Background: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is seeking to its align higher education (HE) policy outcomes to industry needs as part of its vision 2030, yet the complexity of the current HRM administration within the Saudi higher education sector may undermine the effective implementation of HRM practices and processes. Purpose: This paper employs a general systems theory to investigate the challenges undermining the effective implementation of HRM practices and processes within the KSA higher education sector.

Method: The paper draws from exploratory qualitative evidence using document analyses and in-depth face-to-face interviews with deans of colleges, HR directors and lecturers in six publicly-funded universities in KSA.

Results: The findings suggest duplication of HRM practices and processes; leadership and power struggles; a lack of co-ordination; a lack of recognition and governance requirements tend to undermine the effective implementation of HRM practices and processes in the higher education sector.

Implications: These findings have several policy implications for the KSA higher education sector and call for strategic HRM alignment of the higher education sector with the KSA Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy that focuses on enriching the national skills to meet the future demands of a growing economy.