Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco earlier this week appointed Huda Al-Ghosn as its executive director of employee relations and training, making her the first women to fill this position in the company’s history. The company said that Al-Ghosn will be responsible for all programs entailing workforce planning, recruiting, training and development as well as retention, services and legal relations coordination of more than 60,000 employees. Ghosn holds a MBA from the American University of Washington D.C. and a BA in English from Riyadh’s King Saud University. Listed by Forbes Arabia as one of the 100 most powerful women in the Arab world, Al-Ghosn joined Aramco in 1981 and has been moving up the ladder since. Al-Ghoson served as the general manager of training & development at Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF), where she was responsible for the design and delivery of corporate education, together with training and development programs for all segments of the workforce covering industrial, administrative, professional and leadership positions. She joined YASREF in 1981 and held a variety of positions within human resources and support organizations including health care services, facilities planning, finance, community services, industrial relations and human resources policy & planning. She served as a member of the Board of Directors at Vela International Marine Limited, Aramco Far East (Beijing) Business Services Company Limited (ABS), YASREF and Saudi Aramco Development Company (SADCO); all are subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arabian Society of Human Resources Management (ASHRM). She has completed a number of leadership and management programs including Sloan’s Health Executives Development Program at Cornell University, New York in 1988; Saudi Aramco Management Development Seminar, Washington D.C., in 2004; The Economics of Oil Program, London in 2006; Oxford Advanced Management Program in 2007; Executive Influence Program, London in 2008; the Advanced Human Resource Executive Program at Ross School of Business, University of Michigan in 2010 and Oxford Energy Seminar in 2012. Al-Ghosn is also a Certified Compensation Professional. © Copyright 2015 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. — Reprinted with permission of the Saudi Gazette and Khaled Almaeena.