Executive Search in Saudi Arabia
Confidential C-suite, board, and senior leadership recruitment for Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, NEOM, and the wider Kingdom. Retained search for PIF gigaprojects, Saudi family conglomerates, banking, energy, technology, retail, and healthcare leadership. Saudi national repatriation and senior Saudisation handled in-house.
Brief us on the role
Confidential intake. Long list in 14 days. NDA on day one.
Start a confidential searchReturning home? Register confidentially
Saudi nationals in London, New York, Singapore, or Dubai exploring repatriation. Confidential register.
Register confidentiallyTalent Arabia is an executive search firm serving Saudi Arabia with consultants who run retained C-suite, board, and senior leadership searches for Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Vision 2030 gigaproject employers across NEOM, Red Sea Global, ROSHN, Diriyah Company, Qiddiya, and the wider PIF portfolio. We headhunt passive executives, repatriate Saudi nationals from London, Dubai, Singapore, and the United States, and run confidential board searches under ISO/IEC 27001:2022 information security controls. Senior Saudisation candidates sourced through dedicated Saudi-national executive networks.
14d
Long list time
21d
Short list time
3-5
Candidates per short list
12m
Replacement guarantee
What makes a KSA search different
A search firm built for Vision 2030 hiring
Saudi Arabia is hiring leaders at a pace no other GCC market matches. Speed without sourcing depth is just churn.
Saudi national repatriation
Many top Saudi executives are sitting in London, Dubai, New York, or Singapore. They will move home for the right brief, the right comp, and the right family logistics. We work this pool directly, not via search portals.
Senior Saudisation real, not cosmetic
Nitaqat hits at the top of the org just like the operating layers. We source Saudi nationals for VP, SVP, and EVP roles where most search firms try to back-fill with expats and trigger Nitaqat slippage.
ISO 27001 confidentiality
Saudi C-suite searches leak fast. ISO/IEC 27001:2022 covers candidate data, role briefs, and shortlist communication end-to-end, with audited controls behind every step.
Sectors we cover
Saudi C-suite across the Vision 2030 economy
PIF Gigaprojects
Sector leads, country heads, and project director searches for NEOM, Red Sea Global, ROSHN, Diriyah Company, Qiddiya, AlUla, and adjacent PIF portfolio companies.
CEO · Sector Head · Project Director
Banking and Finance
CEO, CFO, and chief risk officer searches for Saudi National Bank, Al Rajhi, Riyad Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, and the Saudi asset management market.
CEO · CFO · CRO · CCO
Energy and Petrochemicals
VP and director-level searches for Saudi Aramco-adjacent entities, SABIC, ACWA Power, Maaden, and the downstream chemicals layer.
VP · Country Head · Director Ops
Technology and Telco
CEO, CTO, and chief product searches for STC, Mobily, NEOM-tech entities, and Saudi-based scale-ups.
CEO · CTO · CPO
Construction and Infrastructure
Senior commercial, project director, and CEO roles for the Saudi construction ecosystem, including PIF gigaproject contractors.
CEO · CCO · Project Director
Retail and FMCG
MD, GM, and category leadership for Panda, BinDawood, Lulu KSA, Carrefour KSA, and the Saudi FMCG distribution layer.
MD · GM · Category Director
Healthcare
CEO, CMO, and operations leadership for Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Dallah Health, Mouwasat, and the Saudi private healthcare network.
CEO · CMO · COO
Family Conglomerates and Holdings
CEO, CFO, and investment leadership for Olayan, Al Faisaliah Group, MAS, Bin Dawood, and other major Saudi family offices.
CEO · CIO · Group CFO
Government and Quasi-Government
Deputy minister, director general, and program director searches for ministries and Vision 2030 implementation bodies.
DG · Program Director · Strategy Lead
KSA exec market intelligence
What you should know about C-suite hiring in Saudi Arabia
The PIF gigaproject layer has reset comp. NEOM, Red Sea Global, ROSHN, Diriyah, Qiddiya, and AlUla are hiring at salary bands 30 to 60 percent above 2019 Riyadh corporate norms for equivalent levels. If your salary survey is more than 18 months old, your offers will lose. We benchmark live.
Saudi national executives are returning. The combination of Vision 2030 opportunity, Premium Residency, and family-friendly schools is pulling Saudi executives back from London, Dubai, Singapore, and the United States. We work this diaspora pool through closed networks, not LinkedIn.
Senior Saudisation is now Nitaqat-binding. Saudisation requirements apply at VP, SVP, and C-suite levels for many sectors. Hiring an expat into a senior role that should be Saudi-national can drop your Nitaqat band, with downstream consequences on visa quota and government service access. We source Saudi-national first by default.
Female executive hiring is a strategic line. The Vision 2030 target of 30 percent female workforce participation includes senior leadership. Family conglomerates, banking, healthcare, and gigaprojects all have active female C-suite mandates. Our register includes a dedicated Saudi female executive pool.
Cross-Gulf retention pressure is real. Many UAE and Qatar-based senior executives are being approached for Riyadh roles. Saudi employers competing for the same exec need superior brief design and faster decision cycles to win. We run process discipline that wins the offer, not just the interview.
Premium Residency changes the conversation. Saudi Premium Residency, particularly the new long-term and limited-stay categories, removes some of the historical sponsorship friction for senior hires. We coordinate residency strategy with the candidate as part of the offer.
FAQ
Executive search in Saudi Arabia, common questions
Talent Arabia is among the top executive search firms operating in Saudi Arabia, with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, 14-day long list and 21-day short list speed, and dedicated PIF gigaproject, Saudi national repatriation, and senior Saudisation sourcing capability across banking, energy, technology, retail, construction, and family conglomerates.
Three things. First, comp at the top has reset upward, led by the PIF gigaprojects. Second, senior Saudisation is now enforced at VP and above, not just operational layers. Third, the Saudi national diaspora in London, Dubai, and Singapore is the strongest single source of returning talent and is invisible on job boards.
Yes. PIF gigaproject searches are one of our largest mandate categories. We benchmark live comp against gigaproject offers, source from both in-region and global pools, and coordinate Premium Residency where applicable.
Yes. We maintain a dedicated Saudi-national executive register including diaspora candidates in the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, the UAE, and elsewhere. Senior Saudisation is sourced first by default on every relevant brief.
Long list in 14 days, short list in 21 days. Most CEO searches close in 45 to 75 days from brief to signed offer. Searches involving board-level sign-off and Premium Residency coordination can extend to 90 days.
Retained search is billed one-third on engagement, one-third on short list, one-third on offer acceptance. Total fee is typically 27 to 33 percent of first-year cash compensation. Confidential pricing call available before commitment.
Yes. Female senior leadership search is an explicit line in our practice. We maintain a Saudi female executive register and run dedicated searches for Vision 2030 mandate roles across banking, healthcare, retail, technology, and family offices.
Call +968 9419 4167, email [email protected], or fill in the form at /contact. A senior consultant will respond within one business day to schedule a confidential intake call. NDA available on request before disclosure.
We hire across the GCC
Pick a location to see how our team works there.
Ready to search confidentially in Saudi Arabia?
90-minute intake call. NDA on day one. Long list in 14 days.