Senior Manager Fire Life Safety Planning

About Qiddiya Investment Company

Qiddiya City is being developed as one of the world’s largest greenfield entertainment and sports cities, covering a 366 km2 masterplan in Saudi Arabia. The project encompasses complex infrastructure, transportation systems, hospitality assets, entertainment venues, stadia, mixed-use developments, and residential districts, all progressing through various stages of planning, design, and construction.

The Role of Senior Manager - Fire, Life Safety Planning

The Senior Manager - Fire, Life Safety Planning supports the Master Developer Unit (MDU) Fire & Life Safety (FLS) team. This full-time position, based in Riyadh Province, specifically Riyadh, involves leading and delivering specialist fire engineering, design review, and advisory services across city-wide masterplanning, infrastructure, and asset development projects. The role requires 5-10 years of experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and assurance of Fire & Life Safety design strategies for complex buildings, infrastructure, public realm, transport interfaces, and large-scale masterplanned developments.
• Act as a senior FLS engineering authority, providing clear direction on code compliance, design adequacy, fire strategy, life safety risk, and buildability.
• Review and challenge FLS design submissions, drawings, reports, and calculations prepared by consultants, ensuring early identification and resolution of issues with robust engineering solutions.
• Develop and assess fire engineering solutions for complex or non-standard designs, including alternative solutions, smoke control, evacuation, compartmentation, firefighting access, and firefighting provisions.
• Advise on the application of Saudi Building Code, Saudi Civil Defence requirements, NFPA standards, and relevant international best practice across planning, design, and construction stages.
• Coordinate with architects, MEP, infrastructure, mobility, operations, and delivery teams to ensure FLS requirements are integrated into the design, rather than treated as late-stage compliance comments.
• Support authority engagement and third-party FLS reviews by preparing clear engineering positions, resolving comments, and defending the design intent where required.

Qualifications and Experience

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Fire Engineering is preferred. Alternatively, candidates may hold a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or another related engineering discipline from a recognized university.
• 8–15 years of experience in Fire & Life Safety engineering and design across large-scale mixed-use, infrastructure, hospitality, entertainment, transportation, or giga-project developments.
• Demonstrated experience in developing, reviewing, and coordinating Fire & Life Safety strategies across all project stages, including masterplanning, concept, schematic, detailed design, and construction support.
• Strong engineering expertise in means of egress, smoke management, firefighting access, fire water infrastructure, fire alarm and suppression systems, and passive fire protection systems.
• Experience in performance-based fire engineering design, including alternative solutions, smoke modelling, evacuation analysis, and complex code compliance assessments.
• Strong understanding of Saudi Building Code (SBC), NFPA standards, IBC, IFC, Saudi Civil Defence requirements, and relevant international fire engineering standards and best practices.

Application Information

This role offers an opportunity to contribute to a significant development project in Riyadh. Salary details will be discussed during the recruitment process.