CTO – Product and Engineering — Social-Infrastructure Portfolio

The mandate

The board has concluded that incremental adjustment will not resolve product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability within a listed infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the social-infrastructure portfolio during a project-delivery recovery. For mandate 341, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The CTO – Product and Engineering operating perimeter covers approximately SAR 30,000 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, with activity spanning several social-infrastructure portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The CTO – Product and Engineering Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 675 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a CTO – Product and Engineering who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the social-infrastructure portfolio. The CTO – Product and Engineering Infrastructure seat must resolve a project-delivery recovery, while preserving the underlying strengths of the social-infrastructure portfolio. For mandate 341, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The CTO – Product and Engineering’s first year on the social-infrastructure portfolio is expected to end with release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity. In mandate 341, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the CTO – Product and Engineering — Social-Infrastructure Portfolio seat. The incumbent continues to lead the social-infrastructure portfolio through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a project-delivery recovery is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the CTO – Product and Engineering value-creation thesis for the social-infrastructure portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately SAR 30,000 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the CTO – Product and Engineering Infrastructure organisation of about 675 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the social-infrastructure portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a project-delivery recovery, with CTO – Product and Engineering-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one CTO – Product and Engineering operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the social-infrastructure portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have made consequential architecture and engineering trade-offs while scaling release throughput and reliability in mandate 341.
• Build the CTO – Product and Engineering’s three-year succession and capability plan for the social-infrastructure portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Infrastructure organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the social-infrastructure portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal CTO – Product and Engineering portfolio and organisation choices for the social-infrastructure portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable social-infrastructure portfolio trend against release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s agreed first-year social-infrastructure portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A CTO – Product and Engineering forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the social-infrastructure portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the CTO – Product and Engineering mandate’s highest-priority social-infrastructure portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical social-infrastructure portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s direct reports.
• A quantified CTO – Product and Engineering-owned improvement in the social-infrastructure portfolio operating constraint behind a project-delivery recovery, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 341: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head in a listed Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the social-infrastructure portfolio, your CTO – Product and Engineering track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this CTO – Product and Engineering brief.

As a CTO – Product and Engineering candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Infrastructure or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of SAR 17,400 million and led an organisation of at least 500 people.

For mandate 341, the board wants two transitions: a difficult social-infrastructure portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a project-delivery recovery. As the prospective CTO – Product and Engineering for this social-infrastructure portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 341 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The CTO – Product and Engineering must be based in Riyadh; international relocation is supported, but this Infrastructure role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven CTO – Product and Engineering ownership of at least SAR 17,400 million and leadership of no fewer than 500 employees in a comparable social-infrastructure portfolio context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance; experience that is purely functional and lacks CTO – Product and Engineering-level social-infrastructure portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Riyadh location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 341.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated CTO – Product and Engineering package is SAR 2.0–2.9 million fixed + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final social-infrastructure portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 341 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The CTO – Product and Engineering appointment in Riyadh, centred on the social-infrastructure portfolio, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 341.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 341. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 341.