GISI Consulting Group and Hill International are investing in Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure industry and the next generation of Saudi infrastructure leaders with a new center of excellence (CoE) for engineering in the country. Through the CoE, Hill will build Saudi Arabia’s engineering capacity by recruiting and training 200 recent Saudi engineering graduates.

“Our company has been and remains a proud consultancy partner for Saudi Arabia,” says Managing Director for the Middle East Abdullah Alnabhan. “We are proud of our legacy in the country, including our work on multiple infrastructure projects associated with Vision 2030, and we’re proud to make this long-term investment in the country’s future.”

Hill International joined GISI in 2022.

Paving a Pathway for Saudi Engineering Graduates

The first step of Hill’s capacity-building program involves the recruitment and training of 15 recent graduates and their deployment in technical and client-facing roles on several of our project assignments across Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure market, including complex, high-profile work in water, aviation, and rail. The program will scale up over three years to include a total of 200 Saudi engineering graduates.

Each of the 200 participants will go through a structured two-year development period designed to provide entry-level engineering professionals with a clear pathway from graduation to core project management roles and, eventually, leadership positions in Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure industry. Through a combination of technical training, project rotations, and integration with stakeholders via participation in client meetings, recent graduates will gain hands-on experience across key project management domains, including project controls, planning, and stakeholder coordination.

Participants will also be paired with a mentor, who will monitor their progress in accordance with key performance indicators established by the CoE, customize their training, and progressively integrate them into core project functions and client-facing activities on infrastructure projects in their communities.

Additionally, GISI Consulting Group and Hill have established a dedicated home office for the CoE in Riyadh. The physical office will provide a centralized, supportive environment where program participants can come together with their mentors and other Consulting Group leaders to network and refine their technical and leadership skills.

Achieving Nationwide Ambitions

While recruitment is an important part of the program, its overall objective is nationwide capacity building, emphasizes Hill Executive Partner Fahad M. Abunayyan. “Hill is committed to growing with Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure industry,” he says. “To do so, it is in our interest to create momentum for the industry’s continued growth. One of the ways we plan to do that is by investing in Saudi engineering graduates, connecting them with Hill and other Consulting Group experts, and giving them an opportunity to develop hands-on experience on some of the most important infrastructure projects taking place across the country. That creates a pipeline of experienced Saudi engineering leaders, who, whether they choose to stay with Hill or go off to work for another organization, will bolster the Kingdom’s infrastructure industry in the long run.”

Fahad notes that the creation of viable and visible career pathways for engineering graduates on transformative projects in their own communities may also help make engineering degrees more attractive to prospective college students in Saudi Arabia, further fueling downstream infrastructure growth.

In addition to creating momentum for industry growth, Hill’s regional leadership expects increased Saudization to deliver tangible benefits at the project level. “Our clients will benefit from more Saudi engineers and the additional local expertise on our teams,” explains Abdullah. “Such expertise is invaluable for a range of program and project management functions, from flexibly planning construction activities in the region’s challenging climatic conditions to smoothly coordinating with local stakeholders in Arabic.”

Abdullah explains that, in addition to creating a pipeline of experienced engineering professionals for the industry as a whole, the program will also create a sustainable pipeline of home-grown Hill leaders who understand our projects, our clients, and our culture.

“Both of these factors strengthen our project delivery capability and the trust our clients have in us, making Hill more competitive in one of the Middle East’s most dynamic infrastructure markets,” he says.

As the CoE continues to develop, the program will prepare junior engineering professionals throughout GISI Consulting Group to engage in cross-platform work with their counterparts at other Consulting Group firms. “That increases opportunities for participants and adds value for our clients by helping ensure the same high standard of service across the entire group,” Abdullah goes on.

Delivering the Infrastructure of Change in Saudi Arabia

Like Hill’s regional leadership, GISI Consulting Group executives see the CoE investment as foundational to our long-term commitment to Saudi Arabia and pivotal to the success of the country’s ongoing economic transformation.

“Our new CoE is a deliberate investment in developing local engineering capability, strengthening organizational resilience, and aligning our company with Saudi Arabia’s national economic transformation objectives,” says GISI Consulting Group CEO Derek Amidon. “We know that as the Kingdom continues to implement large-scale infrastructure projects to diversify its economy, there will be more and more Saudi engineering professionals serving in leadership, planning, design, and project management roles. We look forward to empowering the next generation of the country’s engineering leaders to deliver the infrastructure of change in the Kingdom today.”

To learn more about the CoE, reach out to Abdullah at [email protected]. For more information about Hill’s work in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East, please visit www.hillintl.com/projects/?_sft_region=middle-east.