Director - Irrigation

The Director – Irrigation is responsible for leading the irrigation planning, design strategy, standards, and technical assurance framework for Qiddiya’s landscape and public realm portfolio. The role ensures irrigation requirements are embedded from master planning through design development, procurement support, Stage Gate review, and handover readiness, in alignment with Qiddiya’s City Framework Plan, sustainability commitments, water stewardship objectives, horticultural performance requirements, smart city integration, and long-term asset outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Policy

• Lead the strategic direction for irrigation planning and design across Qiddiya’s landscape and public realm portfolio, ensuring alignment with master development objectives, district strategies, water availability, sustainability requirements, and future operational needs.

• Own and maintain Qiddiya-wide irrigation policies, standards, planning frameworks, design criteria, water budgets, hydro-zoning principles, technical guidelines, and compliance processes.

• Provide strategic direction on irrigation demand planning, TSE use, water quality, salinity risk, leaching requirements, drainage interfaces, water allocation, resilience assumptions, and smart irrigation strategy.

• Translate water conservation, sustainability, public realm, and horticultural objectives into clear design requirements, decision frameworks, assurance checkpoints, and performance expectations.

• Monitor applicable regulations, authority requirements, regional practices, international best practice, emerging technologies, and innovation opportunities relevant to irrigation planning and landscape water management.

Design Governance, Standards & Technical Authority

• Lead the development, review, governance, and continuous improvement of irrigation design guidelines, specifications, calculation methodologies, assurance processes, and technical review protocols.

• Act as the technical authority for irrigation design submissions, including masterplans, design reports, calculations, drawings, schedules, specifications, and technical studies.

• Ensure submissions are assessed against approved standards, water demand targets, operability requirements, risk controls, and Qiddiya design expectations.

• Establish approval, assurance, and escalation processes for design decisions, departures, non-compliances, technical risks, and cross-disciplinary interfaces.

• Provide strategic guidance on irrigation technologies, central control systems, filtration, fertigation, dosing, metering, sensors, digital asset data, BIM/GIS coordination, and smart irrigation integration.

• Ensure irrigation design is integrated with planting, soils, landscape character, water availability, utility infrastructure, district phasing, access, maintainability, commissioning requirements, and long-term asset performance.

Portfolio Planning, Design Integration & Commercial Support

• Provide senior oversight of the irrigation planning and design portfolio to ensure projects align with approved strategies, standards, budgets, programmes, quality expectations, sustainability objectives, and future operational requirements.

• Lead irrigation input into procurement strategies, scopes of work, consultant briefs, tender documentation, technical evaluation criteria, design deliverables, cost plans, and programme requirements.

• Direct consultants and specialist advisors responsible for irrigation master planning, design, modelling, standards, technical studies, specifications, calculations, and assurance outputs.

• Review design performance, identify planning and design risks, resolve technical issues, and escalate matters requiring leadership direction with clear recommendations.

• Ensure irrigation requirements are embedded in masterplan reviews, Stage Gate submissions, design reviews, implementation planning, cost planning, risk management, quality assurance, commissioning strategies, handover requirements, and asset information requirements.

• Lead design audits, technical reviews, lessons-learned reviews, and value engineering to improve technical quality, water efficiency, maintainability, resilience, lifecycle value, and operational readiness.

Water Demand, Digital Integration & Design Performance

• Establish design performance metrics, water demand benchmarks, hydro-zoning checks, efficiency targets, and assurance dashboards for consultant submissions and district-level planning decisions.

• Oversee irrigation demand forecasts, TSE demand assumptions, peak flow estimates, storage and distribution interfaces, pressure zoning assumptions, and design-stage water balance inputs.

• Champion digital design integration, including BIM/GIS coordination, central control narratives, sensor and metering strategies, asset data requirements, smart city interfaces, and future operational data needs.

• Ensure planning decisions are supported by clear data, assumptions, calculations, risk assessments, and evidence-based recommendations.

Stakeholder Leadership & Cross-Functional Integration

• Represent Public Realm and Master Development as the senior irrigation planning and design lead in strategic discussions, governance forums, design reviews, technical workshops, consultant engagements, authority interfaces, and cross-functional coordination meetings.

• Align landscape architecture, horticulture, infrastructure, wet utilities, sustainability, smart city, cost planning, delivery, operations, procurement, asset management, and district teams on integrated irrigation design outcomes.

• Lead stakeholder discussions on irrigation strategy, water demand, design standards, resilience assumptions, operational requirements, sustainability, constructability, maintainability, and technical compliance.

• Prepare and present technical narratives, executive briefings, recommendations, risk summaries, decision papers, design assurance updates, cost implications, programme considerations, and management updates.

• Engage consultants, contractors, suppliers, authorities, and strategic partners to ensure irrigation planning and design solutions are coordinated, compliant, innovative, efficient, and aligned with Qiddiya’s long-term objectives.

Leadership, Capability Building & Team Management

• Lead, develop, and manage irrigation planning and design team members and specialist resources, setting clear priorities, accountabilities, and performance expectations.

• Build internal irrigation capability through guidance, templates, review processes, knowledge sharing, lessons learned, and technical standards.

• Promote collaboration, accountability, innovation, technical excellence, safety, quality, sustainability, and continuous improvement across the irrigation function.

• Support workforce planning by identifying skills gaps, future resource requirements, consultant support needs, and specialist technical expertise.

• Provide senior coaching and technical direction to internal teams, consultants, and delivery partners on irrigation planning, design assurance, water efficiency, maintainability, and operational readiness requirements.

• Bachelor’s degree in Irrigation Engineering, Water Resources Management, Agricultural Engineering, Environmental Science, or a related discipline; a relevant postgraduate qualification is desirable.

• Professional certification in irrigation design, water management, sustainability, project management, digital design, or a related discipline is preferred.

• Minimum 15 years’ relevant experience, including senior leadership experience in irrigation planning, design governance, water management, landscape infrastructure, public realm design, or major mixed-use development.

• Proven experience leading irrigation strategy, standards, technical assurance, consultant management, Stage Gate reviews, and multidisciplinary coordination on large-scale city, district, public realm, landscape, infrastructure, municipal, parks, or giga-project programmes.

• Strong understanding of arid-region landscape irrigation, TSE irrigation, water quality, salinity management, soil-water-plant relationships, hydro-zoning, irrigation demand calculations, smart control systems, design performance metrics, and lifecycle asset considerations.

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex design portfolios, manage senior stakeholders, oversee consultants and specialist advisors, govern technical deliverables, review budgets and programmes, and support executive-level decision-making.

• Knowledge of KSA regulations, authority requirements, environmental standards, sustainability frameworks, water usage controls, recycled water requirements, landscape infrastructure standards, and planning/design compliance processes is preferred.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strategic leadership and ability to set direction, govern standards, make decisions, resolve ambiguity, and influence outcomes across complex planning and design environments.

• Advanced technical expertise in irrigation planning, design, demand calculations, design assurance, water efficiency, smart irrigation, resilience, constructability, maintainability, commissioning requirements, and operational readiness.

• Strong planning, commercial, governance, procurement, risk management, and assurance capability, with the ability to translate technical requirements into scopes, deliverables, cost plans, programmes, and decision papers.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to engage senior leaders, technical teams, consultants, contractors, authorities, utilities, operators, and external partners.

• Ability to build teams, mentor specialists, develop capability, manage performance, and promote collaboration across organisational boundaries.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and systems-thinking capability, with the ability to identify strategic design risks, challenge assumptions, assess trade-offs, and recommend practical solutions.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and familiarity with irrigation design, modelling, calculation, BIM/GIS coordination, smart control, asset data, digital design, or CAD-based tools relevant to large-scale development environments.