Engagement details:Job Title: Head of Operations Client: Prominent Regional Corporate Firm - Oil & Gas Employment type: Permanent role Location: Onsite in Dammam, KSAExperience level: 18+ years
About the Joint Venture:The JV is being established to build an advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing platform serving the Oil & Gas upstream sector in Saudi Arabia. The facility will focus on high-precision CNC machining, remanufacturing, welding/fabrication, assembly, and special process-related capabilities for critical upstream applications.
The JV is aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, IKTVA localization objectives, and the growing demand for in-Kingdom manufacturing capability to support energy customers, OEMs, EPCs, and service companies.
Role Summary:The Head of Operations will be responsible for leading the end-to-end operational execution of the JV facility, including production, manufacturing engineering, maintenance, procurement, supply chain, stores, planning, and operational excellence.
This is a critical leadership role reporting to the General Manager / Plant Head. The role requires a hands-on, execution-driven leader with strong experience in API-certified manufacturing environments, large CNC machining operations, welding/fabrication, greenfield plant setup, and scale-up of complex manufacturing operations.
The Head of Operations will be responsible for converting the JV’s business plan into a high-performing, customer-qualified, cost-efficient, and scalable manufacturing operation.
Key Responsibilities:1. Overall Operations Leadership Lead complete plant operations covering production, manufacturing engineering, maintenance, procurement, stores, supply chain, production planning, and operational excellence. Translate the business plan into executable production, manpower, machine, capacity, and supply chain plans. Ensure the facility achieves planned output, cost, delivery, productivity, safety, and customer-readiness targets. Establish strong daily, weekly, and monthly operating review mechanisms. Drive accountability across all operational functions and build a performance-oriented manufacturing culture.
2. Greenfield Plant Setup & Ramp-UpLead operational readiness for the greenfield facility, including plant layout, machine placement, material flow, utilities, stores, internal logistics, and production systems. Support installation, commissioning, trial runs, and stabilization of CNC machines, fabrication equipment, and supporting infrastructure. Build operating systems from the ground up, including SOPs, work instructions, maintenance systems, stores controls, production dashboards, and escalation processes. Ensure the plant is ready for API, ISO, customer audits, and industrial licensing requirements. Drive phased ramp-up from initial production to full-scale operations in line with the JV business plan.
3. Production & Manufacturing Execution Own delivery of production plans across CNC machining, welding/fabrication, assembly, and remanufacturing operations. Ensure effective utilization of machines, manpower, tooling, fixtures, and materials. Drive improvements in cycle time, setup time, machine utilization, throughput, productivity, and cost per part. Establish strong shopfloor discipline, production control, shift planning, and output tracking. Ensure operational readiness for machining and remanufacturing of upstream oilfield components such as drilling tools, wellhead components, pressure control parts, valves, repair parts, and other high-integrity components.
4. Manufacturing Engineering & Industrialization Lead manufacturing engineering activities including process planning, methoding, CNC programming governance, fixture development, tool selection, cycle time optimization, process validation. Support new product introduction, first article development, DFM reviews, routing definition, and manufacturing feasibility. Build robust process engineering systems for repeatability, productivity, and quality at source. Drive standardization of manufacturing processes across machining, fabrication, welding, assembly, and remanufacturing. Work closely with Quality to ensure process controls are aligned with API, ISO, and customer-specific requirements.5. Maintenance, Reliability & Asset Utilization Establish preventive, predictive, and breakdown maintenance systems for all plant assets. Drive high uptime and reliability of CNC machines, fabrication equipment, utilities, cranes, compressors, and supporting infrastructure. Implement TPM and structured maintenance KPIs. Own OEE improvement, machine availability, MTTR, MTBF, spare parts planning, and maintenance cost control. Ensure all critical assets are maintained in audit-ready condition.
6. Procurement, Supply Chain & Stores Lead end-to-end supply chain covering procurement, vendor development, import logistics, stores, inventory, subcontracting, and consumables planning. Develop local and global supplier base for raw materials, tools, fixtures, consumables, spares, subcontract processes, and services. Ensure material availability to support production schedules while maintaining strong inventory discipline. Build vendor qualification and performance review systems. Drive cost reduction, supplier reliability, lead-time reduction, and working capital efficiency. Support localization through development of capable in-Kingdom suppliers wherever feasible.
7. Quality, API & Customer Readiness Support Work closely with the Quality Head, who will report independently to the GM, to ensure operational compliance with API, ISO, HSE, and customer audit requirements. Ensure production processes are built with quality at source, traceability, documentation discipline, and process control. Support API Q1, API monogram, ISO, customer qualification, and supplier audit readiness. Lead closure of operational actions arising from audits, NCRs, customer feedback, and qualification reviews. Ensure shopfloor practices support a zero-defect and right-first-time culture.
8. Customer & Cross-Functional Interface Participate in customer audits, technical discussions, manufacturing readiness reviews, and capacity discussions. Support the GM in operational discussions with key customers, OEMs, EPCs, and upstream service companies. Provide credible operational inputs on lead times, capacity, manufacturing feasibility, delivery readiness, and ramp-up plans. Coordinate with Business Development, Quality, Finance, and HR to ensure seamless execution of customer commitments.
9. Lean Manufacturing & Operational Excellence Drive Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, TPM, SMED, value-stream mapping, visual management, and continuous improvement initiatives. Establish a daily management system covering safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and people metrics. Identify and eliminate waste across production, stores, supply chain, maintenance, and engineering processes. Build a continuous improvement culture across the plant. Lead structured cost-reduction and productivity-improvement programs.
10. People Leadership & Localization Build and lead a high-performing operations organization across production, engineering, maintenance, procurement, stores, and planning. Manage and develop a team size expected to exceed 100 employees as the facility scales. Develop local Saudi talent in alignment with localization and IKTVA objectives. Create strong second-line leadership and succession depth across all operational functions. Build a culture of discipline, ownership, safety, learning, and execution excellence.
Qualifications & Experience Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Production Engineering, or related discipline. Master’s degree preferred.18+ years of experience in manufacturing operations, with significant exposure to precision machining, fabrication, welding, and industrial manufacturing. Mandatory experience in API-certified manufacturing environments. Strong experience in Oil & Gas upstream manufacturing or remanufacturing is highly preferred. Proven experience managing large CNC machining operations, preferably with more than 20 CNC machines. Experience in welding, fabrication, assembly, repair, or remanufacturing operations. Proven greenfield plant setup or major capacity expansion experience. Demonstrated ability to lead teams of more than 100 people. Strong understanding of production planning, manufacturing engineering, maintenance, procurement, supply chain, and stores. Experience in Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and structured operational excellence systems. Exposure to GCC / Saudi manufacturing ecosystem will be an added advantage.