Chief Product Officer — Social-Infrastructure Portfolio

The mandate

The investment committee has withheld further expansion pending clarity on a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability within a institutionally backed infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the social-infrastructure portfolio during a balance-sheet rotation. For mandate 347, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Product Officer operating perimeter covers approximately SAR 27,100 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 Chief Product Officer Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,100 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Product Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the social-infrastructure portfolio. The Chief Product Officer Infrastructure seat must resolve a balance-sheet rotation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the social-infrastructure portfolio. For mandate 347, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Product Officer’s first year on the social-infrastructure portfolio is expected to end with portfolio coherence, product economics and customer adoption. In mandate 347, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Chief Product Officer — Social-Infrastructure Portfolio seat, established because a balance-sheet rotation now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the social-infrastructure portfolio, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Product Officer 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 27,100 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Product Officer Infrastructure organisation of about 1,100 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 balance-sheet rotation, with Chief Product Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Product Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the social-infrastructure portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have owned portfolio economics, roadmap choices and adoption across a multi-product customer base in mandate 347.
• Build the Chief Product Officer’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 a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Product Officer 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 portfolio coherence, product economics and customer adoption, 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 Chief Product Officer’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 Chief Product Officer 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 Chief Product Officer 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 Chief Product Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Product Officer-owned improvement in the social-infrastructure portfolio operating constraint behind a balance-sheet rotation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 347: 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 Chief Product Officer, SVP Product or Product Business GM in a institutionally backed Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the social-infrastructure portfolio, your Chief Product Officer 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 Chief Product Officer brief.

As a Chief Product Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Infrastructure or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of SAR 15,700 million and led an organisation of at least 775 people.

For mandate 347, the board wants two transitions: a difficult social-infrastructure portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a balance-sheet rotation. As the prospective Chief Product Officer for this social-infrastructure portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 347 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Product Officer 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 Chief Product Officer, SVP Product or Product Business GM, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven Chief Product Officer ownership of at least SAR 15,700 million and leadership of no fewer than 775 employees in a comparable social-infrastructure portfolio context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability 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 Chief Product Officer-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 347.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Product Officer 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 347 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Product Officer 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 347.

Confidentiality

Client identity is withheld at this stage and will be disclosed under mutual confidentiality after an initial fit discussion for mandate 347. Rounded ranges and blended context prevent this document from being used to triangulate the organisation for mandate 347.