Gulf governments run national job portals mainly for their own citizens. Saudi Arabia’s Jadarat is the clearest case: the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which manages it, states that “the applicant must be a Saudi national”, and its jobs are for Saudi citizens only. In the UAE, Nafis is a federal programme for Emirati talent in the private sector, while federal government vacancies sit on a separate portal, IRecruitment. Qatar’s Civil Service and Government Development Bureau recruits through Kawader. If you are not a national of the country, these portals are not your route in; apply directly on employers’ own careers sites instead.
This guide explains what each portal is, who it is for in the operator’s own words, and how signing in and applying work, from the official pages we opened on 4 October 2026. Where an official page does not say something, we say so rather than fill the gap.
The portals at a glance
| Portal | Country | Run by | Who it is for (official wording) | Jobs covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jadarat | Saudi Arabia | Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) | “The applicant must be a Saudi national” | Government, semi-government and private sector, including non-profits |
| Nafis | UAE | Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council | Supports “Emiratis in the private sector” | Private sector |
| IRecruitment | UAE | Federal government (named on the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s careers page) | Not stated on the page we opened | Federal government |
| Kawader | Qatar | Civil Service and Government Development Bureau (CGB) | Not stated on the pages we could open | 54 government and semi-government entities and the private sector (2024 report) |
Jadarat (Saudi Arabia)
Jadarat is the Unified National Employment Platform. HRDF describes it as “a national platform aimed at being the primary enabler for employing the Saudi workforce”. It replaced the older Jadara portal and brings public and private-sector jobs into one search, which you can filter by city, job title, date and employer. The platform works in Arabic and English.
Who may apply
Saudi citizens only. HRDF’s eligibility line reads “The applicant must be a Saudi national”, and to the question “Are the jobs advertised on the platform exclusively for Saudi citizens?” its answer is “Yes.” The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development also says it recruits for its own vacancies through Jadarat.
How registration works
- Open Jadarat, choose “New User”, and sign in through Nafath, Saudi Arabia’s national single sign-on, with your national ID and password. If you had a Jadara account, you sign in the same way.
- Complete your profile. HRDF says some personal data is filled in automatically from sources such as Nafath, HRDF’s e-services, Jadara and Saudi Post.
- Add your qualifications and experience and attach the documents asked for. The ministry describes registration as entering “personal data, qualifications and practical experiences, while attaching necessary documents”.
- Verify your qualifications on the platform before you apply for government jobs. HRDF: “You must first verify your qualifications through the Jadarat platform. Once verified, you can apply for public sector job advertisements that match your academic qualifications.”
HRDF’s page does not list a fixed set of documents for registration. Each advertisement sets its own.
If you already work
Being employed does not block you. HRDF states that “public sector employees can apply for higher-grade public sector jobs based on their qualifications and can also apply for any job in the private sector.” For support, HRDF lists the unified number 8001222030 and the “Contact Us” option inside the platform.
HRDF also runs Tamheer, an on-the-job training programme for Saudi graduates aged 30 or under, which we list as an open-until-filled traineeship.
Nafis and IRecruitment (UAE)
The UAE separates private-sector support for citizens from federal government hiring.
Nafis: Emiratis in the private sector
The government portal u.ae describes Nafis as “a comprehensive federal programme aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Emirati talent and enabling them to take on various roles in the UAE’s private sector”. It is run by the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council and is aimed at UAE nationals. The u.ae pages we opened point to the Nafis website for details of registration and its programmes, and that website did not load for us, so we do not describe its sign-up steps here.
Emiratisation rules help explain why some UAE private-sector postings say “UAE nationals only”. Under the rules published on u.ae, private establishments with 50 or more employees must raise Emiratisation by 2% a year in skilled jobs, toward a 10% increase by 2026, and establishments with 20 to 49 employees in 14 named sectors had to hire one Emirati by the end of 2024 and one more by the end of 2025. Graduate schemes such as First Abu Dhabi Bank’s Management Trainee Program are advertised on the employer’s own site and say so in their eligibility.
IRecruitment: federal government jobs
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s careers page names IRecruitment as “the UAE federal government job portal”. You register there to find and apply for federal vacancies and to communicate with recruitment officers. On 4 October 2026 the ministry’s own page said it had no vacancies. The page we opened does not state a nationality rule, so check each vacancy.
Kawader (Qatar)
Kawader is the recruitment platform of Qatar’s Civil Service and Government Development Bureau. In a February 2024 report to the Shura Council, the Bureau said it recruits “through the ‘Kawader’ platform by posting job opportunities in 54 government and semi-government entities and the private sector”, and that it develops the platform to support job seekers with courses on preparing CVs and passing interviews. The same report places Kawader within the Bureau’s “replacement and nationalization policies”. The Bureau’s website links to the Kawader app on the App Store and Google Play.
We could not open Kawader’s own website, and the official pages we did open do not publish its registration rules or required documents. We therefore quote no eligibility rule for Kawader: read it on the platform before you register.
If you are not a national of the country
Jadarat’s jobs are for Saudi citizens only, and Nafis serves Emiratis. Other jobs in these countries are advertised by employers on their own careers sites, and some of those state no nationality restriction. On CareerMENA you can filter by whose nationals may apply: for example jobs open to all nationalities or jobs for Saudi nationals. Each record quotes the employer’s own nationality rule, and we never widen it.
Advice: before you create an account on any national portal, read its eligibility line first. If the portal is for citizens and you are not one, your time is better spent on the employer’s own careers page.
Avoiding scams that use portal names
Use the official addresses only: Jadarat’s page is on hrdf.org.sa, the federal UAE portal is linked from mohre.gov.ae, and Kawader is linked from the Bureau’s site, cgb.gov.qa. If a message offers you a government job in exchange for a fee, treat it as a warning sign. On our side, listings are always free; we never ask for documents or payment to apply. Apply on the employer’s official page via careermena.com.
