ROSHN Group has appointed Naaman Atallah as Group Chief Executive Officer, the Public Investment Fund backed developer announced, with Atallah assuming the role on 1 September 2026. He succeeds Sabah Barakat, who had served as Acting Group Chief Executive Officer and is returning to a role at the Public Investment Fund.
In its announcement, ROSHN Group thanked Barakat for his leadership and dedicated service during his tenure and for the foundation he leaves behind, describing the appointment of Atallah as intended to advance the company growth and excellence in real estate.
More than three decades in real estate
Atallah brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in real estate, according to the ROSHN announcement, with a career spent leading strategic transformations of real estate portfolios and delivering customer focused developments across the Middle East and North Africa. He arrives at ROSHN as the first permanent chief executive of the company in more than two years, following an interim period under Barakat.
Most recently, Atallah served as President of Al Futtaim Real Estate in the United Arab Emirates. Before that, he was Chief Executive Officer of Nakheel, the Dubai master developer behind projects including Palm Jumeirah, The World and Jumeirah Islands, appointed to that role in November 2020. At Nakheel, he succeeded Sanjay Manchanda, who had stepped down earlier that year. Earlier in his career, Atallah was Chief Executive Officer of Piramal Realty in India and Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Properties, and he held the position of Chief Operating Officer at both Qatari Diar and Emaar Properties.
ROSHN growth ambitions
ROSHN Group is one of the principal real estate developers of the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia, running residential communities including Sedra, Alarous, Warefa, Almanar and Aldanah as part of the Vision 2030 housing and urban development programme of the Kingdom. In its statement, ROSHN said the Atallah leadership experience would support its growth ambitions, strengthen its contribution to urban development and livability objectives, and support the delivery of integrated communities and destinations across Saudi Arabia.
The appointment places Atallah in charge of a company managing one of the largest active residential construction programmes in the Kingdom, at a time when Saudi developers are under pressure to balance rapid delivery targets with financing and construction capacity across multiple giga projects. His move to ROSHN also closes a short interim chapter at the developer, which had been run on an acting basis since its previous permanent chief executive departed more than two years ago.
