Executive Director – Crisis Management (Abu Dhabi)

About the role

We are seeking an Executive Director – Crisis Management to lead enterprise‑wide Crisis Management, Health, Safety & Environment, Business Continuity, and Enterprise Risk Management functions for a major organization in Abu Dhabi. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will drive resilience, crisis preparedness and risk governance across the company.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the organization’s Crisis Management, HSE, Business Continuity and Enterprise Risk Management functions.
• Develop and implement enterprise‑wide crisis management and resilience strategies aligned with corporate objectives.
• Direct crisis command, emergency response, incident escalation and operational recovery activities.
• Oversee business continuity planning, disaster recovery, crisis simulations and operational readiness.
• Lead enterprise risk identification, mitigation and governance frameworks to strengthen organisational resilience.
• Ensure compliance with HSE regulations, safety standards and operational risk controls across all business units.
• Build and maintain relationships with regulators, government authorities, emergency services and key stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement through audits, lessons learned, resilience initiatives and performance monitoring.
• Lead, develop and mentor multidisciplinary teams while fostering a high‑performance, accountability‑driven culture.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in Environmental Management, Occupational Health & Safety or a related discipline.
• Professional certifications such as NEBOSH, ISO 45001/14001 Lead Auditor, OSHA (highly desirable).
• Minimum 15 years of experience in Crisis Management, HSE, Business Continuity, Enterprise Risk Management or Resilience within large, complex organisations.
• At least 10 years of leadership experience managing multidisciplinary, enterprise‑wide functions.
• Proven experience leading crisis command, emergency response, business continuity and disaster recovery operations.
• Strong expertise in enterprise risk management, operational resilience and HSE governance.
• Experience working with government entities, regulators, emergency services and executive leadership.
• Strategic leadership, stakeholder management, decision‑making and communication skills.
• Background in highly regulated industries such as waste management, utilities, infrastructure, transportation, energy or the public sector.

Required skills

• Crisis command and emergency response coordination.
• Business continuity planning and disaster recovery.
• Enterprise risk identification, mitigation and governance.
• HSE compliance and safety standards implementation.
• Audit and resilience performance monitoring.