Director Operations & Event Delivery📣 إعلان

About Qiddiya and the Opportunity

Qiddiya is developing Saudi Arabia's future capital of entertainment, sports, and culture, a 360 km2 mega-project located just outside Riyadh. This initiative aims to create a destination featuring F1-grade racetracks, theme parks, stadiums, and performance venues, contributing to a national transformation. As construction progresses, Qiddiya is seeking a Director Operations & Event Delivery to join its full-time team in Riyadh.

Role Purpose

The Director Operations & Event Delivery will lead the planning and execution of all event operations and site-wide delivery for Qiddiya's Cultural and Heritage program. This role is responsible for ensuring the safe, efficient, and high-quality delivery of cultural programming, guest experiences, and large-scale event operations, in alignment with asset objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end planning and execution of all event operations across the Cultural and Heritage program, including festivals and year-round activities.
• Translate programming, marketing, and commercial plans into detailed operational delivery models, developing and managing event operations plans, schedules, and resource requirements.
• Oversee logistics, site readiness, and event overlay, including temporary infrastructure, structures, utilities, and services, ensuring operational infrastructure is ready across event cycles.
• Manage site setup, dismantling, and transitions between events or programming phases, coordinating movement planning for access, transport, parking, and crowd flows.
• Establish and enforce Health, Safety, and Security (HSE) frameworks, overseeing crowd management, emergency response, and incident management protocols in compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Ensure the delivery of a high-quality, safe, and seamless visitor experience, monitoring guest flow, queue management, accessibility, and service standards.
• Oversee the management of all operational vendors, contractors, and service providers, ensuring performance meets operational, safety, and service standards.
• Lead operational feasibility assessments for programming, commercial, and marketing initiatives, ensuring alignment between requirements and operational capabilities.
• Coordinate closely with Asset & Site Management and Qiddiya Group functions on facilities, maintenance, infrastructure readiness, and long-term site usage planning.
• Define and track operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), monitoring performance during events, identifying improvement opportunities, and implementing continuous improvement initiatives.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Achieving operational delivery against established plans.
• Ensuring high visitor experience and satisfaction levels.
• Maintaining strong health, safety, and security performance.
• Demonstrating efficiency in event execution.
• Ensuring readiness and successful delivery of major events.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates for this position should possess the following qualifications and experience:

• 12-15+ years of experience, with a significant portion in leadership roles overseeing large-scale operations and event delivery.
• Proven experience in planning and delivering large-scale events, festivals, or destination operations with high visitor volumes.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-site or multi-zone environments involving diverse activities and stakeholders.
• Strong experience in leading end-to-end event operations, including planning, logistics, site readiness, and live delivery.
• Solid background in crowd management, HSE, and security operations within large public events.
• Expertise in operational planning and logistics, including transport, access, and site movement.
• Experience in vendor and contractor management across multiple service lines.
• Ability to operate effectively in high-pressure, real-time environments with critical decision-making responsibilities.
• Demonstrated capability to manage and coordinate with government authorities, regulatory bodies, and security agencies.
• Experience in leading large, cross-functional operational teams and on-ground workforces.
• Experience in pre-opening and activation phases of large-scale venues, events, or destinations is preferred.
• Experience transitioning from readiness to live operations and managing ongoing operational cycles.

Work Type and Location

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.