Any women working in consulting in Saudi? What’s it like? Trying to convince my partner we should go, she can only speak English. Would she get much of an opportunity there? Director level

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Yes, I’m a woman working in Saudi (but living in Dubai)

I have zero issue being a woman in consulting in KSA. I think that’s not true for people from all backgrounds but European and especially American education is highly valued, so if you went to schools in US you’re taken as an expert regardless of gender. You have better access and it’s easier to build relationships if you speak some Arabic, but all my work has been in English.

I think the opportunity is more dependent on which firm she’s in than being located in the Saudi market. (Which isn’t mean to be ominous. Just find a firm with people you like who will support you - same as working as a woman anywhere else.)

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Thank you - really appreciate it

Not a woman, but have a female friend in consukting who’s based in Riyadh and loves it. Mostly because she still has projects outside the kingdom, accrues points, and doesn’t spends only 1-2 weekends/ month inside.

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I am in audit and assurance not consulting based in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. She should try out as there are alot of women now working in audit and consulting firms than ever before and everyone is supportive and nice.

It's fine, I've had female colleagues across all grades on Saudi projects and clients are generally indifferent of gender
Same general issues with working/ living in ksa of course but those apply to males and females and some high level understanding of the culture and situation awareness would help a lot with that
Arabic is helpful in relationship building but not a deal breaker, if anything English helps keep clients professional

My 2 second answer: not difficult to be a woman more than anywhere else for the work context, but more complicated in the personal context.

I am a woman in Riyadh, only speaking English
You don’t see many differences at work generally, but clients, as elsewhere, may think the junior is the manager and not the other way around. For work, the greatest difficulty is not speaking Arabic: like elsewhere they will switch to Arabic to make conversation flow better when problem solving together and get back to English when they need you to understand
However depending on client sites (though they have gotten better) some aren’t used to accommodating women (e.g., industrial sites) and don’t have bathrooms for example but they quickly set one up. Or you may have to eat separately from male colleagues unless you eat in the team room.

Please consider that work isn’t everything and if you are not living in Riyadh and just on a long staffing here, woman won’t have the same access to activities: hotel spas / hotel pools aren’t available for women most of the time (only 1 or 2 hotels in Riyadh can accommodate women.. and the ritz is not one of them)
If you are living here then your biggest difficulty is if you are used to mixed sports or would like to have male friends.

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