Consulting in Riyadh
The largest consulting market in the Gulf and the centre of gravity for every firm in the region. What is driving it, the rules reshaping it, who pays what, and what the market looks like right now.
New to consulting in the region? Start with the complete guide.
If you want to work in Middle East consulting, most of your work will touch Saudi Arabia, whichever office you join. The Kingdom accounts for more than half of all consulting revenue in the GCC, and government policy has spent the past five years deliberately pulling the industry toward Riyadh. This page covers what that means for you as a candidate.
The market in numbers
Market size and growth from Source Global Research. The UAE, the second-largest market, was forecast at $1.8 billion in 2025. Saudization rate from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. RHQ count as publicly reported. The pay premium reflects offers our candidates have received and applies at five of the six firms we cover.
What is driving demand
Vision 2030 remains the engine. What has changed is the kind of work it produces. The early years, roughly 2016 to 2020, were dominated by masterplans, strategies and feasibility studies. The emphasis has since moved decisively toward execution: running transformation programmes, building capability inside newly created government entities, and integrating technology.
- Giga-projects such as NEOM, Qiddiya and the Red Sea developments, though several are now being reviewed and rescaled
- Global events, with the 2029 Asian Winter Games, Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup all driving infrastructure and planning work
- Government transformation across ministries and the new authorities created under Vision 2030
- PIF and its portfolio companies, historically the single largest buyer of consulting in the region
Who buys consulting in the Kingdom
Knowing the client landscape is one of the fastest ways to sound credible in a Saudi interview. The buyers fall into five clusters, and most consulting careers here are spent moving between them.
| Client cluster | Who | What they buy |
|---|---|---|
| The Public Investment Fund | PIF itself, with roughly $925 billion under management at the end of 2024 and a stated $2 trillion target for 2030, across 93 portfolio companies in 13 sectors | Investment strategy, portfolio company creation, sector strategies, performance management |
| The giga-project developers | NEOM, Red Sea Global, Qiddiya, Diriyah Company and ROSHN, the five core developers wholly owned by PIF | Destination and business strategy, operating models, commercial planning, delivery and programme management |
| New national companies | PIF-created businesses entering sectors the Kingdom never had, such as Riyadh Air and New Murabba | Company build-outs from scratch: strategy, organisation, operating model, launch |
| National champions | Aramco, SABIC, Ma'aden, stc and the large banks | Classic corporate work: growth strategy, cost, operations, digital, M&A |
| Government | Ministries, the Vision Realization Programs such as the National Transformation Program, Quality of Life and Housing, and the authorities created under Vision 2030 | National and sector strategies, transformation programmes, long-running programme management offices |
Riyadh's own project pipeline
Beyond the national giga-projects, the capital has its own programme of city-scale developments, most of them run by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, the Crown Prince-chaired authority responsible for the city's development.
| Project | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Riyadh Metro | 176 kilometres, six lines, 85 stations | Opened to passengers in December 2024 |
| King Salman Park | Over 16 square kilometres, set to be the largest urban park in the world | In delivery |
| Sports Boulevard | A 135 square kilometre linear corridor for sport, recreation and mobility, around $23 billion | In delivery |
| New Murabba and the Mukaab | A new downtown of 19 square kilometres, around $50 billion, built around the Mukaab | PIF development company active |
| Qiddiya | Entertainment, sport and culture city on the edge of Riyadh | In delivery |
| Diriyah | Heritage, culture and luxury tourism in the Saudi state's original capital, on Riyadh's northwestern edge | In delivery |
| Expo 2030 | The World Expo, awarded to Riyadh | Preparation under way |
Project figures as published by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the project developers. Delivery responsibility in Riyadh is split between PIF companies, the Royal Commission and national event bodies.
Two rules that reshaped the market
The Regional Headquarters programme. Since 1 January 2024, Saudi government entities, including PIF, its subsidiaries and the giga-project developers, cannot award contracts above SAR 1 million to multinational companies without a licensed regional headquarters in Riyadh. The rule requires genuine substance, not a nameplate, and it triggered the largest corporate relocation in the region's history. Every major consulting firm now operates a Riyadh headquarters, and several have expanded sharply: Bain more than doubled its Riyadh office in 2025, and Strategy& moved to Laysen Valley the same year. Some exemptions for non-RHQ firms were formalised in 2026, but the rule stands.
Saudization of consulting. Consulting roles were brought under Saudization for the first time in 2023, at 35%. Since 25 March 2024 the requirement has been 40%, covering roles including business consulting specialists, financial consulting specialists and project management. Compliance is checked in government consulting contracts, and non-compliant firms risk losing the ability to issue work permits.
How government buys consulting
Government consulting in the Kingdom is procured through formal tenders on Etimad, the national government procurement platform, and scrutinised more closely than it used to be. Two bodies matter most.
- EXPRO, the Expenditure and Project Efficiency Authority, was set up in 2021 to drive value for money across government spending. It publishes procurement controls, including a guidebook on how entities should prepare consultancy tenders, and reports savings of more than SAR 530 billion between the launch of Vision 2030 and the end of 2021
- The Local Content and Government Procurement Authority checks that Saudization requirements are written into consulting contracts and met
The practical effect is that the era of open-ended advisory mandates is over. Work is scoped tightly, priced competitively and expected to show measurable outcomes, which is part of why so much Saudi consulting now looks like delivery rather than advice.
The firms in Riyadh
Every firm covered in our guides has a significant Riyadh presence. Five of the six pay a Riyadh premium of around 7 to 15% over their UAE offices; Strategy& is the exception.
| Firm | Riyadh position | Riyadh premium over UAE |
|---|---|---|
| McKinsey | Pioneer of the national vision model, including widely documented work on Vision 2030 itself | 7 to 15% |
| BCG | Closest to the centre of government; reported relationships across PIF, Aramco and NEOM | 7 to 15% |
| Bain | Over 60% of regional projects in the Kingdom; regional HQ at King Abdullah Financial District | 7 to 15% |
| Strategy& | In Riyadh since 1998, one of the longest-standing presences; moved to Laysen Valley in 2025 | None, broadly in line with UAE |
| Oliver Wyman | Strong government relationships and a dedicated programme for Saudi nationals | 7 to 15% |
| Kearney | Public sector, defence and education strengths; office in Al Faisaliah Tower | 7 to 15% |
Each firm name links to its full guide, including salary ranges by level for the UAE offices. For the UAE market itself, see the Dubai and UAE market guide.
The full consulting landscape in Riyadh
Our firm guides cover the six largest strategy firms, but they are a small part of the market. Riyadh hosts every category of consultancy, and the categories differ in the work, the pay and how you get in.
| Category | Firms | What the work looks like | Why consider it |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBB | McKinsey, BCG, Bain | The highest-profile national strategy, giga-project and PIF work | Brand, exit options, the largest mandates |
| Tier 2 strategy | Strategy&, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, Roland Berger, Arthur D. Little, L.E.K. | Much of the same client base as MBB, often at larger scale in public sector programmes | Pay at or above MBB at entry level; Arthur D. Little has operated in Riyadh and Jeddah since the 1950s, and L.E.K. has made Riyadh its regional headquarters |
| Big 4 consulting and strategy | Deloitte and Monitor Deloitte, EY and EY-Parthenon, KPMG, PwC | Transformation, programme management, finance, technology, risk and deals, with strategy arms competing for strategy work | By far the largest hirers in the Kingdom; broad exposure and strong government relationships |
| Technology and implementation | Accenture, IBM Consulting, and Saudi digital players such as Elm | Digital government, systems, data and large-scale implementation | The fastest-growing part of the market as Vision 2030 moves from strategy to execution |
| Specialists | FTI Consulting, which runs its Middle East headquarters from Riyadh; Alvarez & Marsal and AlixPartners in restructuring and transactions; Simon-Kucher in pricing; Artefact in data and AI; Protiviti in risk | Deep work in one discipline rather than generalist strategy | Expertise that compounds; often a faster route to senior client exposure |
| Saudi and regional firms | Strategic Gears, founded in Riyadh in 2015 and among the largest local consultancies; TAM Development, a listed Saudi advisory and digital firm; Pure Consulting; plus regional boutiques | Government strategy and implementation, increasingly competing with the international firms | Favoured by Saudization and local content rules; strong for Saudi nationals and for candidates who want early responsibility |
Categories are a guide rather than a hierarchy, and the lines between them blur: Big 4 strategy arms compete directly with Tier 2 firms on some work, and several specialists run strategy practices. Pay varies by firm and level; our six firm guides carry detailed ranges for MBB and Tier 2.
The market right now
After several years of very heavy spending, Saudi Arabia has begun prioritising outlays. Some of the most ambitious diversification projects have been scaled back, with funding redirected to projects more certain to deliver economic returns. Source Global Research expected public sector consulting growth to slip into single digits, and in 2026 Bloomberg reported that business from PIF was down sharply across the major firms.
The giga-projects are the clearest example. PIF's 2024 financial statements recorded around $8 billion in writedowns on giga-project carrying values, and NEOM's schedules have been rebaselined. In April 2026 Reuters reported the PIF governor saying there would be no NEOM cancellations but that The Line is not required by 2030. Advisory work has continued, but it has shifted from designing ever-larger ambitions toward sequencing, prioritising and delivering what is already committed.
The market has also shown how concentrated it is. In 2024 PwC, Strategy&'s parent network, was reported to have been barred from new advisory work for PIF for a period, a reminder of how much of the regional industry depends on a small number of very large clients.
Living and working in Riyadh
- No personal income tax. As across the Gulf, salaries are paid tax-free, so a 7 to 15% Riyadh premium on top of an already tax-free Gulf package is worth considerably more than the headline suggests
- Where you are based matters. Consultants were long staffed from Dubai and flown in for the working week. The RHQ rule and client expectations have moved more teams to be based in Riyadh itself, so ask each firm directly
- The working week runs Sunday to Thursday in Saudi Arabia, and the weekend is Friday and Saturday
- The city has changed quickly. Entertainment, dining and events have expanded dramatically under Vision 2030 social reforms, and many candidates who last visited years ago would not recognise it
- Residency runs through an employer-sponsored iqama; firms handle the process for new joiners
The acronyms you will hear in week one
Saudi consulting runs on abbreviations. Knowing these before your interview is a small signal of regional fluency that interviewers notice.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| PIF | Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund and the largest single buyer of consulting in the region |
| VRP | Vision Realization Program, the delivery vehicles for Vision 2030, such as the National Transformation Program |
| RCRC | Royal Commission for Riyadh City, responsible for the capital's development, the Metro and the city-scale projects |
| EXPRO | Expenditure and Project Efficiency Authority, the government's value-for-money watchdog on spending and procurement |
| LCGPA | Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, which enforces local content and Saudization in contracts |
| Etimad | The national platform through which government tenders, including consulting, are issued |
| RHQ | Regional Headquarters, the licence multinationals need in Riyadh to win most government contracts |
| MISA | Ministry of Investment, which runs the RHQ programme |
| HRSD | Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, which sets Saudization rates |
| KAFD | King Abdullah Financial District, where several consulting firms and financial institutions have their Riyadh offices |
| Iqama | The residency permit every expat employee holds, sponsored by the employer |
| Nitaqat | The system that grades employers on their Saudization performance |
Saudi cases in our case bank
Our 135+ cases and prompts include Saudi public sector transformation, giga-project, tourism and national programme scenarios, reported from real interviews and written in each firm's own format.
Common questions
Which consulting firms operate in Riyadh beyond MBB?
Tier 2 strategy firms such as Strategy&, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, Roland Berger, Arthur D. Little and L.E.K.; the Big 4 and their strategy arms; technology-led firms such as Accenture; specialists including FTI Consulting, Alvarez & Marsal and Simon-Kucher; and a fast-growing set of Saudi firms such as Strategic Gears.
Do consulting firms pay more in Riyadh than in Dubai?
At most firms, yes. McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Oliver Wyman and Kearney all pay a Riyadh premium of around 7 to 15% over their UAE offices at the same level. Strategy& is the exception, with Riyadh and UAE packages broadly in line.
How does Saudization affect expat consultants?
Since March 2024, 40% of consulting roles such as business consulting specialists must be held by Saudi nationals. Expat hiring continues, but firms are weighting recruitment toward Saudis, and Saudi nationals currently have a real advantage in the process.
What is the RHQ programme and why does it matter to candidates?
Since January 2024, Saudi government entities, including PIF and its portfolio companies, cannot award contracts above SAR 1 million to multinationals without a regional headquarters in Riyadh. It pulled the consulting firms' centre of gravity toward the Kingdom, and with it the staffing.
Do I need to live in Riyadh to work on Saudi projects?
Increasingly, yes. Consultants were long staffed from Dubai and flown in weekly, but the RHQ rule and client expectations have moved more teams to be based in Riyadh itself. Ask each firm directly where its Saudi project teams actually sit.
Who are the biggest buyers of consulting in Saudi Arabia?
PIF and its portfolio companies, including the five giga-project developers NEOM, Red Sea Global, Qiddiya, Diriyah Company and ROSHN; national champions such as Aramco, SABIC, Ma'aden and stc; and government, through ministries, the Vision Realization Programs and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
Is the Saudi consulting market still growing?
Yes, but more slowly. The market grew 14.1% in 2024 to $4.3 billion, with public sector growth expected to slip into single digits, and in 2026 Saudi Arabia pulled back on consulting spend as it prioritised outlays. Still the largest and most important market in the region.
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