Senior Director Commercial Director SDU HS📣 Job Ad

About the Senior Director, Commercial

Qiddiya is seeking a Senior Director, Commercial to join its team in Riyadh. This full-time leadership position is responsible for overseeing all commercial activities within the Strategic Development Unit (SDU), ensuring strategic commerciality and safety are integrated into every decision, from procurement to contract administration.

Role Overview and Strategic Impact

The Senior Director will establish and execute commercial strategies from the outset, utilizing specific Project Management/Construction Management (PM/CM) processes and procedures. A key focus is to drive outturn costs within agreed business and cost plans, while ensuring full compliance with internal governance and Delegation of Authority. This role also involves providing commercial lessons learned and outturn data back to cost planning teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish, implement, and maintain the commercial management framework for the Construction Management vertical, covering procurement commercial strategy, contract administration, cost control, and commercial assurance.
• Define and embed commercial policies, processes, procedures, manuals, and templates tailored to Project Management / Construction Management delivery models, ensuring alignment with QDC governance and Delegation of Authority.
• Drive strategic commercial decision-making across procurement and contract administration, focusing on value for money, appropriate risk allocation, and integration of safety considerations.
• Lead the development of commercial strategies at project and programme levels, aligned with approved business plans, cost plans, and delivery strategies.
• Provide functional oversight and governance of procurement commercial inputs, including contract strategies, commercial terms, payment mechanisms, incentives, and risk provisions.
• Lead and oversee contract administration frameworks, including change control, payment certification, claims management, EOT assessments, dispute avoidance, and close-out.
• Ensure robust cost management, forecasting, and reporting throughout the project lifecycle, driving delivery of final outturn costs within approved budgets.
• Monitor commercial performance, risks, and exposures, implementing mitigation strategies in coordination with Delivery, Procurement, Finance, and Risk functions.
• Act as the commercial authority within the Construction Management vertical, providing guidance, challenge, and escalation support to project teams in a matrix capacity.
• Establish and maintain clear commercial governance checkpoints aligned with stage-gate approvals and executive decision forums.
• Support the preparation and review of commercial inputs to Board and N-1 papers, including cost summaries, risk positions, commercial strategies, and recommendations.
• Ensure alignment between cost planning, commercial execution, and outturn performance, providing structured feedback to cost planning teams on variances, trends, and lessons learned.
• Capture, analyse, and disseminate commercial lessons learned, benchmarks, and best practices across the Construction Management vertical and wider QDC organisation.
• Support the build-up and capability development of the Construction Management commercial function, including mentoring, standards setting, and skills development.
• Coordinate closely with the Project Director Design, Project Director Delivery, Project Director Procurement, and Finance functions to ensure integrated, end-to-end commercial control.
• Represent the Construction Management vertical in senior internal and external forums on commercial, contractual, and cost matters, as required.

Qualifications and Experience

• Education: A Bachelor's degree in Quantity Surveying, Engineering, Construction Management, Commercial Management, or a related discipline is required. A Master's Degree in a related field is preferred.
• Experience: 15-20 years of relevant experience in senior commercial leadership roles within large programmes, mega or giga-projects, or complex construction environments. Experience within the GCC region is highly desirable.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Strong experience in commercial management of large-scale construction and infrastructure projects, preferably within Construction Management (CM) or self-delivery models.
• Deep understanding of procurement commercial strategies and contract administration across multiple delivery models.
• Proven ability to establish and operate commercial governance frameworks, controls, and assurance mechanisms.
• Strong knowledge of cost planning, budgeting, forecasting, and outturn cost management.
• Experience operating within strict governance and Delegation of Authority environments, ideally within giga-projects.
• Ability to embed safety, risk, and compliance considerations into commercial decision-making.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including executive-level reporting.
• High level of professionalism, judgment, and commercial acumen.

Work Type

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