Shihana Alazzaz was recently appointed as an adviser at the Royal Court following a royal order.
She was also appointed as chairwoman of the board of directors of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property by an order issued by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Prior to that, Alazzaz served as the deputy secretary-general of the Council of Ministers since July 2022. She was the first Saudi woman to hold the position.
Alazzaz was also one of the first women licensed to practice law in Saudi Arabia and has held the post of general counsel at the Public Investment Fund.
She began her studies at Durham University in the UK in 2005 and received a bachelor’s degree in law with honors in 2008.
While in law school, she served as a Saudi representative in the US Middle East Partnership Initiative.
She received further training in Dubai and Kuwait and later accepted a job at a New York City legal firm, where she provided legal advice on topics including defense, aviation, telecommunications, healthcare and securities.
After graduating, Alazzaz worked as an associate at law firm Baker McKenzie for more than three years.
Her next workplace was Vinson & Elkins LLP, where she served as senior associate for almost five years until 2016 when she was promoted to counsel.
After leaving the firm, Alazzaz joined the Public Investment Fund as head of transactions in 2017. The following year she became general counsel.
She is a member of the organization’s management committee and chairs other executive committees. She also serves on the boards of several PIF portfolio companies.
Alazzaz won the International Financial Law Review’s 2019 Women in Business Law award.
As a female pioneer in Saudi law, Alazzaz works to nurture young talent in the industry. In 2020, was selected among the top 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East by Forbes.