A practical guide for senior leaders evaluating a Saudi country mandate, a regional role in Riyadh or leadership within a specific operating business. Connect your experience to a defined organisation and delivery need.
By Daniel Sterenzon · Reviewed
A Saudi country leadership role, a regional headquarters function and a project delivery position can involve different decision-makers, responsibilities and operating locations. Start by specifying which you want and what you have delivered that supports that choice.
Write down the scope you can own: commercial growth, operations, finance, people, transformation or another defined function. Add sector relevance, team and budget responsibility, and the outcomes you can evidence. “Interested in Vision 2030” does not give a hiring decision-maker enough information to assess your fit.
Check whether the organisation needs Saudi operating responsibility, a multi-country remit or a headquarters support function. Confirm the actual reporting line and authority instead of inferring them from a regional office announcement.
For a project-related target, establish which entity develops, owns, operates or advises the work. A programme’s public profile does not tell you which organisation employs the function you could lead.
Consider relevant consultants, contractors, technology providers and other partners where your evidence fits. Verify the contract or relationship and the work’s stage before treating a supplier as an active hiring target.
Invest Saudi, the Ministry of Investment’s platform, presents investment themes across sectors including manufacturing, logistics, technology, tourism and healthcare. These themes help frame research; they are not a list of available leadership jobs.
For each target, look for the organisation’s own announcements, operating presence, leadership team and current delivery responsibilities. Listed-company disclosures on the Saudi Exchange can provide further primary evidence. A contract or expansion may justify investigation, while the leadership requirement remains unconfirmed.
Our recommendation is to prioritise evidence closest to the actual business: what has changed, when, which entity is responsible and why your experience is relevant. Keep alternatives visible, including the possibility that the work is already staffed.
On 11 May 2026, JLL announced a Sports and Entertainment Hub in Riyadh serving regional and global clients. The same announcement named its regional head.
This is useful research evidence precisely because the detail changes the interpretation. A reader should not convert the new-hub headline into an assumed vacant head-of-business role. The announcement establishes a service expansion and an appointment, not an invitation to candidates.
Our interpretation: a relevant executive could investigate the hub’s operating model, current remit and ecosystem to assess fit. Any approach would need fresh checks and a reason grounded in the executive’s own experience. JLL is a public example here, not a Sterenzon client, partner or promised route of access.
A prominent chair or group CEO may be several steps away from the function you could lead. Depending on the target, the relevant person may be a country GM, functional leader, operating-company executive, Talent Acquisition lead or search consultant with a specific assignment.
Record why each stakeholder belongs in your map. A known professional relationship can help establish context, but it does not guarantee a referral. Confirm current roles and use a respectful, individual approach that gives the recipient an easy way to judge relevance.
A useful message explains the observed business context, connects one credible result from your background and proposes a modest next step. It should not claim to know an unannounced vacancy or imply an introduction has been agreed.
Discuss where the role is based and where the work happens. Be explicit about Riyadh, Jeddah, the Eastern Province or project-site availability as relevant to the actual target. Separate a regional remit from an assumption that the job can be performed from another country.
Prepare evidence of delivery through the stakeholders, operating constraints and organisational change relevant to that employer. Confirm role-specific language and eligibility requirements with the employer rather than assume they are the same across employers and functions.
Your campaign should reflect realistic availability, notice period and relocation decisions. Terms concerning employment and relocation need to be established with the employer and appropriate specialists. They are not determined by a research signal or guaranteed through this advisory.
For each priority, record the entity, role hypothesis, evidence, source date, relevant people, action and next review. Label whether it is a strategic-fit target, a verified business signal or a confirmed requirement. Recheck old material before relying on it for a priority approach.
Judge progress through the quality of information and next steps: a verified remit, a relevant discussion, a specific recruitment process or a clear reason to stop. A large list of project names alone does not establish a useful executive campaign.
The 60-day Sterenzon engagement combines positioning, research, tailored messages and campaign review for an agreed target. Daniel leads the strategy; you review and normally send your approaches. Introductions, interviews and employment are not guaranteed.
For a parallel UAE option, use the UAE executive job-search guide to define a separate mandate and target list. Read more about Daniel’s role in the advisory and how the research distinguishes evidence from interpretation.
Share the role, sector and location you are considering, your relevant evidence and where your current search is stalling. Daniel will review whether the advisory fits.
Confidential · Reviewed personally by Daniel