Hadeel Khalid’s journey from supporting suppliers to becoming a Lead Auditor at Achilles offers a personal perspective on the changing opportunities for Saudi women in the industrial sector. As the region expands its manufacturing ambitions under Vision 2030, the development of a skilled and diverse workforce, including the growth of local talent and specialist expertise, is becoming increasingly important, particularly as businesses face growing expectations around transparency and sustainability ambitions.
When Hadeel joined Achilles in 2023, her role involved helping suppliers register on its platform, complete questionnaires, and understand environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements. This introduced her to the challenges manufacturers face in demonstrating their sustainability credentials, and it sparked her interest in understanding how businesses operate firsthand.
The opportunity to translate during audits gave Hadeel good exposure to the assessment process. She went on to gain ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor and NEBOSH health and safety qualifications, before shadowing auditors in the UK and becoming a Lead Auditor herself.
Today, Hadeel’s work includes supporting the SIDAM programme, through which Achilles is helping Saudi factories strengthen their ESG practices. Her progression offers an individual perspective on a wider change in Saudi industry, illustrating how opportunities to develop specialist skills are opening up within the industrial sector. Women are increasingly contributing across the technical and specialist professions that support industrial development and the changing manufacturing landscape.
A changing industrial workforce
As the Kingdom pursues its ESG ambitions under Vision 2030 to diversify the economy and expand domestic manufacturing, developing the workforce and technical capabilities needed to support that growth has become an important priority.
Women are playing an increasingly visible role in this transformation. In November 2025, the Saudi Gazette reported that more than 100,000 women were working in the country’s industrial sector, citing Assistant Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Dr Abdullah Al-Ahmari. He also highlighted efforts to adapt and expand industrial facilities to accommodate more female employees, alongside investment in skills development.
This increased participation is visible across a range of disciplines. In April 2026, the Saudi Press Agency highlighted women’s contributions to pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality control, supply chains, and development and planning, as well as their work in other industrial sectors.
For manufacturers, this widening pool of expertise presents an opportunity to strengthen their businesses. As industrial operations become more complex and organisations look to compete in international markets, demand is growing for people with the skills to manage difficult processes, assess performance, manage risks, and identify where improvements are needed. Opening these careers to more women broadens the talent available to meet those needs.
Hadeel’s experience illustrates the value of giving people opportunities to develop within an organisation. Her move into auditing combined formal qualifications with practical experience, demonstrating how access to training can create pathways into technical positions that support wider industrial objectives.
From questionnaires to practical assessment
This understanding of suppliers and their challenges informs Hadeel’s approach today. In her Achilles profile, she explains that independent audits allow evidence to be verified and policies to be assessed in practice. They can uncover gaps that self-assessment alone may miss, while identifying opportunities for improvement.
This provides a clear connection between the information suppliers submit and the assurance customers require, with the need for this expertise becoming more pronounced as sustainability moves further up the agenda for manufacturers. Businesses are facing increasing expectations from customers and investors to demonstrate how they manage environmental and social risks, maintain responsible working practices, and ensure transparency across their operations.
For manufacturers like those in the GCC seeking to build relationships with international customers, being able to demonstrate this is particularly important. Sustainability policies and completed questionnaires can provide an initial indication of a company’s approach, but buyers increasingly need confidence that the information reflects what is happening in practice. This is where independent assessment and auditing play an important role.
The process also requires clear communication. Hadeel describes differing levels of ESG awareness among suppliers, drawing on her previous role to explain its relevance. For manufacturers, this combination of technical assessment and practical guidance can provide a clearer picture of their current performance, and a foundation for improving how they manage sustainability risks.
Supporting Saudi manufacturing through SIDAM
These priorities are reflected in SIDAM, an initiative led by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources through which Achilles is supporting the development of stronger ESG and sustainability practices across manufacturing.
The work brings together Achilles’ global experience in supplier assurance and ESG assessment with the Kingdom’s wider industrial priorities under Vision 2030. Hadeel’s profile outlines activities including questionnaires and desktop audits, helping manufacturers understand their supply chain transparency and environmental risks to identify areas where further work may be required.
The commercial rationale extends beyond the assessments themselves. For Saudi manufacturers pursuing export opportunities, stronger ESG credentials can help build confidence among international customers and supply chain partners. Achilles identifies global export opportunities as one of the potential benefits of ESG ratings in its GCC offering.
Hadeel’s career gives this wider industrial story a personal dimension, with the experience she gained supporting suppliers and working on SIDAM now helping Achilles support GCC manufacturers as they strengthen their sustainability practices.
As Saudi Arabia continues to develop its industrial capabilities under Vision 2030, the connection between people, specialist skills, and responsible manufacturing will become increasingly important. The expertise being developed today will help shape how the Kingdom’s factories operate, as well as how companies demonstrate their credentials and compete in international supply chains.
