Why this market, why now?
A reader needs a reason that is about their business, not your preference. Tie your interest to a sector, an operating model or a change you have led elsewhere — and be specific about which country and why.
Searching for a senior Gulf role from abroad
A practical guide for Directors, VPs, GMs and C-suite leaders outside the region who are considering the UAE or Saudi Arabia. The move is the easy part to imagine and the hard part to make credible.
By Daniel Sterenzon · Reviewed
Decide what you are moving for
“I want to move to the Gulf” is a life decision. A search needs a business one: the mandate you would hold, the scale you can evidence, and why that is relevant to a specific organisation now.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are different markets with different operating models, and a campaign built for one does not transfer neatly to the other. Read the UAE guide and the Saudi Arabia guide before treating them as one target.
Three questions a relocating executive must answer
What transfers?
Identify the results that are relevant without regional experience: scale, transformation, market entry, regulated environments, multi-country leadership. Do not imply Gulf experience you do not have; adjacent evidence stated honestly is stronger.
What is practical?
Notice period, family, schooling, timing and compensation expectations are assessed early. Have clear answers. “Flexible” is not an answer.
Residency and work authorisation: use official sources
In both countries, work authorisation for an employed executive is normally tied to the employer. Longer-term residence routes also exist for certain categories — for example, the UAE Government describes the Golden visa on its official portal. Eligibility rules change; check the current official text rather than a summary.
For Saudi Arabia, start with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Ministry of Investment. Sterenzon does not advise on immigration, and visa, salary or employment outcomes are not part of the advisory. Use a licensed adviser where it matters.
Build evidence that travels
Translate your record for a reader who does not know your employer. State revenue or budget, team size, countries covered and the change you delivered. Convert currencies where it helps. Explain the context in one line rather than assuming it is understood.
Then make the regional connection explicit and modest: the sector themes you have researched, the operating models you understand, the people you have spoken to. Evidence of preparation is persuasive. Claims of expertise you have not earned are not.
Run the search before you move
Arriving first and searching second is expensive and weakens your position. Most of the work — defining the target, researching organisations, identifying the people who own the relevant business issue, and opening conversations — can be done from where you are.
Plan visits around conversations that are already in progress rather than hoping to create them on arrival. Be accurate about availability: a planned relocation is not the same as being on the ground, and presenting it as such damages trust quickly.
A realistic sequence
- Define one primary mandate and one adjacent option, by country.
- Prepare the evidence: scale, results and the context a new reader needs.
- Research organisations where that evidence is relevant, using dated, sourced signals — see how executive market research works.
- Identify the person who owns the business issue, and any credible warm route to them.
- Approach in a considered order, track every action and review the response. See approaching decision-makers.
- Plan travel around live conversations, then decide with real information.
When advisory support is useful
Sterenzon works on the executive’s side: diagnosing the search, building positioning, researching organisations and stakeholders, preparing messages and reviewing the campaign. You review and normally send your own approaches. Recruitment and placement are outside the service.
The 60-day engagement is built around an agreed target; your proposal sets out the scope, deliverables and support. It can help when a credible leadership record is not translating into a clear target or consistent action. It does not guarantee introductions, interviews or employment.
A focused next move
Make the move credible before you make it
Share the mandate and markets you are considering, where you are based and what has happened in your search so far. Daniel will review whether the advisory fits.
Confidential · Reviewed personally by Daniel