EVP – Supply Chain — Transit-Technology Business

The mandate

The business delivers gates, validators, displays, control-room equipment and communications devices into long-lived transit systems. New regional procurement rules require greater local content, source traceability, secure software provenance and auditable subcontracting. Current sourcing is global and project-specific; critical components have single sources, local assembly partners receive late demand and certificates are stored separately from material records. Upcoming bids cannot be delivered credibly under that model.

The EVP will lead approximately 850 employees and material partners across procurement, planning, logistics, supplier quality, localisation, inventory and project supply. Engineering controls design approval; cyber sets technical standards; project directors own customer milestones. Supply chain owns whether compliant, traceable material arrives when needed and whether supplier promises are based on verified capacity.

Localisation must create durable capability rather than invoice routing. At the same time, replacing proven components prematurely can threaten safety and service. The executive needs a staged approach that qualifies local partners, protects intellectual property and secures customer approval while maintaining continuity for installed systems that may require spares for decades.

The Gulf supply network also intersects export controls, sanctions, free-zone routing and country-of-origin requirements. Components and embedded software may change jurisdiction during repair or re-export. The EVP will build screening and documentation into purchase and logistics flows, with specialist legal interpretation where required. No project deadline justifies an informal route that could compromise licence conditions, end use or future support.

Supplier finance and workforce conduct are integral to resilience. Local manufacturers may invest in tooling or inventory against project forecasts, while lower-tier labour and recruitment practices can create hidden legal and human risk. The executive will align payment, forecast and cancellation terms with that exposure and require credible labour due diligence. Cost improvement achieved by starving qualified suppliers or ignoring worker conditions will not count as value.

Why this seat is open

This urgent new role follows a bid-governance review that found fragmented ownership of localisation and supply compliance. Several procurements will begin within the next quarter, making a later transformation impractical. Existing functional leaders remain, but one enterprise executive must arbitrate project, engineering and regional priorities.

What you will own

• Map bill-of-material and subcontractor traceability from approved design through manufacture, software load, shipment, installation and spare support.
• Create a localisation road map by commodity and capability, with qualification gates, investment needs and genuine value-add evidence.
• Secure critical and long-life components through dual-source, lifetime-buy, redesign or strategic inventory decisions.
• Integrate supplier cyber, counterfeit prevention and software provenance into qualification and release.
• Build demand and inventory planning across project milestones, engineering change and service spares.
• Negotiate contracts covering capacity, quality, traceability, audit, intellectual property, remedy and obsolescence.
• Develop regional supplier capability without concealing non-compliance through lower-tier subcontracting.
• Give bid and project forums fact-based supply risk, cost and localisation commitments before customer submission.

The first 12 months

In 90 days, identify single-source and non-traceable exposure in priority projects, audit the highest-risk local partners and reconcile the next 18 months of demand. Introduce interim release controls for critical components. Present a localisation and continuity plan showing which changes require engineering or customer approval and which commitments should be removed from bids.

By month six, qualify first-wave local capability, implement serial and certificate linkage on critical commodities and complete continuity actions for the top ten risks. Integrate supply reviews into project and bid governance. Establish controlled disposition for obsolete, excess or suspect inventory rather than shifting it between projects.

At twelve months, achieve 98% traceability on safety- and cyber-critical material, reduce past-due component constraints by 40% and meet approved localisation milestones without a material quality escape. Secure continuity strategies for every top-tier single source, lower expedited freight by 25%, and improve inventory accuracy above 97%. Two independent supplier tests should verify subcontractor and software-provenance controls.

What the board will measure

• Project milestones protected by realistic capacity and material evidence.
• Local content that represents qualified capability and withstands audit.
• Traceability, cyber provenance and counterfeit prevention across supplier tiers.
• Continuity for new delivery and long-lived installed systems.
• Inventory, freight, cost and working-capital improvement without hidden project risk.
• Strength of regional procurement, planning and supplier-quality leadership.

The person

You have 18–22 years in complex technology or engineered-product supply chains, ideally transit, rail, aerospace, industrial electronics or secure infrastructure. You have built localisation in the Gulf or a comparable market and managed long-life components, regulated traceability and supplier cyber requirements.

Your experience includes at least AED 1.8 billion of spend, inventory or project scope and leadership of 600 employees and partners. You can show when you rejected a nominal local-content claim, paid for continuity before shortage and persuaded engineering to redesign an obsolete component. The executive committee expects commercial toughness without sacrificing smaller suppliers through unfinanceable terms.

This onsite Dubai role entails supplier and project travel and reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive sponsor.

Compensation and terms

Fixed remuneration is AED 1.3–1.8 million plus annual incentive, assessed through project continuity, localisation, traceability, quality, cash and leadership. The permanent role is onsite in Dubai with regional and international travel, reporting to the Group Chief Executive or nominated executive sponsor. Notice up to six months will be considered against bid and supply deadlines.

Confidentiality

The employer, projects, authorities, components and suppliers are withheld. Technical and commercial detail is shared only following suitability, export and conflict review and mutual confidentiality. Figures and circumstances are composite; applicants must not contact suspected customers, manufacturers or local partners.