Director - Power Operations

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 600,000 - 850,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons seeks a Director for Power Operations in Saudi Arabia to lead the project’s electrical distribution, asset integrity, and maintenance programs. You will own the mains electrical supply network, supervise transformers, substations, switchgear, and protection systems, and ensure safe, reliable power for critical facilities.

You will drive handover from construction to live operations, establish maintenance regimes, coordinate with SEC and external utilities, and implement outage and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or closely related field.
• 20+ years in electrical power operations or major infrastructure environments.
• Experience with HV/MV interfaces and utility coordination.
• Proven leadership in maintenance, asset management and safety.
• Knowledge of SAP or equivalent CMMS and SCADA desirable.

Responsibilities

• Own the operational performance of the mains electrical supply network.
• Direct safe, reliable operation of transformers, substations, switchgear, feeders.
• Develop asset-management and preventative-maintenance strategies.
• Maintain assets for critical developments and public spaces.
• Lead handover from construction to live operations and commissioning.
• Develop procedures for switching, energization, outages, and restoration.
• Coordinate with SEC and utility stakeholders on HV/MV interfaces.
• Establish resilience, contingency and business-continuity for power supplies.
• Monitor performance, outages, maintenance effectiveness and risk.
• Oversee asset registers, single-line diagrams, and documentation.
• Ensure compliance with safety rules and permit-to-work systems.
• Manage budgets and oversee specialist contractors and maintenance partners.
• Provide operational input into capital works and asset replacement.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Power engineering

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Safety culture

Asset management

Maintenance planning

SCADA familiarity

HV/MV interfaces

Contractor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Chartered Engineer / Professional Engineer

Electrical safety certification

Asset management certification

Tools

SAP

SCADA

Maintenance systems

Job description

In a world of possibilities, pursue one with endless opportunities. Imagine Next!

At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what’s possible.

Job Description:

Join a Landmark Giga-Project Shaping the Future of Saudi Arabia

Our client is delivering one of the Kingdom’s most ambitious and high-profile giga-projects, set to redefine global standards in destination development, innovation, and visitor experience. As part of the integrated Delivery Partner team, you will play a key role in operating and maintaining the electrical infrastructure that supports world-class assets, communities, and visitor destinations across the development.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a pioneering program at scale, working alongside industry-leading experts, advanced technologies, and diverse stakeholders. The role is suited to an experienced power operations and facilities leader who can assume ownership of electrical utility operations and ensure reliable, safe, and resilient power supplies to the project’s assets.

Role Overview

The Director – Power Operations will be responsible for the operational performance, asset integrity, maintenance, and service continuity of the project’s mains electrical supply network.

The role will primarily focus on sub transmission and power distribution systems operating across approximately , including transformers, primary substations, secondary substations, switchgear, feeders, and associated distribution assets. In this context, "LV" refers to power-system mains voltage and should not be confused with building-services or MEP low-voltage systems, which typically include controls, communications, and DC systems.

The position will also manage limited medium-voltage interfaces and maintain an effective operational relationship with the Saudi Electricity Company and other relevant utility stakeholders in relation to the upstream HV and MV network. HV ownership will remain limited to the project’s transmission interconnectors and substations associated with supply from the SEC grid.

This is an operations- and facilities-oriented leadership role, focused on ensuring that electrical infrastructure is safely maintained, operationally ready, and capable of supporting uninterrupted services across the development.

What You'll Be Doing

• Assume overall operational ownership for the project's power distribution and mains electrical supply infrastructure.

• Direct the safe, reliable, and efficient operation and maintenance of transformers, primary substations, secondary substations, switchgear, protection systems, feeders, cables, and associated distribution assets.

• Establish and maintain asset-management and preventative-maintenance strategies to protect service continuity and maximize the reliability and availability of electrical infrastructure.

• Ensure that all electrical assets supporting critical developments, public spaces, commercial areas, residential communities, transport systems, and operational facilities are maintained to the required performance standards.

• Lead the transition of power assets from construction, testing, and commissioning into live operations, ensuring that all operational, maintenance, safety, and documentation requirements are satisfied.

• Develop and implement operational procedures for switching, isolation, energization, emergency response, fault management, planned outages, and restoration of supply.

• Maintain effective relationships with SEC and other external utility stakeholders concerning incoming supplies, upstream network interfaces, planned outages, faults, operational coordination, and supply reliability.

• Coordinate with SEC on HV and MV distribution interfaces while retaining clear accountability for the project's internal power distribution assets and operational performance.

• Establish resilience, contingency, and business-continuity arrangements for critical power supplies, including alternative supply routes, standby generation interfaces, UPS systems, and emergency restoration procedures where applicable.

• Monitor network performance, asset condition, power quality, outage events, and maintenance effectiveness, ensuring that emerging risks are identified and addressed before they affect services.

• Oversee the development and maintenance of electrical asset registers, criticality assessments, maintenance plans, operational records, single-line diagrams, protection settings, and technical documentation.

• Ensure that maintenance activities are planned and delivered in accordance with approved standards, manufacturer requirements, statutory obligations, and recognized electrical safety practices.

• Lead the investigation of electrical incidents, failures, recurring faults, and service interruptions, ensuring that root-cause analysis and corrective actions are completed.

• Work closely with facilities, asset management, engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, and development teams to ensure that power infrastructure is aligned with operational requirements.

• Support operational readiness and handover processes, including review of commissioning records, test certificates, as-built information, spare-parts requirements, training, and maintenance access.

• Establish performance measures and reporting for availability, reliability, response times, planned and unplanned outages, maintenance completion, safety, and asset condition.

• Manage specialist contractors, service providers, and maintenance partners, ensuring compliance with contractual obligations, safety requirements, service levels, and technical standards.

• Provide technical and operational input into capital works, asset replacement, network modifications, capacity upgrades, and future development interfaces.

• Oversee the operational expenditure and maintenance budgets associated with the power distribution network, ensuring efficient use of resources and appropriate lifecycle value.

• Promote a strong safety culture, including compliance with electrical safety rules, permit-to-work systems, isolation procedures, switching protocols, and competency requirements.

• Provide clear operational assurance to senior leadership that electrical systems are capable of supporting project services without unacceptable risk of interruption.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering, or a closely related discipline from an accredited institution.

• Professional registration as a Chartered Engineer, Professional Engineer, or equivalent is preferred.

• Relevant certification in electrical safety, asset management, facilities management, or operational excellence is advantageous.

• Minimum 20 years of progressive experience in electrical power operations, distribution networks, utility operations, facilities operations, or major infrastructure environments.

• Demonstrated experience operating and maintaining power distribution systems in the approximate range.

• Strong hands-on and leadership experience with transformers, primary and secondary substations, switchgear, protection systems, feeders, cables, and electrical distribution assets.

• Proven experience managing the operational performance and maintenance of electrical networks serving large-scale developments, utilities, industrial facilities, airports, campuses, cities, or comparable critical infrastructure.

• Experience leading the operational handover of electrical infrastructure from construction and commissioning teams into live operations.

• Demonstrated ability to establish maintenance regimes, operational procedures, emergency-response plans, and asset-performance strategies for complex power systems.

• Experience managing relationships with electricity utilities, including SEC or comparable national and regional power providers.

• Understanding of HV and MV utility interfaces, grid connection arrangements, incoming supplies, and the division of responsibilities between the utility provider and the development operator.

• Experience managing specialist contractors, maintenance providers, operational teams, and multidisciplinary facilities stakeholders.

• Strong knowledge of electrical safety, switching and isolation procedures, permit-to-work systems, protection coordination, outage management, and emergency restoration.

• Experience managing OPEX, maintenance contracts, lifecycle planning, and asset replacement requirements.

• Familiarity with computerized maintenance management systems and enterprise asset-management platforms, such as SAP or equivalent.

• Working knowledge of SCADA, remote monitoring, metering, alarms, and power-quality systems is desirable.

• Strong understanding of operational readiness, asset documentation, maintenance planning, technical assurance, and service-continuity requirements.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to work effectively with SEC, contractors, consultants, construction teams, facilities teams, and senior project leadership.

• A practical, service-focused, and operational mindset, with the ability to make timely decisions in a live and complex infrastructure environment.

Parsons equally employs representation at all job levels no matter the race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information.

About Us

Parsons is a digitally enabled solutions provider focused on the defense, security, and infrastructure markets. With nearly 75 years of experience, Parsons is uniquely qualified to deliver cyber/converged security, technology-based intellectual property, and other innovative services to federal, regional, and local government agencies, as well as to private industrial customers worldwide.

Parsons is an equal opportunity, drug-free employer committed to diversity in the workplace. Minority/Female/Disabled/Protected Veteran/LGBTQ+.

For more about Parsons, visit parsons.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.