Haitham Abdelhak is a senior public-sector strategy and education policy consultant with over 15 years of international experience across Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf region, and international development contexts. His expertise spans education policy and system reform, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), higher education and institutional assessment, workforce development, skills policy, and public-sector transformation. He brings a multidisciplinary perspective to policy analysis, applied research, institutional evaluation, benchmarking, and the design of evidence-informed strategies that strengthen education systems and align learning provision with labour-market needs and national development priorities.

His regional experience includes extensive engagement with Saudi public-sector institutions, particularly the Ministry of Education, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), and the Ministry of Tourism, alongside international development assignments in Jordan and Cambodia. Through roles with PwC Middle East, Knowledge Consulting Group, Applus Spain, and other consulting and development partners, he has contributed to education reform, institutional and college evaluation, workforce strategy, policy development, and performance improvement. His experience provides a strong foundation for examining education systems in their institutional, socioeconomic, and policy contexts, with particular attention to skills gaps, employability, governance, and the relationship between education and economic development.

Haitham’s work is relevant to international education partnerships and higher education policy, particularly where collaboration requires contextual analysis, stakeholder engagement, institutional capacity development, and alignment between education provision and national skills priorities. His research interests include TVET reform, education-to-employment transitions, labour-market outcomes, and the role of public policy in addressing skills mismatches and promoting equitable access to opportunities. He has developed research papers on TVET reform and civil-service employment in Saudi Arabia, as well as market failures, externalities, and public policy in education-to-employment pathways.

He holds postgraduate qualifications in project management, business administration, and teaching English as a foreign language, and has completed executive education in public policy analysis at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is also pursuing postgraduate study in artificial intelligence, extending his interest in the implications of digital transformation for education, skills development, and institutional effectiveness.

Haitham is proficient in Arabic and English and is experienced in working across government, consulting, and international development environments. Based on project requirements and scheduling, his availability can be confirmed for country-level research, policy analysis, stakeholder consultations, benchmarking, institutional assessment, and international education partnership assignments.