Corporate Services Director - Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic (SESP)

Job Description

Role: Corporate Services Director - Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic (SESP)

Location: Baish, Jazan Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

PINZ has been selected to provide training and management services for the new Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic (SESP). The polytechnic, based in Baish, Jizan province, Saudi Arabia, opens in September 2012 when an initial intake of 475 male students start a 2.5-year training program. The students selected are likely to be high school graduates at beginner English levels. All students will be male.

The overall training program is a year of ESL and FS; a year of technical training focused on mechanical and electrical engineering; and six months of on-the-job training in the power utility industry and related sectors. Foundation studies will cover mathematics, physics, health and safety and IT.

Corporate Services Director

The Corporate Services Director (CSD) is responsible for the SESP Corporate Services function, and as a member of the senior management team will work to implement the SESP’s business plan. The CSD will coordinate the inputs of the HR, IT and the Finance Managers and will work closely with Saudi counterparts and their staff. The ideal candidate will have a mixture of corporate services, human resources and finance management experience in the private or tertiary education sector; and ideally have experience working in the Middle East.

Key responsibilities are:

1. Lead and implement strategies for SESP’s corporate services function, and work with the management team to implement SESP’s business plan;
2. Work closely with the Academic Director in the day-to-day project management of SESP;
3. Work closely with PINZ to develop then oversee the implementation of the finance function;
4. Lead and manage the areas of responsibility to meet the needs of students, staff and other stakeholders;
5. Drive the development of the overall student and staff experience;
6. Develop and maintain effective business processes, service standards;
7. Foster and manage strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders;
8. Report in a timely way in the areas of HR, Finance and IT; and
9. Oversee institutional policy development and policy review.

Package

Overall package is negotiable, subject to experience. It includes salary, accommodation and local transport allowance; furnished accommodation with utilities and internet; a one-off relocation allowance; generous leave entitlement; private medical insurance; the two initial one way economy class flights to Saudi; and subsequent return economy class flights (for candidate and partner) for each additional year of service.

Application Requirements

All candidates will need to be approved by PINZ initially and then validated with the SESP Steering Committee prior to their appointment being confirmed. The following are essential requirements for candidates:

• The ability to inspire, install confidence and bring out the best in a team;
• Demonstrated senior level corporate services and human resource experience;

• Demonstrated project management experience, particularly in cross-cultural contexts;

• Degree in Organisational Management, HR, Business, Finance/Accounting or a related discipline
• Demonstrated experience working in tertiary education organizations; preferably with experience doing this in the Middle East region;
• Substantial experience developing and maintaining effective business processes and service standards;
• Demonstrated experience overseeing the planning and coordination of the finance function, including procurement, cash flow and risk management.
• Appreciation of and understanding of both academic and technical perspectives around delivery of blended training programmes and on-the-job training programmes; and
• Demonstrated ability to work to strict timelines and under pressure.

Application Process

If you are interested in this role, please provide the following information:

• Covering Letter to indicate: (i) reason for interest in role, (ii) your strengths, and (iii) possible challenges in taking on role.
• Detailed CV, including scan copies of accompanying references, recent colour photo, academic qualification(s), and professional development courses. CVs must note role start and end dates in Month/Year format, and be in MS Word format. The combined size limit of all email attachments must be 1MB or less.
• Scanned Passport bio-data page

Initial enquiries and all subsequent completed applications will be recieved at PINZ Bahrain 
office. Candidates are encouraged to apply without delay as we are looking to get this candidate underway as soon as possible.