Strategic Planning Director

Job Description

Reports to: Managing Director, Saudi Arabia
Location: Riyadh, KSA

The Strategic Projects Realization Director is a critically important role that enables the MD KSA to work most effectively with internal and external stakeholders and to fulfill commitments to customers, partners, and the leadership team. This is not an administrative role, it is a highly strategic and facilitative position that requires strong strategic thinking, exceptional judgment, discretion, and a hands‑on approach to driving execution.

He/she serves as an integrator, operator, and orchestrator—shaping the KSA strategy and 3–5-year roadmap, translating it into a governed portfolio of programs, and ensuring timely decisions, risk management, and measurable value creation in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.

• Own and lead the Saudi strategy and 3–5-year roadmap aligned to Vision 2030 outcomes and national priorities.
• Synchronize functional/unit strategies with the KSA enterprise strategy; embed clear OKR’s, KPIs, and outcome measures.
• Design and run the operational calendar for strategy execution (e.g., territory action plan (TAP) reviews, Profit Plan/Forecasting Day, S&O P, Scorecard cadence).
• Drive cross‑functional interlocks; cascade strategy into quarterly/annual plans with milestones, accountabilities, and dependencies.
• Track execution health and risks; trigger early interventions; ensure escalations/decisions happen at the right level and speed.
• Leverage the MD’s time for maximum impact—optimize for decision quality and content, not logistics.
• Prepare and facilitate Leadership Team meetings, KSA Business Reviews, Brand Reviews (templates, discussion framing, attendees & actions), Town Halls, and Cycle Meetings.
• Validate pre‑reads, decision memos, and post‑meeting actions; hold owners accountable for timely follow‑through.

• Lead coordination of priority projects and commitments involving the Managing Director and their direct reports.
• Actively partners with Regional Business Development to ensure projects are progressing according to management and stakeholder expectations.
• Ensure alignment across global, regional, and market stakeholders; propose mitigation actions when alignment is lacking.
• Deep‑dive into a select portfolio of high‑impact initiatives while maintaining a broad understanding of all projects under the MD’s remit.
• Apply tact, diplomacy, and persistence to navigate complex cross‑functional dynamics.
• Facilitate escalations and trade‑offs across functions (Medical, Commercial, Manufacturing, Market Access, Legal/Compliance, Finance, Supply Chain, Business Development).
• Actively manage enterprise risks and opportunities.
• Partner with HR to drive engagement and culture‑building initiatives.
• Serve as single point of contact (SPOC) for regionally initiated projects, coordinate with all relevant stakeholders.

• Maintain a coherent KSA enterprise portfolio with investment criteria, stage gates, benefit tracking, and RAG status.
• Build and continuously improve the governance, risk, and planning infrastructure to run major programs in a controlled and compliant way.

• Support external affairs in the interface with MOH, SFDA, MISA, LCGPA, NUPCO, PIF/Lifera, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Unlock incentives, approvals, and long‑term offtakes; align to local content and procurement mechanisms.
• Structure and negotiate MoUs, offtake agreements, tech transfer contracts, and JV frameworks; ensure commercial viability and regulatory fit.

• Quantify and report local value: local manufacturing depth, supplier development, tech transfer milestones, workforce/Saudization, and supply resilience KPIs.
• Build executive dashboards (e.g., Portfolio RAG, Risk heatmaps, Local Content %, Tender eligibility, Cash & Capex) and present to Country Leadership, EEMEA/Global BD, and external steering bodies.
• Track and communicate benefits realized vs. plan (e.g., NPV/IRR, time‑to‑impact, cost‑to‑serve, access/tender wins).

• Lead localization and new product launches…