The world's economy still continues to globalise at rapid progression. However, this leaves organisations with the challenge of managing their human resources across cultural boundaries. The retention and development of internationally competent managers is critical to globally operating organisations. This calls for research that can help to more intelligently managing expatriate assignments. The purpose of this research project was to elaborate job performance-critical competencies for German-speaking expatriate managers working in the Middle East. Building on findings of competence models which are assumed to be applicable universalistically, it was this study’s aim to accommodate cultural factors influencing job performance. Eight German-speaking expatriate managers currently working in Egypt participated in this study. The results have been categorised according to the ten competencies for international managers defined by Birchall, Hee, and Gay (1996). Among these ten competencies, the following ones have been elaborated as being most critical to job performance: international negotiation, cultural empathy, addressing ethical dilemmas, and working with stakeholders.