Senior Director - Business Continuity and Crisis Management

Role Overview

This leadership position is entrusted with designing, implementing, and continuously enhancing Kidana's Business Continuity Management (BCM) framework and crisis response capacity. The incumbent ensures that vital business functions, development initiatives, and operational assets maintain resilience against interruptions. This role also acts as the primary point of contact with governmental bodies and regulators during incidents and business disruptions.

Core Responsibilities

• Create, implement, and oversee a company-wide Business Continuity Management system.
• Perform annual Business Impact Analyses across all business units to identify critical operations, dependencies, and recovery priorities tailored to Kidana's context.
• Define, record, and enforce Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) for essential business workflows.
• Develop, update, and routinely test departmental Business Continuity Plans, ensuring they meet operational continuity criteria.
• Set up and activate the Crisis Management Team, including establishing authority levels, escalation pathways, and emergency chain of command.
• Design and maintain a crisis communication strategy.
• Direct and coordinate responses to major incidents such as severe weather events (e.g., sandstorms, floods), construction accidents, cybersecurity incidents, supply chain interruptions, and regulatory probes.
• Establish and nurture formal partnerships with agencies including the General Directorate of Civil Defense, National Cybersecurity Authority, Saudi Red Crescent, RERA, and local emergency centers.
• Identify and analyze operational, project-related, and strategic risks that could jeopardize continuity, integrating these insights into the enterprise risk registry.
• Update policies, procedures, and standards related to business continuity and crisis management.
• Organize and conduct annual tabletop exercises, simulations, and comprehensive emergency drills involving senior leaders and key operational personnel across all Kingdom of Saudi Arabia locations.
• Lead evaluations following incidents and exercises, capturing lessons learned to refine plans and training programs; share outcomes with Governance, Risk & Compliance functions for enhanced enterprise risk awareness.

Leadership Duties

• Guide and mentor the BCM team for continuous development.
• Forge and maintain strategic relationships with executives, the Board's Risk Committee, divisional leaders, and Governance, Risk & Compliance teams to integrate business continuity within governance and decision-making processes.
• Serve as the sole authority on BCM matters at Kidana, representing the function in senior leadership and crisis management committees.
• Collaborate across Legal, IT, HR, Operations, Projects, and Finance departments to synchronize continuity efforts, participate in governance committees, and contribute to enterprise risk management strategies.
• Represent Kidana during external audits and regulatory inspections concerning business continuity and crisis readiness.

Qualifications and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Risk Management, Engineering, or related disciplines.
• Preferred certifications include Business Continuity or Risk Management credentials such as CBCI, ISO 22301 Lead Implementer/Auditor, or equivalents.
• Formal training or certification in Business Impact Analysis, Business Continuity Planning, Disaster Recovery Planning, and Crisis Management.
• Familiarity or certification in IT Service Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery frameworks.
• Experience with BCM testing methodologies, simulation exercises, and crisis drills is advantageous.

Experience

Candidates should have at least 8 to 10 years of progressively responsible experience in business continuity, crisis management, or enterprise risk management, including a minimum of 4 years in a leadership role.