Leadership

John Pagano joined the Red Sea Development as Chief Executive Officer in January 2018 and is responsible for leading the Red Sea project's development from the ground up, to create a unique luxury and environmentally sustainable international tourism destination.

Pagano brings more than 35 years of international experience in delivering large scale development projects, previously serving as President of Baha Mar Development Company Ltd. (BDMC) based in Nassau in the Bahamas, where his main duties were acquisition, master planning, project structuring, financing and asset management. He then spent over 23 years at the world-renowned Canary Wharf development in London, holding several leading Executive positions.

Before joining TRSDC, Pagano headed his own company, Old Fort Capital Investments Ltd, offering strategic advice and services to landowners, investors and developers, with a focus on large scale real estate developments.

He holds a BSc in Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Eng. Ahmad G. Darwish joined the organisation as Chief of Staff in April 2018, bringing with him more than two decades of experience in project management. In December 2020, he was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer to reflect his broadened role.

Darwish is responsible for overseeing the operations of the company including establishing the company’s program management and stakeholder management, and the rapid growth of the workforce. In addition, he ensures that all departments and employees therein, share the organisational vision and objectives.

Prior to joining TRSDC, he spent 20 years working for Saudi Aramco, where he managed multiple projects for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), including the KAUST Research Park Infrastructure Project and the Saudi Aramco Research Center.

Darwish is a certified member of the Project Management Institute and the Saudi Council of Engineers, and holds a BSc in Electric Engineering from the University of Portland, US, and an MSc in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Glasgow, UK.

Ian Williamson joined the organisation as Interim Chief Development Officer in October 2017. He is responsible for leading development and delivery of the planning, design and construction of the project.

As an Executive and Board Director for over 25 years, Ian has undertaken both strategic and operational roles, developing a leadership style that enables his colleagues to reach their potential.

Earlier in his career, Williamson worked with Sainsbury’s for a decade, as a senior member of the development team, responsible for marketing, finance, store planning, and project management. He later acted as Senior Vice President between AECOM Europe and AECOM Middle East, where he directed projects on both continents for over 15 years.

Prior to joining TRSDC, Williamson served as Managing Director at Arcadis Middle East.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from Cass Business School, London, UK, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Mathematics from the University of Reading, UK.

Dr. Rusty Brainard joined The Red Sea Development Company as Chief Environmental Officer in July 2019 and is responsible for ensuring the environmental sustainability of all aspects of the Red Sea Project, including the ambitious vision to increase the environmental conservation value by 30% across the destination site.

Prior to joining the organization, Dr. Brainard spent more than 38 years as a commissioned officer and then supervisory oceanographer with the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This included 18 years serving as founding Chief of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in Hawaii, where he led an interdisciplinary team of some 65 marine ecologists and oceanographers in conducting integrated habitat mapping, coral reef ecosystem assessments and long-term monitoring, applied research and modeling to support management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems across the Pacific Islands.

Internationally, Dr. Brainard has served as: NOAA’s technical lead for the six-country Coral Triangle Initiative and eight-country Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project; co-principal investigator for the International Census of Marine Life; and as Steering Committee member for the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC) efforts to establish an ocean acidification observing network in the Western Pacific. 

Dr. Brainard holds a BSc in Marine Science from Texas A&M University, a MS and PhD in oceanography and physical oceanography, respectively, from the US Naval Postgraduate School. He has co-authored 133 scientific papers and reports on various aspects of marine biology and oceanography.

Nicholas King joined the organisation as Chief Development Officer on 1st September 2020, bringing with him more than three decades of experience in successful international real estate experience.

Prior to joining TRSDC, Nick was principle of SunCal, one of the largest private land developers in the United States. In that role he led urban development activity, as well as having a guiding hand across all projects including land developments on both coasts ranging from 2,000 to 44,000 acres. Since joining the company in 2007, Nick had direct responsibilty for numerouss projects including, most recently, a three million square foot mixed-use development in the Arts District of Los Angeles designed by Herzog & De Meuron.

Before SunCal, Nick operated throughout the Asia Pacific region, developing and investing in luxury residential, integrated resorts, and complex mixed-use urban projects, both through his own business as well as in a leadership capacity for organizations such as ING Real Estate, Shell Real Estate and Hillwood Asia.

He received his Bachelor Degree in Landscape Architecture, and his Masters Degree in Urban Design, specializing in Real Estate Development, from Harverd University. He was awarded an MBA from the University of Chicago and completed the Global Leadership Program at IMD in Lausanne.

Nick brings with him a wealth of experience in global cutting edge development and thinking, and will be responsible for a range of initiatives both short and long term as TRSDC draws closer to the completion of phase one, and makes plans for the future phases of the project.

Jay Rosen is Chief Financial Officer for The Red Sea Development Company, a closed joint stock company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. He oversees finance, investment, and asset management for a new international luxury tourism destination set along the Red Sea as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. He is responsible for driving long-term strategic value by planning, implementing, managing, and controlling all financial and investment related activities of the Company.

Jay is an accomplished real estate investment and finance executive with broad experience in acquisitions, development, asset management, corporate finance, capital raising, and strategic planning. Over the course of his career he has participated in over $5.5 billion in real estate investments including large, integrated resort developments, single asset and portfolio acquisitions, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. Jay has extensive experience in hospitality and mixed-use assets in addition to residential, retail, gaming, and office investments in North America, the Caribbean, and Middle East.

Jay holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration where he concentrated on real estate finance.

In her role as the Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance, Dr. Maryam Ficociello is responsible for developing effective, transparent and accountable governance practices that are compliant with both regulatory requirements and leading practices. Her leadership role expands further into identifying, assessing and managing TRSDC’s internal and external risks in order to support TRSDC, its Board, and Executive Management in executing its achieving objectives.

She has led the development of an Internal Control Framework as well as an Enterprise Risk Management and Resilience Framework and is responsible for monitoring the company’s performance against them. Furthermore, Dr. Ficociello provides substantial direction and support in ensuring that TRSDC’s business is conducted with the highest ethical standards and is also responsible for overseeing compliance monitoring and management programs across the organization.

Prior to working at TRSDC, Dr. Maryam Ali Ficociello garnered extensive experience advising and supporting various public and private entities in Real Estate Development, Hospitality, Aviation, Defense, Media, Healthcare, Education, Manufacturing and Construction. Her roles comprised of undertaking gap analyses, developing and designing governance parameters, risk management and internal control frameworks.

Dr. Ficociello has delivered lectures at various educational institutions both locally and internationally on matters related to governance and managing organizational change. Her proficiency in this field has enabled her to serve as an advisor on topics including Governance, Large Scale Technology Implementation, as well as Public Sector Management.

She holds a PhD in Innovation and Organization Change from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a member of the GCC Board of Director’s Institute.

Ahmad Aalem is the Head of Strategy for The Red Sea Development Company, with more than 15 years of experience specialising in large-scale transformation, strategy, real-estate and program management.

Ahmad is responsible for overseeing the design and reviewing the future of the development company. He also contributes to the overall direction of the project’s vision and strategy, including the identification of relevant clusters and the offering for visitor attractions, in addition to supporting strategies for the destination and the special economic zone.

Formerly a Senior Director at PwC Strategy Consulting, Ahmad has sound knowledge of the strategy, operating models and enablers for various leading industry players across different sectors and industries. These include government and central government, utilities, real estate and hospitality, defense and border security, oil & gas, transportation and logistics, and banking.

Ahmad holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Université Saint Joseph in Lebanon, a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Services Management from the University of Surrey in England, and a Master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of East London in England.

Stuart Davies joined The Red Sea Development Company as General Counsel in August 2018. With over two decades of extensive international experience in corporate, finance and commercial law matters, he is responsible for heading the company’s legal strategy, as it executes on its objectives and master plan.

Earlier in his career, Stuart worked at an award-winning corporate finance practice at Norton Rose in the City of London. During his time in London, he worked at a senior level in both private practice at leading law firms and as in-house counsel for an international investment bank before relocating with his family to the GCC over 11 years ago.

Before joining The Red Sea Development Company, Stuart worked for a large corporate in the region, where he was an integral part of a team that helped steer its growth from one market to 17 markets across the Middle East and further into Asia. More recently, he headed a leading commercial practice at Al Tamimi, the largest regional law firm in the Middle East.

Stuart graduated in law from the University of Bristol and attended Law School in the UK and has various vocational qualifications in business administration and finance. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).