Design Director - Utility Compounds

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons Corporation is seeking a Design Director – Utility Compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The role leads design delivery for substations, utility hubs, and related infrastructure, ensuring governance, schedule control, and coordination across multiple disciplines.

Ideal candidate has 20+ years in design or project management for utilities, with strong BIM and stakeholder management experience. The position emphasizes integration with procurement, construction, and operations teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field required.
• Minimum 20 years of project or design management experience on large infrastructure/utilities projects.
• Experience with utility compounds, substations, switching facilities, or similar facilities.
• Strong leadership in design governance, interfaces, and BIM coordination.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement design management strategies and governance for utility compound projects.
• Lead multidisciplinary design coordination across civil, structural, architectural, MEP, and power systems.
• Maintain design schedule and control budgets through coordination with planning, procurement, and delivery teams.
• Coordinate design interfaces with external networks and authorities; oversee change control and risk management.

Skills

Design management

Substations

Power systems

Coordination

BIM management

Project controls

Stakeholder management

Construction interface

Multidisciplinary coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Design Director – Utility Compounds (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Industry: Utilities

Function: Engineering

Job Type: Full-time

General Experience: 20 years project or design management experience

Salary: 60,000 – 85,000 (estimated)

Gender: Any; Candidate Nationality: Any

Design Director – Utility Compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a senior Utilities opportunity with Parsons Corporation for an experienced design management leader who can direct the full design delivery process for substations, switching and control compounds, utility hubs, associated buildings, and supporting infrastructure. The role focuses on design governance, programme coordination, consultant management, schedule control, stakeholder alignment, change management, risk control, BIM coordination, and design readiness for procurement, construction, commissioning, and operations.

Role Context

The Design Director will lead the management of multidisciplinary design delivery for utility compound projects without acting as the detailed technical designer. This position ensures that design scope, responsibilities, deliverables, interfaces, approvals, information flows, and construction priorities are properly planned and controlled, supporting successful utility infrastructure delivery by connecting design consultants, client requirements, utility owners, authority approvals, BIM processes, commercial teams, HSE reviews, procurement plans, and site implementation needs into a coordinated and traceable design management framework.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and implement design management strategies, design delivery plans, procedures, workflows, and governance controls for utility compound projects.
• Establish the design roadmap covering stage gates, approval milestones, submission requirements, decision points, and project delivery priorities.
• Develop and maintain the design responsibility matrix, clearly defining scope boundaries, interfaces, ownership, deliverables, and accountability across all parties.
• Ensure consistent application of company and client design management standards across substations, switching compounds, control compounds, utility hubs, and associated infrastructure.
• Develop and own the integrated design schedule in coordination with planning, project controls, commercial, and delivery teams.
• Monitor design deliverables against agreed baselines, identify delays or deviations, and lead recovery planning with consultants and internal teams.
• Coordinate with commercial and finance teams to manage design budgets, consultancy fees, internal resources, cost exposure, and design productivity.
• Track and report design progress, progress curves, resource performance, cost versus budget, and critical design risks.
• Lead multidisciplinary design coordination across civil, structural, architectural, MEP, power systems, protection and control, SCADA, utilities, access roads, and site infrastructure.
• Chair design coordination meetings, progress reviews, technical workshops, and interface sessions, ensuring decisions and actions are recorded and closed.
• Align design outputs with construction sequencing, procurement strategy, commissioning needs, operations requirements, and asset handover expectations.
• Coordinate design interfaces between utility compounds and external networks, including transmission systems, distribution networks, access routes, and external utility connections.
• Establish and manage formal design change control processes, including assessment of impacts on scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, and approvals.
• Maintain a design risk register and facilitate risk identification, ownership, mitigation planning, and escalation with design and project teams.
• Ensure approved design changes are properly documented, communicated, incorporated into deliverables, reflected in schedules, and aligned with contract requirements.
• Oversee design review, verification, peer review, constructability review, stage‑gate approval, and technical authority approval processes.
• Coordinate HAZID, HAZOP, operability, maintainability, safety, and constructability reviews with discipline leads, HSE teams, construction teams, and operations stakeholders.
• Monitor compliance with relevant codes, standards, client requirements, utility requirements, regulatory approvals, and project documentation expectations.
• Ensure design deliverables are managed through robust document control processes, including revision control, transmittals, traceability, and comment response tracking.
• Act as the senior design management contact for clients, utility owners, third‑party stakeholders, authorities, consultants, and internal leadership.
• Lead design‑related presentations, workshops, coordination meetings, and senior stakeholder discussions with clear reporting on status, issues, risks, and decisions.
• Track responses to client comments, authority review comments, utility standards requirements, and third‑party design observations.
• Support planning, permitting, and approvals by ensuring coordinated design submissions and timely technical responses.
• Oversee BIM and digital engineering implementation in coordination with BIM managers, design teams, consultants, and information management teams.
• Ensure models, drawings, schedules, and data are produced, exchanged, reviewed, and approved in accordance with project information management plans and CDE protocols.
• Promote structured data and information standards that support downstream construction, commissioning, operations, and asset management.
• Work with construction, procurement, commissioning, commercial, and operations teams to ensure design deliverables are practical, coordinated, buildable, and aligned with delivery priorities.
• Align IFC package release with procurement and construction needs, including phased or batch issuance strategies.
• Capture lessons learned from construction and operations feedback and apply them to current and future design management processes.
• Lead, mentor, and coordinate design managers, design coordinators, project engineers, and external consultants involved in design delivery.
• Allocate design management resources across projects and phases to maintain adequate support for key milestones, approvals, and critical interfaces.
• Promote a collaborative, solution‑focused culture across design, construction, client, consultant, and stakeholder teams.

Ideal Profile

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, or a closely related technical field.
• Minimum 20 years of experience in project management or design management on large infrastructure, utilities, industrial, energy, or complex building projects.
• Significant exposure to utility compounds, substations, switching facilities, control compounds, utility hubs, or similar technical facilities.
• Proven track record managing multidisciplinary design delivery from concept through IFC, construction support, closeout, and handover.
• Experience managing external design consultants from a scope, schedule, performance, quality, and coordination perspective.
• Strong understanding of design workflows and interfaces across civil, structural, architectural, MEP, power systems, protection and control, SCADA, and site infrastructure.
• Ability to lead design delivery without performing detailed technical design, while still challenging progress, interfaces, risks, and constructability.
• Master's degree in Project Management, Engineering, Architecture, or a related discipline is preferred.
• PMP certification or recognized design management credential is desirable.
• Experience with utility or energy clients and multi‑contract or programme delivery environments is preferred.
• Familiarity with FIDIC or similar standard forms of contract and their impact on design scope, deliverables, approvals, and change control.
• Experience in BIM, digital engineering, information management, and common data environment platforms.
• Strong project and design management skills across planning, coordination, risk, change, governance, reporting, and stakeholder control.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, presentation, and senior stakeholder management capability.
• Able to manage multiple consultants, design streams, approvals, and delivery pressures in a fast‑paced infrastructure programme.
• Strong leadership approach with the ability to mentor design management teams and promote accountability, quality, and practical decision‑making.

Skills Set

• Design management
• Utility compounds
• Substations
• Switching compounds
• Control compounds
• Utility hubs
• Infrastructure design delivery
• Multidisciplinary coordination
• Civil design coordination
• Structural design coordination
• Architectural coordination
• MEP coordination
• Power systems coordination
• Protection and control systems
• SCADA coordination
• Design governance
• Design responsibility matrix
• Design delivery roadmap
• Stage‑gate approvals
• Integrated design schedule
• Design progress reporting
• Design budget control
• Consultant management
• Design change control
• Design risk register
• Interface management
• Constructability reviews
• HAZID
• HAZOP
• Operability reviews
• Maintainability reviews
• Regulatory approvals
• Authority coordination
• Utility owner coordination
• Client comment tracking
• Document control
• Revision control
• CDE protocols
• BIM management
• Digital engineering
• IFC package release
• Procurement coordination
• Construction interface
• Commissioning interface
• Asset management data
• FIDIC awareness
• Stakeholder management
• Team leadership

Why Join Us

This role gives an experienced Design Director the opportunity to lead design delivery for critical utility compound infrastructure in Riyadh, supporting substations, utility hubs, control facilities, and associated infrastructure that are essential to major development programmes. The position offers senior‑level exposure to design governance, digital engineering, utility stakeholder coordination, construction interface planning, consultant performance management, and strategic infrastructure delivery. It is a strong fit for a design management leader who wants to improve design certainty, reduce delivery risk, and contribute to reliable utilities infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

About the Company

Parsons Corporation is a global engineering, infrastructure, construction management, and project delivery company supporting major utilities, transportation, urban development, public realm, and civil infrastructure programmes. In Saudi Arabia, Parsons contributes to large‑scale development through design management, technical coordination, project controls, construction support, digital delivery, and practical infrastructure expertise that help create reliable and future‑ready built environments.