IT Director - Infrastructure & Security

Client of Foreground; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 300,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Saudi industrial and real estate investment group seeks an IT Director Infrastructure & Security to lead the modernization of their IT landscape. This role involves designing a group-wide digital infrastructure strategy, managing cybersecurity, and ensuring compliance, offering a unique opportunity to shape IT governance across multiple sectors.

Qualifications

• 15-18 years of progressive IT leadership experience.
• 5 years in an IT Director or Head of Infrastructure role in Saudi Arabia.
• Deep understanding of GCC regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Define the group's infrastructure architecture roadmap.
• Establish group-wide cybersecurity policy.
• Lead IT governance and manage IT operations team.

Skills

Cybersecurity

Infrastructure Management

Cloud Systems

Network Governance

Risk Management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology

Masters or certifications (CISSP, CISM, CCSP, Azure Solutions Architect)

Job description

Job Description: Foreground is partnering with a leading Saudi industrial and real estate investment group to appoint a strategically grounded and technically authoritative IT Director Infrastructure & Security, based at the group's Riyadh headquarters. This role is central to a critical modernization initiative, following several years of rapid asset expansion across manufacturing, construction, and mixed-use real estate holdings in the Kingdom.

Following our in-depth engagement with the Group CEO and Head of Digital Transformation, the business has made it clear: this is not a legacy support role. The incoming IT Director will own the design and governance of a group-wide digital infrastructure strategy that secures the enterprise, standardizes systems, and introduces long-overdue network and cybersecurity governance across a fragmented IT landscape.

Role Purpose

To lead the strategy, architecture, and execution of group-wide IT infrastructure and cybersecurity operations, with a focus on stability, scalability, and regulatory compliance. The role demands both technical credibility and executive maturity capable of bridging system decisions with enterprise risk priorities and business continuity needs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Define the group's infrastructure architecture roadmap, including data centers, cloud adoption strategy (primarily Azure), disaster recovery plans, and WAN/LAN optimization across multiple sites.
2. Establish group-wide cybersecurity policy, integrating risk frameworks such as ISO 27001/NIST, and embedding security operations across all digital environments.
3. Lead IT governance, identity management, access controls, firewall integrity, endpoint security, and network segmentation.
4. Manage the IT operations team (currently 20+ across the Kingdom), including infrastructure engineers, cybersecurity specialists, and service desk leads.
5. Implement unified infrastructure tools for network monitoring, device management, patch control, and configuration.
6. Collaborate with finance, internal audit, legal, and external consultants to prepare for IT audits, penetration testing, and compliance inspections.
7. Own the IT budget for infrastructure and security, ensuring cost-effective vendor selection, contract negotiation, and SLA enforcement with managed service providers (MSPs).
8. Lead the response strategy for incidents, breaches, or network disruptions, including root cause analysis and forensic reviews.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 15-18 years of progressive IT leadership experience, with a strong background in infrastructure, cloud systems, cybersecurity, and enterprise networks.
• At least 5 years in an IT Director, Head of Infrastructure, or Group IT role within Saudi Arabia, ideally in asset-heavy environments such as real estate, manufacturing, logistics, or industrial services.
• Deep understanding of GCC regulatory compliance and national cybersecurity standards (including SAMA guidelines, CITC, and local data residency policies).
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related field; Masters or certifications (CISSP, CISM, CCSP, Azure Solutions Architect) highly preferred.
• Experience leading hybrid architecture models (on-prem + cloud) and rolling out group-wide security policies in fragmented or fast-growth organizations.
• Fluent in English; Arabic preferred.

Why This Role, Why Now

The company is beyond the stage of patchwork IT; they are ready for enterprise-level governance. The role offers a rare opportunity to build an infrastructure and security framework from the ground up across multiple verticals with full board-level support. This is a mandate for an IT leader who thrives in complexity, can unify systems and people, and is capable of future-proofing one of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious private investment portfolios.