A success story: UK Graduate to a senior role in KSA

If you are thinking of global career move to KSA, head on to read Sarah’s story on how she relocated to KSA for her work.

Hi I’m Sarah, and I joined the AtkinsRéalis Graduate Program to work in Transportation. Living and working abroad has been in my career plan for some time so in 2023, with the support of my line manager, I started to look for opportunities to move abroad.

Six months later, in March 2024, I boarded a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia and officially moved to the AtkinsRéalis' Riyadh office and joined the Program Advisory Operations Team. Our Operations team supports the +1,700 people across 5 countries in all things internal business operations and change. This means our team gets involved in anything and everything, but you’ll generally see us gravitate towards where the issues are, and we’re always on the lookout for opportunities to improve the way we work!!

Moving to Saudi Arabia

I have family members who have either lived or are currently living abroad, so this has been both a personal and career goal for a while (not to mention I like travelling), but it takes some time to find the right role at the right time. I wanted to move abroad to be immersed in a new culture, be challenged and stretched, meet new people and understand how a different part of the world works both as a country, our work, its clients, etc.

I had some nervousness about living in Saudi as a female and it took some time to work through those concerns. I spent time having conversations with women already living in KSA and remained open and curious to how my life would change moving out to KSA. In the end, I took the leap and said yes – and I’m so glad I did - the culture and experience has greatly exceeded my expectations.

How did AtkinsRéalis support you to move and work abroad?

I was grateful to have worked with my line manager in the UK so I had a point of contact who I could trust and ask questions to, and he’d only moved out several months beforehand so knew exactly what I was going through.

After moving to KSA, I received there’s a huge amount of support from and a large team at AtkinsRéalis to help you navigate all the administrative tasks – from finding a flat, to government registrations and banking. I’ve had several personal challenges during my time here, but the leadership and HR teams have been brilliant at helping me through them. The most recent challenge has been buying a car here, which is tricky when you don’t speak Arabic and has ended up in a friend accompanying me to a mechanic to translate. One thing to keep in mind is that everyone (and I really do mean everyone) is here to help you, you just need to ask!

What were your high and low points moving to KSA?

In the UK, I have an amazing group of friends, a partner and a family so it wasn’t easy saying goodbye, particularly as I knew I was moving to a new city without knowing anyone but my line manager – so I was starting from scratch in terms of making friends and a support network. In hindsight, moving to KSA in the middle of Ramadan made this more challenging than I expected.

However, the excitement and anticipation of moving to a new city, country and culture was a something I was really looking forward to. I’ve travelled a fair amount in the past so having Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt on the doorstep is a definite bonus. Riyadh and Saudi Arabia in general areis changing so quickly so it’s brilliant to feel like you’re part of the change!

How do you plan to leverage your experience in Saudi in your future projects?

My work is primarily focused on internal business operations & change so it’s been insightful to see how one part of our business operates compared to another. Some challenges we can bring the expertise from the UK and apply quickly to improve operations in the Middle East, and other challenges you have to unlearn what you knew before and pursue a different direction.

The projects I’m leading on behalf of our team have introduced several key changes to our operations, have pushed our knowledge and application of some internal systems to the limit and afforded me the opportunity to work some brilliant leaders. The whole experience has taught me that I enjoy the feeling of the unknown, doing and thinking differently is often a good thing and that I’m driven to make a lasting, positive change. Whatever and wherever the next project is, I’m sure it will continue building on the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in both the UK and KSA/the Middle East.

What advice would you give to anyone considering a global career move?

Go for it!!

I’m just over five years into my career and always thought I would have to wait until I’m more senior or had more experience, but I would encourage anyone who is considering a global career move to reach out and see what opportunities are out there. I came here chasing a dream to work abroad and experience a new culture, so my advice is to be clear on why you want to move abroad (even if just for a temporary assignment) and ensure you find a role that aligns to that vision.

Be open, curious and persistent and keep talking to people as you never know who will be able to help. And be prepared for a lot of admin!

If you have been inspired to a global career move. You can search our live roles in Saudi Arabia here.