Country Manager

Job Description

Leadership & Engagement:

• Provide strategic direction and leadership to the team in country, ensuring alignment with the company's overall goals and objectives.
• Contribute to the development of the company's overall strategy, with a focus on country growth and expansion.
• Own and optimize ULS footprint in country.
• Ensure successes of major investments in country.
• Identify potential M&A targets, prequalify, engage, integrate as the opportunity presents.
• Support in business and operational performance in country, incl. cost & efficiencies. Willing to take lead and coordinate on operational issues involving licensing, banking, government relations, procurement etc.
• Maintain a strong focus on customer satisfaction and quality of service. Ensure that any issues are addressed promptly.
• Build and nurture ULS brand/recognition in country.
• Provide regular updates to leadership on country performance and achievements.
  
  

Go-to-market Partner:

• Sense market opportunities. Monitor trends, competition & customer feedback. Surface, validate, and align opportunities & challenges with global/local internal stakeholders. Adapt regional strategies accordingly.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including clients, partners, regulators, and government authorities. Local ‘face’ of UL Solutions.
• Sponsor and grow Global/Strategic/Key customers in country.
• Facilitate cross-COU / cross-function collaboration. Promote customer centricity.
• Individual contributor who is a motivated leader, competent in influencing regulators, manufacturer customers at the leadership level, navigate regulations and establish ULS as a thought leader to drive demand, in partnership with the Regional Director
  
  

Local effectiveness:

• Responsible for employee engagement and Guardian goals in country.
• Serving as a trusted leader for customer-centric escalations by engaging with in-country client-facing staff.
• Ensure all local compliances.
• Champion sustainability actions locally.
  
  

Risk mitigation:

• Identify and mitigate potential risks to the business within country.
• Build and own safety culture for the region.
• Ensure local business continuity & crisis leadership.
  
  

Qualifications

• Minimum 10-15 years of relevant experience. MBA with an engineering undergrad, or a bachelor's degree in business administration, management, sales, or an equivalent preferred.
• Must be fluent in English and Arabic.
• Self-driven. Strategic and Business Development mindset with a passion for growth a must.
• In-depth familiarity with the KSA market a must.
• Must be confident in representing ULS with the senior-most level external stakeholders, including government/regulatory and industry bodies. Good government relationships a plus.
• Must be a strong & hands-on leader who can multi-task – work towards strategic priorities while growing/mentoring the team on-the-ground AND overseeing/supporting the existing business/operations.
• Proficient in internal collaboration across diverse departments and functions. Experience working in a highly matrix environment a plus.
• Must be comfortable representing ULS, KSA and the region (and presenting at the highest level) to the seniormost decision-makers internationally (internally within ULS and externally, e.g. with our G&SA / customers)
• Prefer prior P&L ownership experience. Accomplishments in sales, marketing, business development a plus.
• Prefer a personality that does not look for ‘limelight’. Is comfortable working through influence and casts a broad, positive shadow with all internal & external stakeholders.
• Experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and strategic partnerships a plus.
• The ideal candidate should be able to assess the opportunities, challenges, and potential growth of the country objectively. Both local and expatriate candidates are encouraged to apply, with gender diversity being considered an advantage among equally qualified candidates.
• Ability to translate the capricious nature of business in the region to clear insights that will aid ULS in decision making is a key expectation – A background in business/country leadership is preferred over marketing and strategy, with knowledge of the local market and a track record of successfully providing inputs for launching new services/operations in KSA .
• Exposure to various industries that are relevant to ULS (e.g. manufacturing) preferred.
• Knowledge/background in Testing, Inspection, Certification, Quality Management Systems and Advisory preferred, but not required.
  
  

About Us

A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 110 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers’ product innovation and business growth. The UL Mark serves as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers’ products and reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains, and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage.