Background
A newly established digital bank headquartered in Riyadh engaged Ernest Hunter Green to support the build of its initial leadership team as it prepared to launch operations in the Kingdom.
The mandate required the appointment of several critical leadership roles alongside the delivery of market insight into compensation and leadership talent across the Saudi financial services sector.
Objective
In parallel with the executive search process, Ernest Hunter Green conducted salary benchmarking across the Saudi banking and fintech market and mapped Saudi national leadership talent pools to support the organisation’s localisation strategy and workforce planning.
Establishing the leadership team for a new digital bank required regulatory credibility, operational leadership, and entrepreneurial capability.
The organisation required senior executives to establish governance frameworks, building operational infrastructure and scaling teams within a newly licensed financial institution.
At the same time, the client required a clear view of the local leadership talent landscape in Saudi Arabia, including the availability of Saudi national executives and the compensation structures required to attract them.
Given the competitive market for experienced banking leaders in the Kingdom, the assignment required a carefully structured search process supported by rigorous market mapping and compensation benchmarking.
Requirement
What Mo Mayet had to say
“Ernest Hunter Green implemented a targeted search strategy to provide access to senior leadership talent and strategic insight into the Saudi financial services market.
This approach ensured the client gained both access to high-calibre leadership talent and a clear view of the Saudi national talent pool required to support localisation objectives.”
The engagement included:
- Targeted executive search across banks, digital banks and fintech organsiations sin Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC
- Compensation benchmarking for senior leadership roles across the Saudi banking and fintech sector
- Mapping of Saudi national leadership talent across compliance, operations and talent acquisition functions
- Direct market engagement with senior executives capable of building and scaling functions within a new banking platform
The Solution
Through a focused search process and detailed market mapping, Ernest Hunter Green supported the establishment of the bank’s early leadership structure.
Our comments
The engagement delivered:
- Appointment of Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Talent Acquisition Lead
- Compensation benchmarking across the Saudi banking and fintech leadership market
- Mapping of Saudi national talent pools across key leadership functions
- Strategic insight supporting localisation and long-term workforce planning
- The result was the successful appointment of leaders capable of building operational capability from the ground up while aligning the organisation’s growth with Saudi Arabia’s localisation priorities.
