Permanent-led · tightly scoped
Oil and gas project director recruitment in Saudi Arabia
Last reviewed
Project director and EPC delivery leadership into the Kingdom. We work the hire on a named package — not a generic energy executive search catalogue.
What “project director” means on this desk
Oil and gas project director recruitment in Saudi Arabia is a delivery hire: the person who owns a package, an EPC interface or a completions-to-handover window. We also take construction and completion managers on EPC scopes and the interface leads who sit between owner, PMC and contractor. We do not recast every senior title in energy as “executive search”. That work has its own page.
Riyadh programme offices, Eastern Province sites and contractor home-offices all appear in the same brief. The person has usually already delivered a comparable package in the Gulf or a similar owner-contractor system. We will not invent a rank or a salary band to dress the copy.
Permanent-led, with contract only when the package is finite
Default: retain the person
Project directors and EPC leadership in the Kingdom are usually permanent or long secondments that behave like permanent. The fee is a professional search fee, not a race to the bottom.
Contract when the package ends
A defined peak — a hook-up window, a tie-in campaign, a completions-to-start-up overlap — can still be a contract. If the seat is really a wells superintendent, use the drilling superintendent page.
Saudization on delivery titles
Engineering localisation at 30% across 46 professions (in force since 30 June 2026, SCE accreditation, SAR 8,000 floor) applies to designated engineering titles. Separately, project-management professions — including project management director — face 70% Saudization from 14 February 2027 for private establishments with three or more people in those titles. We place Western directors where the capability is scarce and the quota allows. We do not promise a workaround.
EPC mobilisation and when project directors usually brief
Named-package project directors, construction/completion managers and owner–PMC–contractor interface leads are often retained when autumn budgets are still live or when January programmes reopen — the same two GCC waves employers use for senior energy hiring. Defined peaks (hook-up, tie-in, completions-to-start-up) can still be contract; permanent remains the default for delivery leadership that stays. Project-management localisation (70% from 14 February 2027 where the rule applies) is independent of the calendar: we place Western directors where capability is scarce and quota allows.
Wave timing: DexterCV / Latinum HR, 19 Aug 2026.
How this sits next to the other lanes
A project director who needs a wells superintendent on the same programme should see both desks: this page and drilling superintendent recruitment. Country or functional leadership above the package is executive recruitment. When the package turns over to operations, commissioning manager is the correct brief. Mining and metals projects belong on mining and EPCM, not here.
Western headquarters that already buy energy executive search can treat this as the Saudi delivery lane of the same British international house — not a new UK site.
What this house will put its name to
Gas and Oil Recruitment is a British London specialist oil and gas recruitment desk. We do not invent client logos, placement counts or awards.
Western seats we actually work
- Country, functional and programme leadership
- Drilling and wells superintendents, and well-site leaders
- Oil and gas project directors and EPC delivery leads
- Mining engineers and EPCM leadership on minerals programmes
- Permanent commissioning managers who stay into operations
What we refuse
- Graduate, technician or high-volume crew farming
- Employer-of-record or iqama processing as a product
- A Saudization or SCE workaround
- Doorway pages for every Gulf city
- Client logos, placement counts or awards we cannot evidence
What to send with the mandate
- Package name
- Seat — project director, construction or completion manager, or owner–PMC–contractor interface
- Permanent, or a defined peak (hook-up, tie-in, completions-to-start-up)
- Where the person sits — programme office, site, or contractor home-office
Hiring-manager questions
Permanent or contract project director?
Default is permanent or a long secondment that behaves like permanent. A defined peak — a hook-up window, a tie-in campaign, a completions-to-start-up overlap — can still be a contract.
Project director or executive?
A project director who owns one package belongs here. Country or functional leadership above the package is executive recruitment. We do not recast every senior title in energy as executive search.
Project director or commissioning manager?
When the package turns over to operations, commissioning manager is the correct brief. This page is the person who owns a package, an EPC interface or a completions-to-handover window.
Should we close a project-director retain before Ramadan?
If the package needs a seated leader before approvals slow, starting the retain in the autumn or early-year wave is usually wiser than waiting until midsummer. We do not guarantee a pre-Ramadan start date.