Landscape Director - Public Realm

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 48,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons Corporation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, seeks a Landscape Director – Public Realm to lead a major landscape and public realm portfolio, coordinating design consultants, contractors, and PMO teams across multiple packages.

The role requires 15+ years of experience, strong leadership and governance skills, and a track record of delivering complex megaprojects with high quality and safety standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, or related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant professional experience.
• Proven leadership of large-scale landscape or public realm programs.
• Experience coordinating design consultants, contractors, PMO teams, and client stakeholders.
• Strong program-level understanding of design, procurement, construction, handover, and operational requirements.
• Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across landscape and public realm portfolio.
• Establish priorities, delivery objectives, and performance standards aligned with the overall program vision.
• Translate client expectations into coordinated landscape design and delivery strategies.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams working across landscape architecture, public realm, infrastructure, utilities, irrigation, lighting, structures, and urban design.
• Align design consultants, contractors, PMO teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Maintain consistent delivery approaches across multiple landscape packages and development zones.
• Monitor performance against approved program milestones, budgets, quality standards, and risk controls.
• Identify underperforming workstreams and direct appropriate corrective actions.
• Establish clear accountability for consultant deliverables, contractor commitments, decisions, and approvals.
• Review portfolio-level progress and resolve issues affecting several packages.
• Ensure landscape designs remain consistent with the approved vision, technical requirements, and public realm objectives.
• Promote coordinated, buildable, sustainable, and maintainable landscape solutions.
• Oversee integration between hard landscaping, soft landscaping, utilities, drainage, irrigation, lighting, roads, and public facilities.
• Support resolution of design, construction, and stakeholder interfaces.
• Act as the senior Parsons Corporation representative for landscape and public realm matters.
• Maintain productive relationships with the client, consultants, contractors, authorities, and strategic stakeholders.
• Lead high-level meetings, governance reviews, technical workshops, and executive presentations.
• Provide practical recommendations on design quality, delivery risks, program priorities, and required decisions.
• Establish governance procedures, reporting frameworks, approval processes, and control mechanisms.
• Ensure portfolio information is accurate, consistent, and suitable for executive decision-making.
• Review performance reports, dashboards, key performance indicators, risks, changes, and delivery forecasts.
• Coordinate with project controls, commercial, procurement, design, and construction teams.
• Balance design quality with budget, schedule, risk, and procurement requirements.
• Support commercial and contractual management across consultant and contractor interfaces.
• Review major design changes, scope adjustments, and value engineering proposals.
• Ensure proposed changes protect design intent, user experience, safety, sustainability, and asset performance.
• Identify program-level landscape risks and coordinate appropriate mitigation measures.
• Escalate critical delivery, quality, commercial, or stakeholder issues when required.
• Promote continuous improvement across landscape design and delivery processes.
• Capture lessons learned and apply them across current and future work packages.
• Develop senior team members through mentoring, delegation, feedback, and structured development.
• Build leadership capability across landscape managers, package leads, and multidisciplinary professionals.
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, quality, accountability, and professional excellence.
• Perform other responsibilities associated with landscape portfolio leadership and PMO delivery.

Skills

Landscape architecture

Public realm development

Landscape program management

Portfolio leadership

PMO governance

Design management

Landscape construction

Hard landscaping

Soft landscaping

Urban design

Irrigation systems

Public realm lighting

Landscape infrastructure

Multidisciplinary coordination

Consultant management

Contractor coordination

Client representation

Stakeholder management

Design governance

Delivery assurance

Program controls

Performance management

Risk management

Change leadership

Commercial awareness

Contractual coordination

Value engineering

Quality management

Executive reporting

Team leadership

Staff mentoring

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, or related discipline

Job description

Landscape Director - Public Realm

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Industry: Architecture and Planning

Function: Architecture-Interior Design

Experience: Minimum 15 years

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: 48,000-65,000 estimated (based on similar jobs in the city)

Job Overview

Landscape Director – Public Realm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a senior Architecture and Planning opportunity leading the delivery of a major landscape and public realm portfolio. Parsons Corporation is hiring an experienced director to provide program-level leadership, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, strengthen delivery governance, and maintain consistent quality across multiple design and construction packages. Operating within the Parsons Program Management Office, the Landscape Director will align consultants, contractors, delivery teams, and client stakeholders with the program vision. The role requires a strong understanding of landscape architecture, public realm delivery, governance, commercial interfaces, program controls, and executive stakeholder management.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across the landscape and public realm portfolio.
• Establish priorities, delivery objectives, and performance standards aligned with the overall program vision.
• Translate client expectations into coordinated landscape design and delivery strategies.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams working across landscape architecture, public realm, infrastructure, utilities, irrigation, lighting, structures, and urban design.
• Align design consultants, contractors, PMO teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Maintain consistent delivery approaches across multiple landscape packages and development zones.
• Monitor performance against approved program milestones, budgets, quality standards, and risk controls.
• Identify underperforming workstreams and direct appropriate corrective actions.
• Establish clear accountability for consultant deliverables, contractor commitments, decisions, and approvals.
• Review portfolio-level progress and resolve issues affecting several packages.
• Ensure landscape designs remain consistent with the approved vision, technical requirements, and public realm objectives.
• Promote coordinated, buildable, sustainable, and maintainable landscape solutions.
• Oversee integration between hard landscaping, soft landscaping, utilities, drainage, irrigation, lighting, roads, and public facilities.
• Support resolution of design, construction, and stakeholder interfaces.
• Act as the senior Parsons Corporation representative for landscape and public realm matters.
• Maintain productive relationships with the client, consultants, contractors, authorities, and strategic stakeholders.
• Lead high-level meetings, governance reviews, technical workshops, and executive presentations.
• Provide practical recommendations on design quality, delivery risks, program priorities, and required decisions.
• Establish governance procedures, reporting frameworks, approval processes, and control mechanisms.
• Ensure portfolio information is accurate, consistent, and suitable for executive decision-making.
• Review performance reports, dashboards, key performance indicators, risks, changes, and delivery forecasts.
• Coordinate with project controls, commercial, procurement, design, and construction teams.
• Balance design quality with budget, schedule, risk, and procurement requirements.
• Support commercial and contractual management across consultant and contractor interfaces.
• Review major design changes, scope adjustments, and value engineering proposals.
• Ensure proposed changes protect design intent, user experience, safety, sustainability, and asset performance.
• Identify program-level landscape risks and coordinate appropriate mitigation measures.
• Escalate critical delivery, quality, commercial, or stakeholder issues when required.
• Promote continuous improvement across landscape design and delivery processes.
• Capture lessons learned and apply them across current and future work packages.
• Develop senior team members through mentoring, delegation, feedback, and structured development.
• Build leadership capability across landscape managers, package leads, and multidisciplinary professionals.
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, quality, accountability, and professional excellence.
• Perform other responsibilities associated with landscape portfolio leadership and PMO delivery.

Ideal Profile

• Bachelor 's degree in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant professional experience.
• Proven leadership of large-scale landscape or public realm programs.
• Strong experience managing landscape portfolios within complex developments or megaprojects.
• Demonstrated ability to lead senior multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience coordinating design consultants, contractors, PMO teams, and client stakeholders.
• Strong program-level understanding of design, procurement, construction, handover, and operational requirements.
• Ability to manage quality, budget, schedule, risk, and stakeholder priorities across several workstreams.
• Extensive knowledge of landscape architecture and public realm design principles.
• Understanding of hard landscape, soft landscape, irrigation, lighting, utilities, drainage, and public realm interfaces.
• Experience establishing governance frameworks, reporting procedures, and delivery controls.
• Strong familiarity with Program Management Office structures and assurance processes.
• Proven success engaging senior clients and influencing decisions in complex environments.
• Ability to manage high-visibility developments with demanding quality and delivery expectations.
• Strong commercial and contractual awareness across consultant and contractor agreements.
• Experience supporting change management and organizational improvement within major programs.
• Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong analytical, strategic planning, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to maintain high performance across multicultural and multidisciplinary teams.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Experience delivering major developments in Saudi Arabia or the wider Middle East is advantageous.

Skills Set

• Landscape architecture
• Public realm development
• Landscape program management
• Portfolio leadership
• PMO governance
• Design management
• Landscape construction
• Hard landscaping
• Soft landscaping
• Urban design
• Irrigation systems
• Public realm lighting
• Landscape infrastructure
• Multidisciplinary coordination
• Consultant management
• Contractor coordination
• Client representation
• Stakeholder management
• Design governance
• Delivery assurance
• Program controls
• Performance management
• Risk management
• Change leadership
• Commercial awareness
• Contractual coordination
• Value engineering
• Quality management
• Executive reporting
• Team leadership
• Staff mentoring
• Continuous improvement