Operations Director

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Package: Competitive Executive Salary + Bonus + Benefits

The Opportunity

A leading global freight forwarding and logistics provider is seeking an experienced Operations Director to lead and develop its operations across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The business is a multinational logistics organisation with a presence spanning more than 200 offices globally and a workforce of over 6,000 employees. With strong capabilities across air freight, ocean freight, road transportation, contract logistics, customs brokerage and specialised project logistics, the company continues to invest heavily in strategic growth markets across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia represents one of the organisation's most important growth markets. With increasing shipment volumes, new customer wins and continued expansion across both air and ocean freight, the business is seeking a senior operational leader capable of building scalable processes, driving operational excellence and supporting the next phase of growth.

Reporting directly to the Country Managing Director and working closely with regional leadership, this role will oversee operations across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, ensuring service excellence, operational consistency and strong performance across the national organisation.

This is a high-profile leadership opportunity for a freight forwarding professional who enjoys building teams, improving performance and creating operational structures that enable sustainable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across all operational functions within Saudi Arabia.
• Lead and oversee air freight, ocean freight and associated forwarding operations across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
• Drive operational excellence through standardisation, governance and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop scalable operational structures capable of supporting ongoing business growth.
• Establish and manage KPI frameworks, dashboards and reporting processes to monitor performance.
• Ensure customer service standards, service levels and operational quality targets are consistently achieved.
• Lead, coach and develop operational management teams across multiple locations.
• Manage customer escalations and ensure a customer-centric culture throughout the organisation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with airlines, carriers, suppliers, customs authorities and strategic partners.
• Partner closely with commercial leadership to support customer onboarding and business growth initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with Saudi regulatory requirements and freight forwarding best practices.
• Drive productivity improvements, cost optimisation and operational efficiency across all branches.

What We're Looking For

• Significant senior leadership experience within freight forwarding operations.
• Strong expertise across both ocean freight and air freight environments.
• Proven experience managing multiple branches, offices or operational locations.
• Deep understanding of the Saudi Arabian logistics and freight forwarding market.
• Experience leading large operational teams through periods of transformation and growth.
• Strong knowledge of performance management, operational controls and service delivery metrics.
• Experience implementing KPIs, operational dashboards and reporting frameworks.
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Strong customer focus with experience managing strategic client relationships.
• Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across country, regional and global leadership teams.

Highly Desirable Experience

• Leadership experience within a multinational freight forwarding organisation.
• Strong understanding of Saudi customs regulations and compliance requirements.
• Experience managing carrier, airline and supplier relationships.
• Exposure to contract logistics, project logistics, heavy lift or specialised freight solutions.
• Experience supporting rapidly scaling organisations.
• Strong continuous improvement and operational excellence mindset.
• P&L, budgeting or operational cost management exposure.
• Experience delivering measurable productivity, service quality and customer retention improvements.

Success Measures

• Deliver operational consistency across all Saudi branches.
• Improve service performance, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
• Strengthen reporting, KPI visibility and management controls.
• Support sustainable growth through scalable operational processes.
• Build and develop high-performing operational teams.
• Enhance productivity, shipment execution and service delivery performance.
• Strengthen relationships with customers, carriers, suppliers and key stakeholders.
• Position the Saudi operation for continued expansion and long-term success.

Why Join?

• Join a globally recognised logistics organisation that continues to outperform the market through growth, investment and international expansion.
• Lead operations across one of the most strategically important logistics markets within the Middle East.
• Work directly alongside experienced country and regional leadership teams.
• Gain exposure to a highly international customer base across multiple industries and trade lanes.
• Play a pivotal role in shaping the future growth strategy of the Saudi business.
• Benefit from strong long-term career development opportunities within a rapidly growing global organisation.
• Be part of a business known for its entrepreneurial culture, customer focus and commitment to operational excellence.

This opportunity is ideally suited to a senior freight forwarding operations leader with strong Saudi market knowledge, a proven track record of leading multi-site operations and the ability to drive performance through people, processes and data.