A senior software engineer for Dubai teams, an hour and a half from your clock
Next.js and Laravel platforms, SaaS first versions, AI features and security work for Dubai teams, with nearly the whole working day in common.
01
Why Dubai teams bring me this work
Where a Dubai platform sits decides which rules it meets, so that's the first design question I ask: outside the financial free zones under the federal data-protection law, inside the DIFC with its own law and Commissioner, or building for a government body under Dubai's data law. After that it's the build: Next.js and Laravel platforms, SaaS first versions and AI features, in Arabic and English, with right-to-left layouts from the start.
What teams across the United Arab Emirates bring me
- You're launching a platform and need to know where data may be stored and processed, and whether the federal law or a free-zone regime applies.
- Your product has to work properly in Arabic and English: right-to-left layouts, fonts and forms from the start.
02
The hours we share with Dubai
Dubai is an hour and a half behind Mumbai all year, with no daylight saving on either side: your 09:00 is 10:30 in Mumbai, so our days overlap almost completely. The Dubai Government works Monday to Thursday and a Friday morning, so anything that needs a government stakeholder on a Friday is planned for the morning.
Each city's 09:00–18:00 working day on the clock in Mumbai (UTC+5:30), in January and in July, so daylight saving is accounted for.
| City | In January | In July |
|---|---|---|
| DubaiUTC+4 | 10:30–19:30 | The same |
Clocks No daylight saving time; Gulf Standard Time is UTC+4 all year.
The Dubai Government's week
The Government of Dubai moved to a four-and-a-half-day week from 1 January 2022: Monday to Thursday 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, and Friday 7:30 am to 12:00 pm, with Saturday and Sunday as the weekend.
Source: Dubai Media Office: Dubai Government announces changes to the working week
03
Rules a Dubai team's software meets
The DIFC's regulator
In the Dubai International Financial Centre, the Commissioner of Data Protection supervises and enforces DIFC Law No. 5 of 2020 and handles transfers of data outside the DIFC. The independent office was set up in 2007, and the current law was enacted in May 2020.
The Dubai Data Law
Dubai's Law No. 26 of 2015 regulates how data about the Emirate is disseminated and exchanged, as open or shared data. It covers federal and local government entities and private persons designated by the competent entity, including in free zones such as the DIFC, and matters mainly to vendors building for Dubai government bodies.
Across the United Arab Emirates: Federal Personal Data Protection Law · DIFC Data Protection Law · ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021
This is engineering guidance, not legal advice: confirm what applies to your business with your counsel.
Further reading
- Article: Working with an engineer in India: hours, contracts and data transfers · 10 October 2026
What a US, UK, European, Gulf or East Asian team should sort out before working with an independent engineer in India: the shared hours, the contract, and how personal data may move.
04
Contracts and invoicing
Invoices in UAE dirhams or US dollars, per milestone, paid through Wise or Payoneer. I can work under your services agreement, with data kept in the region you choose.
More on working with teams in the United Arab Emirates is on the United Arab Emirates page.
Tax and legal treatment depends on your company and country: confirm it with your accountant or counsel.
05
Where Dubai teams usually start
Web platforms and SaaS
Custom web applications, APIs and integrations, built to be inherited.
- Price
- Fixed-scope quote after a discovery call
- Timeline
- Scoped per project, agreed before work starts
Next.js development and migration
Fast, indexable front ends: new Next.js builds, and migrations from single-page React or PHP templates without losing search traffic.
- Price
- Fixed quote after the inventory
- Timeline
- Planned after an inventory of routes and templates
MVP Sprint
A production-grade first version of your product, at a fixed price and on dates fixed after the scoping week.
- Price
- Fixed price, agreed at the end of the scoping week
- Timeline
- Set at the end of the scoping week
Security audit and penetration test
An attacker's view of your application and infrastructure, and a fix list you can act on.
- Price
- Fixed price per scope
- Timeline
- Agreed per project after scoping
06
Case studies
- Case study: Vayudoot Aviations · Education platform
- Case study: Exhibit Social · B2B SaaS platform
- influencers indexed
- 10,000+
- Case study: InfluencerX · Real-time voting platform
- users over the campaign
- 1.6M+
07
Questions from Dubai teams
What hours do we share with Dubai?
Nearly all of them. Your 09:00 to 18:00 is 10:30 to 19:30 in Mumbai, all year, since neither side changes its clocks, so calls fit almost anywhere in your day. Friday afternoons are off for the Dubai Government, so anything that needs it is planned for Monday to Thursday or a Friday morning.
Which data rules apply to a Dubai platform?
It depends where you sit. Outside the financial free zones, the federal Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021) applies; inside the DIFC, DIFC Law No. 5 of 2020 and its Commissioner of Data Protection; and if you build for a Dubai government body, Dubai's Law No. 26 of 2015 governs how its data is shared. Confirm what applies with your counsel.
Do you have an office in Dubai?
No. I have no office, address or staff in Dubai, and I don't offer in-person meetings there: I work remotely from Mumbai, an hour and a half ahead of you, and the work runs on video calls in your working day and in writing.
08