Director Irrigation

About the Role

Qiddiya Investment Company is seeking a Director - Irrigation to lead irrigation planning, design strategy, standards, and the technical assurance framework for Qiddiya’s landscape and public realm portfolio. This full-time position is based in Riyadh, Riyadh Province, and requires over 10 years of experience. The role ensures that irrigation requirements are integrated from master planning through design development, procurement support, Stage Gate review, and handover readiness, aligning with Qiddiya’s City Framework Plan, sustainability commitments, water stewardship objectives, and long-term asset outcomes.

Strategic Planning and Policy

• Lead the strategic direction for irrigation planning and design across Qiddiya’s landscape and public realm portfolio, ensuring alignment with master development objectives, district strategies, water availability, sustainability requirements, and future operational needs.
• Own and maintain Qiddiya-wide irrigation policies, standards, planning frameworks, design criteria, water budgets, hydro-zoning principles, technical guidelines, and compliance processes.
• Provide strategic direction on irrigation demand planning, TSE use, water quality, salinity risk, leaching requirements, drainage interfaces, water allocation, resilience assumptions, and smart irrigation strategy.
• Translate water conservation, sustainability, public realm, and horticultural objectives into clear design requirements, decision frameworks, assurance checkpoints, and performance expectations.
• Monitor applicable regulations, authority requirements, regional practices, international best practice, emerging technologies, and innovation opportunities relevant to irrigation planning and landscape water management.

Design Governance and Technical Authority

• Lead the development, review, governance, and continuous improvement of irrigation design guidelines, specifications, calculation methodologies, assurance processes, and technical review protocols.
• Act as the technical authority for irrigation design submissions, including masterplans, design reports, calculations, drawings, schedules, specifications, and technical studies.
• Ensure submissions are assessed against approved standards, water demand targets, operability requirements, risk controls, and Qiddiya design expectations.
• Establish approval, assurance, and escalation processes for design decisions, departures, non-compliances, technical risks, and cross-disciplinary interfaces.
• Provide strategic guidance on irrigation technologies, central control systems, filtration, fertigation, dosing, metering, sensors, digital asset data, BIM/GIS coordination, and smart irrigation integration.
• Ensure irrigation design is integrated with planting, soils, landscape character, water availability, utility infrastructure, district phasing, access, maintainability, commissioning requirements, and long-term asset performance.

Portfolio Planning and Commercial Support

• Provide senior oversight of the irrigation planning and design portfolio to ensure projects align with approved strategies, standards, budgets, programmes, quality expectations, sustainability objectives, and future operational requirements.
• Lead irrigation input into procurement strategies, scopes of work, consultant briefs, tender documentation, technical evaluation criteria, design deliverables, cost plans, and programme requirements.
• Direct consultants and specialist advisors responsible for irrigation master planning, design, modelling, standards, technical studies, specifications, calculations, and assurance outputs.
• Review design performance, identify planning and design risks, resolve technical issues, and escalate matters requiring leadership direction with clear recommendations.
• Ensure irrigation requirements are embedded in masterplan reviews, Stage Gate submissions, design reviews, implementation planning, cost planning, risk management, quality assurance, commissioning strategies, handover requirements, and asset information requirements.
• Lead design audits, technical reviews, lessons-learned reviews, and value engineering to improve technical quality, water efficiency, maintainability, resilience, lifecycle value, and operational readiness.

Water Demand and Digital Integration

• Establish design performance metrics, water demand benchmarks, hydro-zoning checks, efficiency targets, and assurance dashboards for consultant submissions and district-level planning decisions.
• Oversee irrigation demand forecasts, TSE demand assumptions, peak flow estimates, storage and distribution interfaces, pressure zoning assumptions, and design-stage water balance inputs.
• Champion digital design integration, including BIM/GIS coordination, central control narratives, sensor and metering strategies, asset data requirements, smart city interfaces, and future operational data needs.
• Ensure planning decisions are supported by clear data, assumptions, calculations, risk assessments, and evidence-based recommendations.

Leadership and Team Management

• Lead, develop, and manage irrigation planning and design team members and specialist resources, setting clear priorities, accountabilities, and performance expectations.
• Build internal irrigation capability through guidance, templates, review processes, knowledge sharing, lessons learned, and technical standards.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, innovation, technical excellence, safety, quality, sustainability, and continuous improvement across the irrigation function.
• Support workforce planning by identifying skills gaps, future resource requirements, consultant support needs, and specialist technical expertise.
• Provide senior coaching and technical direction to internal teams, consultants, and delivery partners on irrigation planning, design assurance, water efficiency, maintainability, and operational readiness requirements.