Senior Country Manager KSA - Freight Forwarding
Confidential
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Updated on October 22, 2026
- On-site
- Full-time
- Lead
- Shipping and Logistics
Job Description
Role Overview
This role exists to build and grow the company's business in Saudi Arabia. As Senior Country Manager, you will run the Riyadh office, win new clients and develop revenue across the company's freight and logistics services in the Kingdom.
This is a hands-on, commercially driven role for an entrepreneurial self-starter who is comfortable being the company's only representative in the Kingdom at first. Operations, finance and other support functions are centralized at the company's UAE headquarters: you will not run shipments or operations yourself, but hand client requirements to the UAE teams and make sure they deliver, so your focus stays on building the business. As the KSA business grows, you will play a key role in developing it into an independent company and in building the local team.
Key Responsibilities
- Run the company's Riyadh office, acting as the company's on-the-ground presence in KSA
- Generate new business from KSA-based clients across the company's services: sea, air and inland freight, project logistics and warehousing
- Own the full sales lifecycle: prospecting, qualifying, quoting, negotiating and closing
- Build and manage a portfolio of key accounts in KSA
- Delegate all shipment execution to the UAE operations team, acting as the client's main point of contact and following up to ensure a smooth client experience
- Work with the UAE headquarters on pricing, quotations, finance and administration for KSA clients
- Monitor the KSA market, competitor activity and new opportunities, and feed insights into the company's growth plans
- Report regularly to the Managing Director on pipeline, revenue and business performance What's on Offer
- Competitive package with an attractive commission structure
- The opportunity to build the company's KSA business from the ground up and grow into a leadership role as the local company develops
- Autonomy to run the market, backed by operations and finance support from the UAE headquarters
- Clear monthly gross profit targets for the KSA business, with a structured ramp-up over the first 8 months
- New active clients: about 2 to 3 a month in the first 6 months
- Repeat business: 60%+ of new clients ship again within 90 days
- Client meetings: 8 to 10 face-to-face meetings a week
- Collections: clients pay within the agreed credit terms, with minimal bad debt
Requirements
Critical Requirements
- Minimum 12 years of freight forwarding experience in KSA
- Minimum 5 years in a managerial role
- Bachelor's degree
- Based in Riyadh
- New business development role with new accounts personally won
- Active portfolio of KSA clients managed personally
- Experience in a standalone or small-team setup (e.g., new branch, new market entry or small office) with minimal on-the-ground support
- Target-driven role with stated results (gross profit, revenue or percentage of target achieved)
- Freight contracts or rate agreements negotiated and closed personally
- Commercial proposal writing
- Client presentations or pitches delivered
- Fluent Arabic, spoken and written
- Fluent English, spoken and written
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office
- Experience using a CRM system
- Experience using an ERP system
Important Requirements
- Reporting to a remote or overseas headquarters with centralized operations and finance teams
- Direct dealings with senior client stakeholders (business owners, C-level, supply chain or procurement heads)
- Budgeting and cost control responsibility
- Credit terms and receivables management
- Sales across multiple freight and logistics services (sea, air, inland freight, project logistics or warehousing)
- Direct-shipper sales in at least one of these sectors: EPC and construction, oil & gas, power & energy, automotive, consumer & retail, technology
Nice to Have Requirements
- Team leadership experience with direct reports
- Project logistics for EPC and construction projects in KSA
About
Our client is a Dubai-based integrated logistics company operating across the UAE and KSA, supported by an established regional partner network. It operates through three divisions:
- Freight Services: air, sea and inland freight, including project and heavy-lift cargo
- Logistics Services: warehousing, inventory management and on-the-ground logistics support
- 4PL/5PL Advisory: supply chain design, optimisation and end-to-end logistics management
The company serves clients across EPC and construction, oil & gas, power & energy, automotive, consumer & retail and technology, and is now growing its commercial team.
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