We are pleased to announce the appointment of Abdullah Alnabhan as Hill’s Managing Director for the Middle East. In this role, Abdullah will be responsible for growing our business and maintaining the high quality of our professional services in the region. Abdullah joins Hill with more than 20 years of international experience helping governments and private sector clients develop and implement strategic programming to achieve their long-term objectives. He has been involved in many of the Middle East’s most iconic projects, including strategic initiatives related to Expo 2020 Dubai, Saudi Vision 2030, UAE 2031, and more. 

While working at Hill, Abdullah will also continue to oversee the Middle East business of our GISI Consulting Group sister company Palladium, where he has worked for over 17 years. For the majority of that time, Abdullah has been responsible for leading Palladium’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) team. By forging strong relationships, building an outstanding team, and delivering effective operational oversight, he more than tripled the size of the Palladium’s business in the region. In fact, under Abdullah’s leadership, Consultancy Middle East recently recognized Palladium as one of the region’s top consulting firms.  

Resolving Regional Challenges With Synergy 

Hill Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghali describes Abdullah’s appointment as synergistic and a key part of ongoing efforts to unify teams across the GISI Consulting Group. “Facilitated by Abdullah’s leadership in the region, Palladium and Hill can offer clients a more comprehensive suite of professional services across advisory and program, project, and construction management disciplines,” he says. “That’s the value of the GISI Consulting Group’s platform.”  

According to Abdullah, comprehensive consultancy is crucial in the Middle East, where increasing populations and government initiatives to achieve sustainable growth through economic diversification are driving a construction boom. In this market, owners face major challenges in planning and executing complex, concurrent projects. “A large number of infrastructure megaprojects taking place across the region limit the availability of specialty resources and materials,” Abdullah explains. “Some projects face logistical and design challenges associated with construction in the region’s hot, sandy deserts. Plus, to meet targets set by ambitious national strategies, many owners are also implementing fast-track construction schedules.”  

For Abdullah, the combined expertise of the teams at Hill and Palladium makes it easier to connect owners with the professional services they require to plan and implement their programs in today’s dynamic construction market. “The challenges our clients face demand interdisciplinary solutions,” he says. “Building cross-company teams and adjusting involvement as client needs change will allow us to deliver innovative solutions that keep our clients’ projects moving forward. Moreover, the depth of technical knowledge at Hill and Palladium, from Hill’s expertise in infrastructure project delivery and risk management to Palladium’s advisory capabilities in capital mobilization and sustainability, positions us as a true consultancy partner for our clients, regardless of where they are in the project life cycle.”  

Leveraging Local & Global Relationships 

In addition to bringing together the expertise of professionals at Hill and Palladium to deliver comprehensive and synergistic consultancy solutions for our clients, Abdullah will leverage the firms’ networks of professional relationships to drive business growth and further develop regional partnerships.  

In addition to Abdullah’s own 20 years of experience in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait, he notes Palladium’s and Hill’s existing relationships with clients, partners, stakeholders, and, importantly, staff throughout the region.  

“Both Palladium and Hill have prioritized the cultivation of local talent in the Middle East,” he says. Local expertise is important, Abdullah explains, because it gives our teams insights into conditions on the ground, such as geographical challenges and local labor pools, as well as a deeper understanding and appreciation of our clients’ work across the transportation, water and wastewater, governmental, residential, healthcare, educational, technology, and cultural sectors.  

While local talent is a crucial part of Abdullah’s approach, he also calls attention to the value of the global resources at Hill, Palladium, and the rest of the GISI Consulting Group. “It would be hard to match the talent at Hill and Palladium alone,” he says. “Given the Group’s global expertise across professional services disciplines, combined with our local talent in each of the markets we serve, I believe we have a distinct competitive advantage. This is an especially important differentiator in the Middle East, where project teams are working to overcome resource constraints and deliver some of the world’s most complex infrastructure.”  

The Next Steps 

Over the next few weeks in early 2026, Abdullah will be reviewing capacity and existing systems within Hill and bringing together leaders and departments at Hill and Palladium to develop a long-term, synergistic strategy for the Middle East. “It’s an exciting time,” he says. “With intermodal transit infrastructure like the Saudi Landbridge, deployment of smart-city technologies, investments in aviation infrastructure, green energy projects, data center developments, and other upcoming initiatives in preparation for Expo 2030 in Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA World Cup throughout Saudi Arabia, the governments of the Middle East are making impressive progress on their long-term visions. I’m proud to be a part of the transformation with two great companies, and look forward to working with my colleagues, new and old, to support our clients.”  

Derek Amidon, Chief Executive Officer of the GISI Consulting Group adds: “Abdullah’s proven leadership and experience strengthen Hill’s and Palladium’s Middle East operations as we continue to grow in the region. I am also confident that the appointment will demonstrate the power of cross-company collaboration at the heart of GISI Consulting Group.”  

For more information about Hill International, please visit www.hillintl.com. To learn more about Palladium, visit: https://thepalladiumgroup.com/.