Director: Public Realms (SME)📣 Job Ad

About Parsons and the Opportunity

Parsons Corporation is seeking a Director: Public Realms (SME) for a full-time position in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This role is part of an integrated Delivery Partner team for a landmark giga-project in the Kingdom, focused on redefining global standards in destination development and visitor experience. The successful candidate will contribute to a pioneering program at scale, working alongside industry-leading experts and cutting-edge technologies.

Role Overview

The Director for Public Realm serves as the senior technical and operational authority responsible for the long-term upkeep, landscape architecture, and experiential quality of all outdoor public spaces within the client’s giga-project or master-planned city. This encompasses all areas outside the footprint of private buildings, including major public parks, pedestrian promenades, urban plazas, streetscapes, water features, pocket parks, green corridors, and open-air entertainment boulevards. The Director operates as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) to ensure these assets remain pristine, structurally sound, safe, and highly functional for residents and millions of annual visitors.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Asset Management & Maintenance:
  • Oversee the health, irrigation, and agronomic performance of large-scale softscape assets, including trees, turf, shrubs, and groundcovers.
  • Ensure planting strategies and species selection are suitable for local climate conditions and long-term resilience.
  • Develop and supervise landscape maintenance regimes, seasonal planting programs, and arboriculture standards.
  • Manage the long-term preventative maintenance of hardscape assets, including premium paving, outdoor tiles, plazas, stairways, ramps, shading structures, urban furniture, and monuments.
  • Implement inspection and maintenance programs to preserve structural integrity, slip resistance, accessibility, and aesthetic quality.
  • Act as the technical authority for decorative and functional water assets, ensuring they meet safety, hygiene, and regulatory standards.
  • Oversee pumping, filtration, lighting, and control systems for water features, including periodic shutdowns and deep maintenance.
• Operations-Led Design Review & Vesting:
  • Evaluate completed public realm areas delivered by contractors, undertaking rigorous technical and aesthetic inspections prior to formal acceptance.
  • Verify compliance with design intent, safety codes, accessibility standards, and brand/experience benchmarks.
  • Review early-stage master plans and detailed designs to ensure operational sustainability and cost-effectiveness over the asset lifecycle.
  • Identify design risks that could generate excessive maintenance, water consumption, or safety issues, and recommend alternatives.
  • Collaborate with planners, architects, and landscape designers to embed maintainability, durability, and user comfort into all public realm schemes.
• Environmental Sustainability & Smart City Systems:
  • Manage smart, automated irrigation systems, including those utilizing Treated Sewage Effluent and other water-reuse technologies.
  • Optimize irrigation schedules and technologies to reduce consumption and minimize the project’s environmental footprint.
  • Work with smart city and technology teams to deploy IoT-enabled public assets such as smart waste bins, automated lighting, and environmental sensors.
  • Integrate data from smart systems into operational dashboards to enhance maintenance planning and visitor experience.
  • Set operational frameworks for high-frequency public cleansing, pressure washing, litter collection, and waste segregation.
  • Define standards for cleanliness, response times, and presentation in high-footfall and flagship areas.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 5 to 10 years of relevant professional experience in public realm management, landscape architecture, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the long-term upkeep and operational management of large-scale outdoor public spaces.
• Proven ability to lead technical and operational aspects, including asset management, maintenance regimes, and design reviews.
• Experience with environmental sustainability practices and smart city technologies in public realm contexts.

Project Contribution

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to one of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious giga-projects, shaping the future of the Kingdom and supporting Vision 2030. The Director will play a key role in ensuring world-class assets and infrastructure remain functional and aesthetically superior, influencing generations to come.

Application

We invite qualified candidates who are driven by challenge and motivated by impact to consider joining this transformative journey with Parsons Corporation.