Managing Director – Regional Business — Social-Infrastructure Portfolio

The mandate

An institutionally backed Saudi infrastructure group operates and develops healthcare, education and civic facilities through several project companies. Contract changes, financing costs and lifecycle expenditure have altered the economics, while the board is preparing selected assets for monetisation. Commercial, operational and customer decisions remain distributed among project, functional and investment teams. A new Regional Managing Director will establish one accountable business without eroding concession-specific service obligations.

The portfolio is approximately SAR 19,200 million and encompasses 1,775 employees and material partners. The remit includes regional P&L, service delivery, customer and authority relationships, commercial management, growth, capital, people, safety and portfolio transactions. Clinical or educational service providers retain professional independence, and project companies preserve their legal duties. The Managing Director owns the combined operating result, the credibility of forecasts and the readiness of assets for ownership change.

Social infrastructure cannot be managed solely through facility availability. A hospital's environment affects care continuity; a school's maintenance plan affects safe teaching days; a civic asset carries public-access and community expectations. The leader must reveal where financial performance is being created by genuine productivity and where lifecycle work, supplier exposure or service remedy has merely been deferred.

Monetisation makes that distinction immediate. Buyers will test contract interpretation, condition, deductions, handback, performance records, labour, subcontractors and customer relationships. The Managing Director must ensure each candidate asset presents a coherent operating story supported by evidence, while the retained portfolio continues to receive leadership and capital.

Why this seat is open

The role is newly created and has no predecessor. Changes in sector economics and the transaction timetable made integrated ownership urgent after the annual plan was approved. Selection will move on an accelerated six-to-eight-week timetable once a qualified shortlist is agreed. Interim governance safeguards assets, but distributed committees cannot carry permanent P&L and monetisation accountability.

What you will own

• Integrate regional P&L, cash, service, capital and customer decisions.
• Segment assets by operating health, contractual exposure and transaction path.
• Establish credible lifecycle, handback and service-cost forecasts.
• Direct buyer readiness without distracting live public services.
• Govern partners, workforce localisation and authority relationships.
• Build project-company leaders and regional succession.

The operating model will define what belongs locally and what benefits from regional scale. Project companies should retain fast decisions on service and customer remedy, while common category sourcing, specialist maintenance, analytics and leadership deployment can reduce duplication. The Managing Director will specify decision rights and service agreements, then measure whether shared capability improves asset outcomes rather than simply moving overhead.

Commercial reviews will connect contract clauses with operational facts. Availability failures, deductions, change requests, indexation, utilities, lifecycle and handback positions will use reconciled evidence. Claims will carry probability, cost and relationship consequences; disputed income cannot mask a weak underlying result. When a service standard is unclear, the leader will seek an agreed interpretation before the issue compounds across reporting periods.

Lifecycle planning will be independently challenged. Asset condition, replacement curves, usage intensity, obsolescence, climate and end-of-term obligations will inform a costed plan. The Managing Director will distinguish maintenance needed for safe current service, expenditure required by concession and improvements that support transaction value. Capital cannot be removed from an asset merely to improve short-term distributable cash.

Transaction preparation will have a protected operating interface. Data-room requests, management presentations, site access and buyer queries will be coordinated through accountable asset owners. Service incidents and customer disputes remain subject to ordinary escalation during diligence. Separation plans will cover systems, procurement, people, permits, guarantees, intellectual property and transitional support, with the cost reflected in proceeds analysis.

Growth remains possible, but it must use evidence from the existing book. New PPP bids will demonstrate deliverable mobilisation, service-partner capacity, whole-life cost and public-authority outcomes. The Managing Director can recommend a consortium, altered risk allocation or withdrawal where the business lacks the right to win. Revenue ambition will not override public-service or capital thresholds.

The first 12 months

Within 75 days, the appointee will validate the twelve most consequential asset economics, confirm urgent service or condition risks and assess regional leadership. The board will receive a segment view covering fix, hold, invest, transact and reconsider, together with immediate capital and customer decisions.

By month eight, four priority assets should operate integrated commercial-service reviews, two transaction candidates should have reconciled operating and separation evidence, and shared regional capability should be active in at least two specialist areas. The largest lifecycle uncertainty must have an approved technical and funding response.

At year-end, regional forecast variance should remain within 5%, overdue customer receivables fall 15% and unplanned critical-service interruptions improve 20% across the targeted assets. Ninety-five per cent of material buyer questions should trace to controlled evidence, and no transaction candidate may carry an unowned high-severity handback or service obligation.

What the board will measure

• Public-service performance protected through commercial change.
• Transparent asset economics, including lifecycle and handback.
• Monetisation evidence that reconciles with ordinary operations.
• Regional scale used where it improves project-company outcomes.
• Credible local leadership, workforce development and succession.

The person

You are a regional Managing Director, country chief executive or infrastructure portfolio leader with more than 28 years of experience. You have carried at least SAR 11,150 million in accountable P&L, book or portfolio and led 1,250 or more people. Your career includes PPP or concession operations where service, lifecycle, public-counterparty and investor requirements had to be balanced.

The board will test an asset whose apparent profitability changed after you rebuilt the operating baseline, and a transaction or handover completed without service deterioration. You must demonstrate personal authority across commercial, technical and people decisions. Candidates limited to investment origination, facilities activity or transaction execution without integrated business leadership will not qualify.

This onsite Riyadh role requires frequent travel to assets, authorities, consortium partners and investors. International relocation is supported, with visible commitment to Saudi leadership and capability development expected.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is SAR 3.0–4.3 million plus annual incentive and LTI. Performance factors include service, forecast quality, cash, lifecycle control, transaction readiness, customer confidence and succession. Long-term awards follow approved vesting and the final regional perimeter.

Confidentiality

The sponsor, authorities, facilities, service partners and proposed transaction perimeter are confidential. Qualified candidates receive further information under an undertaking. The stated scale and situation combine details to prevent identification.