List of Leaders
11 Saudi Arabia HR leaders to follow in 2024
Nirvi B
May 7, 2024
8
mins
Those were the days when a company's Human Resources department had to manage heaps of holiday email requests or search through vast cabinets of documents to review appraisal histories and attendance records. Today, self-service interfaces and HR software in Saudi Arabia has eliminated HR’s need to chase down spreadsheets and manual documents.
What’s more praiseworthy is the dedication, commitment and works of many HR leaders in Saudi Arabia which deserves to be celebrated. In their honour, our team at peopleHum is extremely delighted to congratulate the top HR leaders, who have inspired us and many.
Disclaimer: The list is purely subjective and is created on the basis of relevant experience and contribution of the selected professionals to the field of human resources. If you have any suggestions or recommendations of other names who deserve to be a part of the list, please reach out to us and nominate your choice.
Top HR leaders in Saudi Arabia
1. Samer Samman
Samer Samman is the Chief Human Resources Officer at KAUST. He has over 18 years of expertise in operations, investment, and business, having worked in a range of businesses both inside and outside of Human Resources and KAUST, locally and globally. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, Economic Policy & International Energy Policy Management from Columbia University, New York. Samer Samman is an independent director on the compensation and nomination committee as well as the investment committee of a Saudi Stock Exchange-listed firm. He also served on the boards of various start-up firms as an observer and board member.
2. Najla AlSaif
Najla AlSaif is the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Tanmiah Food Group. She was the former Executive Director of Strategy & Enablement at National Center for Performance Measurement. Najla AlSaif is a CIPD-certified and has a diverse professional background in the field of human resource management, having held positions in a variety of businesses. She has held numerous directorships at Saudi Arabia's National Center for Performance Measurement. She has also been part of the CHRO Panel Discussion on “Amplifying Employee’s Productiveness: Prioritizing Employee Experience” at the 5th Annual HR Tech Saudi Summit.
3. Nazeeh Abdullah
Nazeeh Abdullah is the Head of People & Change Advisory at KPMG. He is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in strategy, operations, & management consulting. He has offered consulting services to a wide range of enterprises in the MENA area. With a strong business acumen, Nazeeh Abdullah holds over 15 years of hands-on experience in the business management advising industry. He is also specialised in the areas of business transformation and restructuring, HR and Talent Management, strategy articulation and development, operating model and organisational design, performance management, and change management.
4. Baraa Bakor
Baraa Bakor is the Group Chief Human Resources Officer at the Saudi German Hospitals. He was the former Director of Human Capital Management at the International Medical Centre. He is a seasoned HR executive with over 20 years of experience in developing and executing healthcare strategies and operation. Recently, Baroo Bakor was recognised for his contribution in delivering valuable insights on the panel discussion, “Digital Transformation at Healthcare | The Strategy” at the CHRO Virtual Series, powered by Oracle. Like his peers on the list, he is also a certified CIPD professional.
5. Mohammed Al Hijan
Mohammed Al Hijan is the Chief Human Resources Officer at the King Saud University. He strongly believes in the idea of integrating best international practices into the veins of an organisation, thereby impacting positive performance growth. Among the many other expertise, he is highly experienced in developing & executing HR initiatives that fulfil the mission and vision of an organisation. He is a strong believer of challenging the norms and conventions that otherwise rules the minds of many growing professionals today. He has also been an integral part of events such as Virtual HR Summit & Expo & The Global Society of Human Capital Summit.
6. Abdulrahman Alsheail
Abdulrahman Alsheail is the Director General of Human Resources at the Institure of Public Adminstration – IPA – Saudi Arabia. In the past, he has praised for successfully managing the transformation process to create goal-oriented tasks to maximise customer service and happiness. He has a track record of turning a strong understanding of business into capital plans that increase employee engagement, develop leader capacities, and maximise performance. Abdulrahman Alsheail was also nominated for the HR Rising Star of the Year award by the CIPD Middle East People Awards in 2019, and also for the Best L&D Program Award, 2020.
7. Sahar Taleb
Sahar Taleb is the Chief Omnipreneurship Officer at Al-Dabbagh Group. She was a former member of Helping Hands Charity Organisation where she indulged into many activities towards child education rights. She has also launched a sustainability challenge named as Omipreneurship Awards, a space that harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to resolve the biggest challenges of the modern world. Sahar is also working onto building an online learning academy that allows people to learn all about entrepreneurship.
8. Rowaida Raffa
Rowaida Raffa is the Talent Acquisition Manager at SGS – Saudi Ground Services. She is a seasoned HR executive with an immense experience in functional as well as strategic HR. She is the former HR business partner at Johnson Controls who lead and managed over 1,200 employees across various firms in the Middle East. Today, Raffa manages the end-to-end function of talent acquisition and leads several HR-related projects within the company size of over 10,000 employees.
9. Hayfa Abuzabibah
Hayfa Abuzabibah is the Group Human Resources Director at Al-Dabbagh Group. She is a specialised HR professional in the areas of strategic, transformational and agile HR. She also holds an experience of over 22 years across multiple industries including financial, real estate, retail and automotive. Under her leadership, Al-Dabbagh Group (ADG) was recognised as the Best Workplaces in KSA along with numerous other awards and nominations.
10. Jawad A. Abdrubalnabi
Jawad Abdrubalnabi is the Director of Human Resources Services at Sadara Chemical Company. He first began as a multi-functional source for all start-up HR functions, such as HR Policies, Staffing, HR Services, and HR Contracting. He has led the establishment of several HR important processes that integrated across the enterprise. He has also been known to demonstrate a deep understanding of local HR procedures and align them with the Enterprise Resource Planning.
11. Abdulmalik Al Kohaji
Abdulmalik Al Kohaji is the Vice President of Human Resources at Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI). He is a seasoned HR executive whose key roles include leading and creating HR strategies, policies and plans. He has previously led a variety of leadership and consulting roles in HR, organization development, and transformation for both private and public sector organisations.
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