLAN routing solutions for enterprise clients.
Feb 2006 — Dec 2007
Network & System Administrator
CompuNet Online ISP · Pakistan
- Led the upgrade program from dial-up to DSL, designing the DSL architecture, server estate and network operations.
- Configured DSLAM platforms (Raptor 100, Paradyne) and Cisco 3560 switches with 2501 / 7200 VXR routers as BRAS.
- Managed a 24/7 support engineering team and owned network documentation and root-cause records.
Feb 2002 — Dec 2007
Computer Lab In-Charge / Instructor
Scholars Group of Colleges · Rawalpindi
- Ran computer labs across all Scholars colleges in Rawalpindi and taught computer science to 10th and 12th grade students.
- Coordinated course outlines with faculty and conducted practical examinations for the federal and Punjab boards.

Skills

Executive Leadership

Program & portfolio management
PMO governance
Strategic planning & budgeting
Board-level reporting
Stakeholder management
Business development & partnerships
Vendor & contract negotiation
Risk, compliance & service management
AI product strategy & roadmap

AI & Product Development

AI software product development
Machine learning operations (MLOps)
AI video analytics & computer vision
Face recognition & biometric IDS
Predictive analytics & decision support
Data science pipeline design
AI vendor evaluation & integration
Proof-of-concept to production scaling

Security Systems

Genetec Security Center
Genetec Omnicast
Ipsotek IVA / FR
IPSecurityCenter PSIM
Kaba Exos
Everbridge
AI video analytics
VSS · SACS · ACMS
Command & control centres

Airports & Critical Infrastructure

Airport ICT programs
BDRM boarding & deplaning management
Baggage labelling & tracking (BLTS)
License plate recognition (LPR)
SCIF design & delivery
Smart cities
Critical infrastructure protection

Monitoring & Tooling

SolarWinds Orion
WhatsUp Gold
Prognosis
Kiwi CatTools
Zscaler · Bluecoat
Barco CMS NGP

Projects & Highlights

AI Department · Product

AI Software & Product Development

Lead the company's AI Department in preparing and developing AI software and products — from concept and data pipelines to production deployment — for aviation operations and national security use cases.

Aviation · 2014–2022

Abu Dhabi International Airport — MTB & MTC

Core PMO member for a backbone engineered for 24,000 cameras (12,000 deployed), virtualised enterprise VMS and 4,400+ access control endpoints, integrated with Customs and ATRS.

AI & analytics · Airports

AI Investigation Package

Delivered 1,100 face-recognition IDS cameras plus 1,100 TNT and video analytics streams, moving airport operations from reactive monitoring to predictive insight.

Data centre · Storage

92 PB Enterprise Storage Platform

Active/active SAN with dynamic failover and flash, plus 92 PB of NAS capacity managed through an enterprise SMIS application layer.

National security · 2019

First Enterprise SCIF in the UAE

Developed, led, designed and executed the region's first enterprise Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility building.

Smart city · 2019–2022

City-Wide MCC CCTV Program

Delivered the Main Control Center city-wide CCTV solution covering UAE mosques and Al Ain City.

Programs · Multi-site

500M+ AED Project Portfolio

Direct design and implementation support for a project portfolio exceeding 500 million AED, alongside security systems SLA delivery across three airports.

S&P Global · NOC

Global Enterprise Network

Owned switching, routing, DMVPN and ISP connectivity for 20 offices across the UK, Canada, US, Manila, Singapore, India and Pakistan.

Resilience · Documentation

Disaster Recovery Readiness

Authored and implemented disaster recovery and failover designs for remote office network infrastructure, with proactive NOC alerting.

Contact

Open to conversations about program leadership, security systems delivery and aviation technology.

Education

M.Sc — Computer Science
SZABIST Dubai · 2019 — 2020
B.S — Computer Science
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad · 2003 — 2007

Certifications

Genetec Security Center SC-OTC-001 & SC-ETC-001 (2020)
Cisco CCNA (2007) · CCNP (2010)
ITIL Foundation (2015)
PMP Training (2016)
CISSP Training (2018–2019)
OSCP Training (2021–2022)
Ipsotek FR & IVA Certification (2018)
Kaba Exos Server Certification (2019)
VMware Training (2018)
Cyber Security Conferences — Sofia (2017) & Prague (2020)