Head of Workforce Welfare and Wellbeing

Parsons; Tabuk; On-site; SAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons is seeking an executive leader to head workforce welfare and wellbeing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. You will oversee welfare, community health, labor compliance, and employee wellbeing across a landmark giga‑project, ensuring dignity, safety, and high living standards for a multinational workforce.

The role requires 20+ years of progressive experience in welfare, industrial relations, or HSE with strong leadership and familiarity with Saudi labor laws and international standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Public Health, or related discipline required.
• Minimum 20 years of progressive experience in workforce welfare or HSE management.
• Proven leadership of large‑scale welfare operations on infrastructure projects.
• Experience with multinational workforce and governance in Saudi Arabia/ GCC.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive welfare strategy for the project lifecycle.
• Align welfare programs with Saudi labor laws, Vision 2030, ILO principles, and IFC standards.
• Establish governance frameworks, standards, and measurable welfare KPIs.
• Direct planning of accommodation, clinics, catering, nutrition, recreation, transport, and facilities.
• Lead welfare audits, corrective actions, and non‑compliance resolution across sites.
• Present welfare performance and risks to client executives and regulators.

Skills

Workforce welfare

Employee wellbeing

Industrial relations

Human rights compliance

Saudi labor law

Crisis management

Data analytics

Stakeholder engagement

Executive leadership

Multinational workforce management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR/related field

Master’s degree preferred

Job description

Head of Workforce Welfare and Wellbeing

Location: Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Industry: Construction

Function: Human Resources

Experience Required: Minimum 20 years

Overview

The Head of Workforce Welfare and Wellbeing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia is an executive construction opportunity leading workforce welfare, community health, labor compliance, and employee wellbeing across a landmark giga‑project. This position protects the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of a large multinational workforce while establishing internationally recognized standards for worker dignity, accommodation, healthcare, safety, and quality of life.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive workforce welfare and wellbeing strategy for the entire project lifecycle.
• Align welfare programs with Saudi Arabian labor laws, Vision 2030 objectives, International Labour Organization principles, and IFC standards.
• Establish policies, governance frameworks, minimum operating standards, and measurable welfare performance indicators.
• Direct the planning and oversight of worker accommodation, medical clinics, catering, nutrition, recreation, transportation, sanitation, and community facilities.
• Ensure that living conditions support safety, privacy, dignity, cultural sensitivity, and appropriate standards of care.
• Govern mental health, psychosocial support, fatigue management, and employee assistance initiatives for the workforce.
• Create contractor and subcontractor audit programs covering labor practices, accommodation standards, healthcare access, grievance handling, and human rights compliance.
• Lead scheduled and unannounced inspections across camps, construction sites, clinics, kitchens, recreational areas, and transport operations.
• Review welfare findings, issue corrective actions, monitor closure plans, and escalate serious non‑compliance to executive leadership.
• Act as the principal advisor during workforce crises, disease outbreaks, community health events, accommodation failures, and serious employee grievances.
• Establish confidential and accessible grievance mechanisms for workers from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Coordinate rapid investigation and resolution of welfare complaints while protecting employees from retaliation.
• Present welfare performance, emerging risks, audit findings, and improvement plans to client executives, PMC leadership, government entities, and independent auditors.
• Build productive working relationships with contractors, regulators, healthcare providers, community partners, and project leadership.
• Introduce digital dashboards and data‑driven systems for monitoring health trends, accommodation conditions, grievances, absenteeism, morale, and workforce retention.
• Use predictive analysis to identify welfare risks before they affect safety, productivity, workforce stability, or project delivery.
• Design cultural integration, recreation, education, communication, and workforce engagement programs.
• Lead and develop welfare managers, specialists, auditors, healthcare coordinators, and community support personnel.
• Control welfare budgets, service‑provider performance, resource allocation, and program effectiveness.
• Promote a project culture in which workforce dignity, ethical employment, safety, and wellbeing are treated as core delivery requirements.

Ideal Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Sociology, Public Health, Psychology, Construction Management, or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject is highly preferred.
• Minimum 20 years of progressive experience in workforce welfare, industrial relations, human rights compliance, employee wellbeing, or HSE management.
• Proven leadership of large‑scale workforce welfare operations on major infrastructure, heavy civil construction, or remote giga‑projects.
• Experience supporting programs valued at 10billion or more is highly desirable.
• Essential professional experience within Saudi Arabia or the wider GCC region.
• Detailed understanding of Saudi labor laws, worker accommodation requirements, employment practices, and multinational workforce dynamics.
• Strong knowledge of international labor standards, ethical recruitment, human rights frameworks, and contractor compliance.
• Demonstrated ability to influence client executives, government stakeholders, PMC leaders, and senior contractor representatives.
• Experience overseeing accommodation, healthcare, catering, recreation, mental health, grievance, and community support services.
• Ability to lead investigations, crisis response, corrective‑action programs, and sensitive workforce interventions.
• High cultural intelligence with the ability to communicate effectively across nationalities, languages, and employment levels.
• Advanced analytical capability for measuring welfare performance, identifying trends, and evaluating program outcomes.
• Strong resilience and judgment in remote, high‑pressure, and rapidly changing project environments.
• NEBOSH, IOSH, CIPD, public health, human rights, or comparable professional certifications are advantageous.

Skills Set

• Workforce welfare
• Employee wellbeing
• Industrial relations
• Human rights compliance
• Saudi labor law
• Contractor auditing
• Worker accommodation management
• Occupational health
• Mental health programs
• Medical clinic oversight
• Catering and nutrition standards
• Workforce grievance management
• Community health
• Crisis management
• Cultural integration
• Welfare KPI development
• Data analytics
• Compliance reporting
• Corrective action management
• Ethical recruitment
• Stakeholder engagement
• Executive leadership
• Multinational workforce management
• Giga‑project operations
• Vision 2030 projects
• NEBOSH
• IOSH
• CIPD