D&C – Digital Strategy and Realization – Smart Cities and Digital Strategy – Manager

PwC Middle East; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm is seeking a Manager with expertise in Smart Cities and Digital Strategy to lead strategic client engagements in Riyadh. This role focuses on creating digital frameworks for sustainable smart destinations, requiring deep knowledge of urban innovation and technology. The ideal candidate will have a proven history in advising city authorities on digital transformation, and possess strong leadership skills. The position offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of urban landscapes in the region.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5–8 years of experience in management consulting or related strategic advisory roles.
• Proven track record of advising city authorities and governments on smart city strategies.
• Fluency in English is essential; Arabic proficiency is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of smart city technology masterplans.
• Develop digital transformation roadmaps with clear milestones.
• Advise clients on citizen-centric digital services leveraging emerging technologies.

Skills

Smart Cities expertise

Digital Strategy

Urban Innovation

Emerging Technologies

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Urban Planning, Computer Science, or related discipline

Postgraduate degree in Information systems, digital transformation or related discipline

Tools

PMP Certification

Prince 2

TOGAF

ITIL

Job description

Established in the region for 40 years, PwC has around 12,000 people in 12 countries across the region: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Our regional team operates across the Middle East bringing international experience delivered within the context of the region and its culture. We can bring the collective knowledge and experience of more than 370,000 people across the entire global PwC network in advisory, assurance and tax to help you find the value you are looking for.

Why PwC

At PwC, your growth is our priority. We fuel potential through coaching, feedback, and challenging work that helps you build a career path as unique as you are. You’re not just joining a team—you’re becoming part of a movement that’s shaping the future. Here, you can be yourself, work with purpose and boldness, and collaborate with talented people to deliver solutions that create real impact for clients and communities. Powered by inclusive teams, cutting-edge technology, and truly meaningful work, you’ll find endless opportunities to grow, lead, and go further.
Together, we set the future in motion.

Consulting LoS

At PwC Consulting, we lead with insight and deliver with purpose. You’ll work alongside experts across industries to design and deliver forward-looking solutions in areas such as strategy and enterprise transformation, operational excellence, digital innovation, cyber resilience, and risk management. Our reimagined operating model brings together sector-aligned, solution-led teams empowered to move fast, think boldly, and create real impact. Whether transforming finance, enabling digital change, or shaping national visions, you’ll be part of a collaborative, forward-thinking community—built to grow with you and the world around us.

BU Description

The Digital & Cyber Business Unit brings together deep technology expertise and bold thinking to help organizations thrive in a connected, data-driven world. We support clients in reimagining how they operate, serve, and grow—by harnessing the power of digital products, emerging tech, cloud, data, and cyber resilience.

Whether shaping enterprise-wide transformation or enabling targeted innovation, we work at the intersection of strategy, technology, and trust—delivering scalable solutions that empower clients to move faster, think smarter, and lead with confidence.

Job Summary

We are seeking a Manager with proven expertise in Smart Cities and Digital Strategy to lead high impact, strategic client engagements across the region focusing on shaping and delivering digital frameworks, platforms and governance models that form the backbone of world‑class, data‑driven and sustainable smart destinations. The ideal candidate will combine a deep understanding of urban innovation, digital strategy and emerging technologies to help shape the future of leading smart destinations.

This role will be based in Riyadh, KSA and focus on strategic planning, digital ecosystems design and implementation oversight for smart cities and districts ensuring integration of cutting‑edge technologies into cohesive, future‑ready city strategies. It requires an ability to translate visionary urban aspirations into practical, data‑enabled frameworks that enhance citizen experience, sustainability and economic competitiveness.

In addition to project delivery, the candidate will play a pivotal role in strengthening PwC’s Smart Cities practice mentoring teams, driving thought leaderships, fostering innovation and expanding client relationships across the region to position PwC as a trusted advisor in shaping the cities of tomorrow.

Roles & Responsibilities

Smart City and Digital Strategy Development

• Lead the development of smart city technology masterplans and digital transformation strategies for city authorities, governments and developers.
• Develop multi‑year digital transformation roadmaps that define phased technology, data and organisational initiatives with clear milestones and measurable impact on city performance and citizen experience.
• Conduct in‑depth competitive benchmarking and ecosystem analyses to evaluate leading global smart city destinations, governance models, and international frameworks and translate insights into actionable best practices tailored for the regional context.
• Define a cohesive digital vision and strategic direction for next‑generation, sustainable and human‑centric urban environments ensuring alignment between urban design, infrastructure, data and digital service delivery.
• Develop city‑wide digital and data frameworks/ guidelines that foster interoperability, open data exchange, platform integration and innovation across all city domains.
• Advise clients on the design and delivery of citizen‑centric, digitally‑enabled services leveraging emerging technologies to improve quality of life, operational efficiency and inclusivity across sectors.
• Define, monitor and communicate measurable outcomes and success indicators for digital programmes ensuring alignment with national strategies, KPIs and global benchmarks.

Digital Platform and Ecosystem Design

• Lead the design of integrated smart city digital architectures encompassing smart city platforms and other related platforms ensuring scalability, interoperability and resilience across city domains.
• Ensure robust alignment with local as well as global leading cybersecurity, data governance and privacy standards, embedding trust at the core of digital initiatives.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, technology, and system integration partners to achieve seamless digital integration and operational interoperability across city domains.
• Manage vendor selection and procurement strategy including preparation of procurement documents, assessing proposals, defining SLAs and establishing vendor KPIs and performance frameworks.
• Ensure data governance, interoperability, open‑data framework and privacy/compliance frameworks promoting cross‑entity data sharing, transparency and compliance with local and international regulatory requirements.
• Drive innovation and scalability by supervising pilot programmes, proof‑of‑concepts and phased roll‑outs of smart city digital services ensuring seamless transition from concept to full‑scale implementation and measurable impact.

Emerging Technology and Innovation

• Leverage cutting‑edge technologies such as AI, digital twins, IoT, advanced analytics and others to optimise city operations, enhance decision‑making and drive data‑informed governance across urban ecosystems.
• Conceptualise and deliver high‑impact innovation use cases that improve urban capabilities across multiple city domains.
• Foster partnerships with technology providers and startups to advise on accelerated adoption of next‑generation smart solutions
• Continuously track global smart city trends and benchmark against leading cities/ destinations to ensure strategies remain cutting‑edge, scalable and future‑ready.

Educational Qualifications & Certifications

Education & Qualifications

• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Urban Planning, Computer Science, Information Systems or related discipline.
• A postgraduate degree focused on Information systems, digital transformation, urban innovation, Smart cities or related discipline is desirable.
• Professional certifications (preferred): PMP, Prince 2, TOGAF, ITIL or credentials in Digital Strategy, Innovation or Emerging Technologies are an advantage.
• Fluency in English is essential; Arabic proficiency is an advantage.

Work Experience

• Minimum of 5 – 8 years of experience in management consulting or related strategic advisory roles, with at least 5 years focused on smart cities, digital transformation or innovation strategy.
• Proven track record of advising city authorities, governments, and large developers on the formulation and execution of smart city strategies, digital masterplans and technology‑driven transformation programs.
• Demonstrated leadership in delivering large‑scale, complex smart city initiatives such as design and implementation of digital/ smart city platforms, data ecosystems and integrated urban solutions.
• Demonstrated experience with data strategy, urban platforms or emerging technologies.
• Strong understanding of international smart city frameworks and benchmarks.