Riyadh is the fastest-growing leadership market in the Gulf. Vision 2030 programmes, giga-projects, the regional headquarters requirement and a wave of PIF-backed companies have created demand for experienced executives that the local market cannot yet meet alone. We run Saudi searches from the UAE with regular time in Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
Since 2024, multinationals that want to contract with Saudi government entities have needed a licensed regional headquarters in the Kingdom, which has moved hundreds of senior roles from Dubai to Riyadh. Alongside that, giga-projects such as NEOM, Diriyah, the Red Sea and Qiddiya, and the companies created around them, are hiring Chief Executives, Chief Financial and Development Officers, and programme and operations directors at a pace not seen anywhere else in the region.
A Saudi search is often a relocation search. We assess candidates for Riyadh specifically, including family considerations, and manage the Iqama and visa process with the employer so that a signed offer becomes a start date without surprises. Where an executive is not ready to relocate, our industry specialist advisory can provide an interim leader while the permanent search continues.
Employment in the Kingdom is governed by the Saudi Labour Law and administered through the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Saudisation is enforced through the Nitaqat programme, which bands companies by sector and size and sets the required share of Saudi employees, with consequences for visas and government services if a company falls into the red or yellow band. Recent rules have also localised specific professions, including many HR, finance and sales roles.
Our HR audits check contracts, end-of-service and termination practices against the Labour Law, and our advisory work builds Saudisation plans that match real roles to available national talent, with a search capability for senior Saudi leaders when a target cannot be met from within.
For groups entering Saudi Arabia from the UAE we usually combine three services: an HR set-up for the new entity, a first Country Head or General Manager search, and a Nitaqat plan agreed before the first work visas are requested. Doing them in that order avoids the most common and costly mistakes.
Not yet. Searches are run from the UAE with regular visits to Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province, and interviews are held in the Kingdom or in Dubai as clients prefer.
Shortlist within five to seven weeks and completion within fourteen to eighteen, allowing for relocation and Iqama processing when the appointee moves from outside the Kingdom.
Yes. We handle the people side: the HR set-up of the RHQ entity, the search for its head and senior team, and the Nitaqat plan the entity will need from the first visa onward.