Regional Director, Water & Environment (Middle East)

SJ Group; Riyadh Region; On-site; SAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Surbana Jurong Group is seeking an experienced Regional Director – Water & Environment to lead the sector across the Middle East from Riyadh. This pivotal role combines strategic direction with P&L responsibility and client relationships to drive growth and excellence.

You will oversee five sub-sectors, shape business development, lead tender processes, and build high-performing regional teams across multiple locations, delivering projects on time and to budget.

Qualifications

• 25+ years in water/environment sectors with senior leadership experience.
• Minimum 5 years working in the Middle East (UAE/KSA preferred).
• Demonstrated P&L, commercial management and business development capabilities.
• Proven ability to lead tenders and proposals to high standards.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management across multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and operational direction for Water & Environment across the Middle East.
• Drive growth, client relationships and project performance with a strong focus on value delivery.
• Oversee five sub-sectors: Water Infrastructure, Water Resources & Irrigation, Coastal Engineering, Dams & Hydro, Environment & Waste.
• Build, mentor and lead high-performing regional teams across multiple locations.
• Ensure regulatory compliance, technical excellence and financial performance.

Skills

Leadership

P&L management

Business development

Client relationship management

Tender & proposals

Water & environment expertise

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Multi-location team leadership

Job description

• Pivotal regional leadership role across the Middle East
• Leadership, P&L and business growth responsibility
• Based in Riyadh, KSA

About SJ

Surbana Jurong Group is a diverse collective of engineering and consultancy businesses with professionals across 120+ offices in 40+ countries. We bring together technical expertise across the full project lifecycle, supporting clients across sectors including infrastructure, transport, water, aviation, energy and the built environment.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced Regional Director – Water & Environment to provide strategic leadership and operational direction for the sector across the Middle East.

The role carries leadership and P&L responsibility across five key sub-sectors:

• Water Infrastructure
• Water Resources & Irrigation
• Coastal Engineering
• Dams & Hydro
• Environment & Waste

You will play a key role in growing the SJ Group Infrastructure function through people leadership, commercial performance, business development, client relationship management and project performance, while ensuring operational and technical excellence across the region.

The Ideal Candidate

• 20+ years of industry experience with recognised expertise in a relevant water/environment sub-sector.
• Minimum 5 years of experience working in the Middle East, preferably with experience in both UAE and KSA.
• Strong P&L, commercial management and business development experience.
• Proven ability to build trusted and productive senior client relationships.
• Experience leading tenders and proposals to a high standard.
• Proven ability to manage and develop high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams across multiple locations.
• Experience delivering medium to large-scale environmental and waste projects to budget and client requirements.
• Strong understanding of relevant industry standards, legislation and the Middle East market.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to resolve complex commercial, technical and people matters.

Wrap Up

As an inclusive and growing organisation, SJ is committed to building a global community of talented professionals and thought leaders.

We recognise the value and importance of a diverse and inclusive workplace and look for people with different backgrounds, skills and expertise to drive innovation and shared learning across our growing global network.

At Surbana Jurong, we put talent, hard work, teamwork and a fun workplace together to approach problems and solve them creatively and collaboratively. Join us in making a positive impact on the world!