Senior Director: Land Use📣 إعلان

About Parsons Corporation and the Role

Parsons Corporation is seeking a Senior Director: Land Use for a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This role is integral to a landmark giga-project in the Kingdom, which aims to redefine global standards in destination development, innovation, and visitor experience, directly supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

Role Purpose and Scope

The Senior Director: Land Use leads the team responsible for safeguarding, evaluating, and governing the city-wide master plan. This position ensures that all spatial developments, precinct modifications, and asset proposals align with strategic objectives, regulatory frameworks, sustainability targets, and long-term operational excellence. The role requires approximately 25 years of experience, providing authoritative leadership on land use strategy, master plan integrity, and spatial governance across large-scale mixed-use districts, mega-projects, and complex urban environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the end-to-end governance framework for the city master plan.
• Evaluate all asset and development proposals for strict compliance with district policies, land use guidelines, and master plan parameters.
• Govern spatial modifications across all precincts, ensuring alignment with long-term operational, environmental, and community objectives.
• Approve land use changes based on rigorous operational impact assessments, including access, infrastructure capacity, serviceability, emergency response, and lifecycle costs.
• Maintain and update land use control documents, zoning schedules, and spatial development guidelines.
• Direct ongoing updates and refinement of the spatial master plan in collaboration with external consultants and internal stakeholders.
• Lead detailed spatial, environmental, and socio-economic impact assessments for new developments, major precinct modifications, and strategic initiatives.
• Optimize land allocation to maximize asset value, commercial viability, and community integration, while protecting critical infrastructure and open space networks.
• Drive scenario planning and sensitivity analysis to test alternative land use strategies, density distributions, and phasing options.
• Ensure integration of transport, utilities, sustainability, public realm, and community facilities within the overarching land use strategy.

Stakeholder Engagement and Technical Oversight

• Partner with internal engineering, commercial, real estate, legal, and operations teams to reconcile land use needs with technical and business requirements.
• Liaise with government ministries, municipalities, and regulatory authorities to secure permissions, approvals, and statutory endorsements.
• Negotiate spatial solutions between master developers, anchor tenants, third-party investors, and public entities, balancing commercial priorities with planning obligations.
• Represent the land use function in high-level governance forums, investment committees, and design review boards.
• Oversee the use of GIS platforms, urban modeling tools, and CAD workflows to maintain an accurate and up-to-date spatial database of the master plan.
• Ensure robust data governance for land parcels, zoning allocations, floor area ratios, rights-of-way, easements, and development rights.
• Use analytical tools to monitor land utilization, development progress, and compliance with approved plans and density targets.

Leadership and Strategic Development

• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of planners, urban designers, GIS specialists, and land use analysts.
• Set performance objectives, define governance processes, and ensure consistent application of standards and methodologies.
• Build internal capability through coaching, training, and knowledge sharing on best practices in land use planning and master plan governance.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement within the land use and planning function.
• Identify and manage risks related to land use, including over- or under-development, non-compliant proposals, and conflicts with infrastructure or environmental constraints.
• Establish escalation and exception-handling processes for high-impact land use decisions.
• Ensure all land use decisions comply with national and local planning regulations, environmental policies, and development control frameworks.
• Prepare and present risk assessments, mitigation strategies, and governance reports to senior leadership.
• Stay abreast of international best practice in land use planning, smart city development, mixed-use mega-projects, and resilient urban design.
• Introduce innovative approaches to density management, transit-oriented development, green and blue networks, and mixed-use integration.
• Contribute to policy development, design standards, and strategic frameworks that shape the long-term evolution of the city and its districts.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will possess approximately 25 years of experience in land use strategy, master plan integrity, and spatial governance within large-scale mixed-use districts, mega-projects, or complex urban environments. Demonstrated leadership in managing multidisciplinary teams and driving strategic planning initiatives is essential for this role.