Director Operational Readiness DA

About Qiddiya

Qiddiya is seeking a Director Operational Readiness DA to join their team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves leading the strategy, governance, and performance of the assigned operational readiness portfolio, ensuring safe, compliant, and controlled activation of business objectives.

Role Purpose

The Director Operational Readiness DA will translate business objectives into integrated readiness plans. This position provides leadership across operating model development, workforce, processes, technology, facilities, service mobilization, and transition planning. The role focuses on optimizing readiness outcomes through effective assurance, risk management, stakeholder alignment, and evidence-based decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the operational readiness strategy and integrated governance for the assigned portfolio, aligning priorities, plans, and performance measures with approved business objectives.
• Establish portfolio-wide readiness standards, assurance requirements, decision gates, reporting protocols, and escalation routes, ensuring clear accountability across functions.
• Direct assigned workstream managers and advisers in integrating operating models, workforce, processes, technology, facilities, supply chain, and service mobilization.
• Provide leadership on readiness planning, sequencing, resource prioritization, dependency management, and recovery actions across complex programmes and assets.
• Align senior stakeholders on activation priorities, material risks, delivery trade-offs, and the evidence required to support operational decisions.
• Drive readiness performance through clear measures, disciplined governance, constructive challenge, and timely executive reporting.

Specific Duties

• Oversee operational requirements through design, procurement, commissioning, handover, mobilization, and opening, ensuring traceability and appropriate ownership without assuming delivery-owner responsibilities.
• Review and challenge readiness evidence, commission targeted assurance, and direct recovery priorities where safety, compliance, service quality, or operational continuity is at risk.
• Lead cross-functional coordination of plans, schedules, dependencies, interfaces, and acceptance criteria to maintain an integrated path to activation.
• Present readiness recommendations, activation options, constraints, and residual risks to authorized decision-makers, ensuring decisions, conditions, and actions are documented and tracked.
• Build productive relationships with delivery teams, operators, consultants, contractors, and service providers to resolve readiness issues and protect business priorities.
• Develop readiness capability, oversee assigned teams and advisers, and ensure structured transfer of knowledge, documentation, and accountability into business-as-usual operations.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in operational readiness or a related field.
• Demonstrated leadership in developing and implementing operational readiness strategies and governance frameworks.
• Experience in managing complex programs and assets, including resource prioritization and dependency management.

Work Environment

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The role requires adherence to company policies, safety requirements, confidentiality, and document-control practices, maintaining clear records, and supporting continuous improvement initiatives.