Executive Search · Saudi Arabia

We do not search
for candidates.
We identify outcomes.

C-suite and board appointments, exclusively. Fifteen years of trust — built mandate by mandate, in the Kingdom.

View Mandates Our Approach
2009
Founded
40+
Mandates Per Year
100+
Client Partners
4,800+
Executive Profiles
A Focused Practice
The only retained search firm advising exclusively within the Kingdom.
See how we work →
The wrong leadership decision costs years.
The right one defines them.
The cost of a failed appointment
Direct cost
Replacement search, severance, interim coverage.
Indirect cost
Strategic delay, team disruption, loss of institutional knowledge, board confidence.
Organisational cost
The decisions not taken, the direction not set — the twelve to eighteen months a leadership void creates in an organisation that cannot afford to wait.
This is the context in which we conduct every search.
CEO · Chief Executive Officer · CFO · Chief Financial Officer · Chief Operating Officer · Managing Director · VP Strategy & Transformation · General Manager · CTO · Chief Technology Officer · Chief Investment Officer · Head of Private Equity · CHRO · Chief Human Resources Officer · CEO · Chief Executive Officer · CFO · Chief Financial Officer · Chief Operating Officer · Managing Director · VP Strategy & Transformation · General Manager · CTO · Chief Technology Officer · Chief Investment Officer · Head of Private Equity · CHRO · Chief Human Resources Officer ·
Who We Are

The Kingdom's most trusted executive search practice.

FirstMena advises Saudi Arabia’s most consequential organisations on their most critical appointments. We work exclusively at the senior executive and board level — accepting only the mandates where the quality of the decision genuinely matters to the direction of the institution.

We do not delegate. We do not generalise. Every search is led by a senior advisor who understands the organisation, the sector, and the specific challenge the incoming leader must resolve.

01
One market. Singular depth.
Saudi Arabia is not one of our markets. It is our only market. Fifteen years of uninterrupted presence — not a regional office, but a practice built here.
02
Senior counsel. No exceptions.
The advisor who takes your brief conducts your search. Judgment is not passed down. Accountability is not distributed.
03
Mandates, not transactions.
We measure ourselves not by the number of searches placed, but by the organisations that return. Most do.
Current Mandates

Open Mandates

Beyond Current Mandates

Roles We Recruit For

A representative view of the senior leadership roles FirstMena advises on across Saudi Arabia. Don't see an open mandate that fits? Register your interest for future opportunities in any of these areas.

Insights
Perspective from inside the Kingdom's boardrooms.
Browse all insights →
Leadership
What Vision 2030 has changed about who gets hired
More localisation requirements, more mandate for transformation, less tolerance for caretaker leadership.
Governance
Board succession in family-owned groups
Generational handover is the single most common reason family-owned conglomerates engage a search firm.
Talent Market
The CFO talent gap in Saudi FMCG
IPO-readiness programmes have created sustained demand for CFOs who operate as true strategic partners.
FM
Who We Are
Led personally, mandate by mandate, since 2009.

FirstMena is led by Adly Ben Aicha, who has built the firm from its Riyadh founding into a practice trusted by more than 100 corporate and family office clients — filling over 40 executive positions every year across the Kingdom.

Meet our leadership →
For Executives

Submit Your Profile

✦
We engage selectively.
We review profiles against active mandates — and retain every submission for future searches that may align with your experience.
◈
Your profile remains active.
If no current mandate matches, your profile stays visible to our advisors. Relevant opportunities are not missed.
◇
Absolute discretion.
Your identity is never disclosed without your explicit consent. At any stage. Without exception.
📄
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