Division Manager / Brand Manager
Building Materials Trading Company Ltd
Total years of experience :29 years, 3 Months
2000 - Present Division Manager / Brand Manager
Building Materials Trading Company Ltd. (BMTC)
Landscape and irrigation Supply and Apply (LISA)
Riyadh, KSA
- Joined BMTC in year 2000 to start a Landscape contracting division and to act as a Brand
Manager for Rain Bird Irrigation products. I performed these combined responsibilities till year
2005 when I started focusing exclusively on Landscape and Irrigation Contracting and
Maintenance works.
Division Manager
- Managed LISA including various aspects and the contracting business from job perusal, bidding,
negotiation, technical packages preparation, execution, maintenance and turn over.
- Executed several jobs in Al Khobar, Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh. Examples: 1. Irrigation Central Control System (ICCS) for King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah.
Involved the upgrading of the existing stand-alone Irrigation set-up to a Centrally
Controlled system utilizing GSM and radio as the means of communication.
2. Landscape and Irrigation of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology- campus-, Thuwal. An 80, 000 m2 of high profile rush Landscape and Irrigation works
involving plantations in courtyards and internal spaces. Work also involved an Irrigation
Central Control System and a one year maintenance prior to Initial Acceptance.
3. Irrigation Central Control System for the residential part of KAUST.
4. Landscaping, irrigation and Maintenance of Samiriyyah Farm, Riyadh. A mansion type
project involving massive landscape and planting including a 9-hole golf course.
5. Construction and maintenance of the Landscape and Irrigation works of Al Yamama and
Al Nada residential compounds in Riyadh and Khobar.
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- Started and operated a subsidiary indoor plants sales centers as part of "Home Center" stores
owned by BMTC until the shut down of Home Center in 2004.
Aside from the pure contracting aspects of the position I was involved in the various landscape and Irrigation activities from a horticultural point. These activities involved the monitoring and guidance for planting and staking techniques, preparation of O&M manuals for landscaping and
Irrigation works, setting the landscape/irrigation and maintenance teams, Fertilization, weeding,
pruning, mowing, edging, hedging, irrigation programming, lines flushing and maintenance of filtration equipment. The responsibilities also involved recommendations of pesticides application for different pest incidents (Herbicide applications for weed infestations, Root rot treatments, Soil
insect attacks especially for lawns, fungal and bacterial infestations..)
Please see attached job description during the first employment (Rabya Landscaping ) and the second employment (Building Materials trading Co.).
Brand Manager From 2000 - 2005.
- Coordinated the relation between BMTC and Rain Bird including contract negotiations, Sales
Targets, Marketing Strategies (Seminars, Demos, exhibitions etc ) ordering and pricing.
- Supported sales teams with technical information, literatures and data regarding miscellaneous
Rain Bird materials.
- Established and operated a service center authorized by Rain Bird (ASC) to carry out repairs on
Rain Bird equipments, conduct surveys related to irrigation Central Control System (Maxicom) and to support Rain Bird Staff during Demos, Seminars and Exhibitions.
- Supervised and directed a design office intended to prepare irrigation design packages for customers as part of presale service.
- Verified irrigation designs and conducted technical arguments related to irrigation submittals.
- Handled the Rain Bird Irrigation Central Control division including design, pricing, execution and after sale service.
The in-depth exposure over Rain Bird irrigation product range and the day-to-day dealings with irrigation pre- and after- sale services, has offered me tremendous insight on the irrigation
materials, its operation and maintenance and on Irrigation design as well. This legacy of technical and practical knowledge in Irrigation will be used later in the ability to audit irrigation systems, to offer more efficient maintenance practices and to recommend more appropriate equipment for
specific landscape set ups.
1995 - 2000 Area Manager
Rabya Landscaping Ltd.
Eastern Province, KSA
- Handled all aspects of Landscape business, from job negotiation to execution, to turn over and maintenance.
- Managed and supervised more than 300 craft / laborers with a yearly turn over of US $ 4.0 M.
- Established and inaugurated in 1996 a prestigious Garden Center in Al Khobar aiming at securing
medium and small scale jobs of the private sector. Traded in all garden accessories including
landscape maintenance tools, pots, fountains, garden furniture, gazebos, pergolas, tiles, gift items as well as cut flowers and indoor plants.
- Established in year 2000 a green house facility to act as a walk in exhibition for whole sales indoor
plants.
The garden center and the Indoor plants exhibition has added to my knowledge of garden
Tools / equipment and their suitability for different landscape maintenance tasks.
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Growing and maintaining indoor plants has put us face to face with problems of plants
propagation, diseases and pests (root rots, aphids, mealy bugs), disease control, over and under- watering symptoms and plants performance against different light intensities.
1991 - 1994 Project Manager
Rabya Landscaping Ltd.
Jubail Industrial City, KSA
- Managed the " Operation and Maintenance of the Landscape and Grounds of the permanent
community at Jubail Industrial City" (Client: Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu) . The
project was worth US $ 12.8 M and employs 560 workers with a scope including operation and maintenance of landscaping, irrigation systems, playgrounds, shorelines, stabilized areas, low level
lighting and recreational lighting. Duties involved:
• Conducting weekly progress meetings with the client and communicating with the client
representatives for various maintenance matters on daily basis.
• Setting teams for the various maintenance activities headed by superintendents and supervisors.
• Heading weekly progress meetings with the superintendents and the supervisors and discussing solutions to various horticultural and irrigation matters.
• Setting schedules, time frames and deadlines for routine and emergency maintenance
activities for the various project zones. Such schedules will be the guidelines for monitoring all site activities by superintendents, supervisors, project management and the
client. It will include activities like, weeding, hedging, pruning, fertilizing, mowing,
aerating, thatching, preventive pesticide sprays, blowing, mulch cleaning / raking, LDPE
flushing and filters cleaning
• Monitoring set schedules and securing resources to meet deadlines.
• Conducting walkthroughs with superintendents to inspect neatness of works, to detect
problems, diseases, infestations, leaks etc and to propose solutions and control
measures.
• Operating and maintaining a propagation and holding plants nursery. Monitoring the procurement of cuttings and the purchase of rooting hormones, pesticides, pots, stakes,
ties and fertilizers. Scheduling the seeding and propagation of annual flowering plants and ground covers for seasonal massive planting.
• Running and maintaining a store for spare parts of irrigation materials, landscape tools and equipments.
• Running and maintaining a work shop for the repairs of crews' vehicles and landscape
equipments (Pick ups, Mowers, sprayers, edgers, weed eaters, blowers, knapsacks .)
• Devising means to execute works with the least amount of resources and the shortest time
possible. E.g. utilizing selective herbicides whenever possible in lieu of hand weeding.
Utilizing gasoline operated push type lawn edging machines in lieu of manual edging
effort
• Dealing with stressful events, such as royal visits, and trying to upgrade esthetic value of existing landscape in rather short periods of time e.g. spraying green pigment on winter
scorched lawn, planting massive quantities of colorful annuals at entrances and reception
driveways, sourcing large numbers of manpower for short periods to carry out special
quick tasks
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• Designing landscape and irrigation layouts for sporadic additional new areas, formulating
task teams and procuring materials to execute such jobs.
• Preparing monthly invoices with an attempt to maximize returns and utilize provisional
sums of money that would have, otherwise, been transferred to subsequent years.
The scale of the project, the involvement in its day-to-day activities and the daily dealings with the client constituted a great opportunity to develop comprehensive administrative and
horticultural experience, as well as, to improve my communication skills. The repetitive nature of the elements of the horticultural set up was like a "laboratory" to put scientific and theoretical knowledge into actual practice. We had the opportunity to "test", for example,
efficacy of certain horticultural practices, potency of some chemicals against certain diseases and durability of some brands of irrigation equipment under harsh site conditions
1988 - 1991 Project Manager
Rabya Landscaping Ltd.
Jubail Industrial City, KSA
- Project Manager for a large landscaping and irrigation subcontract worth US $ 3.4M
. (CONTRACTOR: RET-SER ENGINEERING)
- Performed initial bidding and negotiated final contract.
- Supervised 6 engineers as well as laborers.
- Assisted in technical submittals.
- Liaised directly with the contractor and the client management team for technical presentations,
creation of all necessary schedules and documentation of claims and questions.
- Supervised procurement.
- Implemented various horticultural and irrigation maintenance practices, recommendations of control measures (chemical and cultural control of plant pest and disorders), on-site decisions on
irrigation problems and design alterations.
- Performed contract turn over operation.
1984 - 1988 Construction Manager
Rabya Landscaping Ltd.
Jubail Industrial City, KSA
- Managed an extensive landscaping and irrigation projects worth US $ 2.0 M.
- Supervised 80 craft / laborers and four subcontracts. The task included scheduling / allocating
manpower, liaising with Bechtel (Construction Management of Jubail), on site decision-making regarding irrigation maintenance, invoicing and engineering submittals including all supporting
calculations)
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• 1982-1984 Master of Science in Plant Pathology from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut, Lebanon.
- Member of the Alumni Of the American University Of Beirut, Riyadh Chapter. - Member of the Engineers Syndicate, Beirut, Lebanon.
Vocational and Professional - Coordinated, attended and participated in many seminars and work shops related to Landscaping construction and maintenance and to major irrigation brands (Rain Bird, Hunter and Toro..) - Member of the American Phytopathological Society. - Member of the Landscape Australia Journal. - Member of the Arab Water World Magazine. - Member of the Arab Construction World Magazine. - Member of the National Geographic Magazine. - Member of the Country Living Magazine. - Member of the Outdoor Life Magazine.
• 1979-1982 Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Diploma of Ingenieur Agricole from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut Lebanon.