Planning Director - Digital Infrastructure

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

Job summary

Parsons Corporation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is seeking a Planning Director – Digital Infrastructure to lead strategic planning for fiber, mobile, data centers, and smart city programs, ensuring governance, phased implementation, and operational readiness.

You will chair review boards, coordinate with regulators and industry partners, and mentor planning teams to deliver resilient, sustainable digital infrastructure aligned with masterplans and safety standards.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant field with leadership experience in large-scale digital infrastructure projects.
• Professional certifications (PMP/PRINCE2) preferred for governance and delivery control.

Responsibilities

• Define short-, mid-, and long-term planning horizons for fiber, mobile, data centers, and smart city systems.
• Chair planning review boards and ensure compliance with masterplans, standards, and governance.
• Lead demand forecasting, capacity modelling, and rollout strategy for digital infrastructure.
• Coordinate with regulators, utilities, and operators to align capacity and access.
• Mentor planning teams and drive disciplined planning culture.

Skills

Digital infrastructure planning

Strategic planning

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Regulatory coordination

Education

Master's degree in Engineering / ICT / Telecommunications

PMP / PRINCE2 / chartered status

Job description

Planning Director – Digital Infrastructure

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Industry: Telecommunications
Job Type: Full-time

Salary: 60,000–85,000

Job Overview

A Telecommunications hiring opportunity for a senior planning leader who directs strategic planning, governance, phased implementation, and operational readiness for fiber, mobile, data center, smart city, and critical digital infrastructure programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Define short-term, mid-term, and long-term planning horizons for fiber networks, mobile infrastructure, data centers, edge computing, and smart city systems.
• Lead strategic planning for digital infrastructure in alignment with the Digital Infrastructure Masterplan, project objectives, regulatory requirements, and utility interfaces.
• Chair planning review boards and enforce compliance with standards, planning baselines, masterplan objectives, and approved governance frameworks.
• Align capacity, resilience, redundancy, cybersecurity, and operational planning with the wider development program.
• Lead demand forecasting and capacity modelling for fixed networks, mobile coverage, data center infrastructure, smart systems, and district connectivity.
• Develop fiber routing strategies, tower siting plans, rollout scenarios, district connectivity plans, and phased implementation roadmaps.
• Coordinate data center and edge computing siting, phasing, power requirements, resilience planning, access needs, and integration with surrounding infrastructure.
• Review and approve planning requirements for data center networks, MMRs, POPs, duct banks, right-of-way allocations, access corridors, and bypass routes.
• Integrate digital infrastructure planning with SEC power, NWC water, district cooling, utilities corridors, roads, public realm, buildings, and other infrastructure disciplines.
• Provide planning baselines to design and construction teams and monitor adherence through progress reviews, variance reporting, and governance checkpoints.
• Manage change requests, planning deviations, phasing adjustments, scope impacts, and schedule risks related to digital infrastructure delivery.
• Support constructability reviews, sequencing workshops, co-build opportunities, and coordination with other disciplines to improve efficiency and reduce disruption.
• Track delivery progress against planning baselines and report variances, constraints, risks, and recovery actions to client and program leadership.
• Ensure planning compliance with standards for critical facilities, including redundancy, resilience, access, safety, cybersecurity, and maintainability requirements.
• Integrate sustainability targets such as LEED, PUE, renewable energy strategies, and energy efficiency goals into planning milestones.
• Coordinate planning approvals with CST, SEC, NWC, MOMRAH, SDAIA, and other relevant authorities.
• Engage with MNOs, TowerCo, FiberCo, data center operators, consultants, contractors, and service providers to align capacity, rollout, access, and implementation plans.
• Represent digital infrastructure planning scenarios in client steering committees, owner forums, governance boards, and senior stakeholder meetings.
• Ensure operations and maintenance requirements are embedded into planning, including access routes, redundancy, bypass planning, spare capacity, and maintainability.
• Support operational readiness by aligning phased delivery with training, spares, commissioning preparation, operations setup, and handover requirements.
• Provide planning input for commissioning, integrated systems testing schedules, phased handovers, and service activation milestones.
• Build and lead planning teams covering fiber, mobile, data centers, smart systems, and critical digital infrastructure.
• Mentor planners and establish planning methodologies, knowledge-sharing practices, governance routines, and delivery-control best practices.
• Foster collaboration between designers, construction managers, utility teams, authority coordinators, external consultants, operators, and service providers.

Ideal Profile

• Master's degree in Engineering, ICT, Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Infrastructure Planning, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• PMP, PRINCE2, chartered status, or equivalent professional certification is preferred.
• Minimum 20 years of experience in ICT, telecoms, fiber deployment, mobile infrastructure, smart city systems, data centers, utilities, and critical infrastructure planning.
• Strong background delivering city-wide, giga-project, mixed-use, campus, district development, or large infrastructure planning programs.
• Proven leadership in digital infrastructure planning, including masterplans, phased implementation plans, planning horizons, fiber networks, mobile rollout, data centers, and smart systems.
• Strong experience in demand forecasting, capacity modelling, district connectivity planning, rollout strategies, and planning governance.
• Excellent multidisciplinary coordination experience across design, construction, utilities, SEC, NWC, district cooling, authorities, consultants, contractors, and service providers.
• Experience coordinating with MNOs, tower companies, fiber operators, data center operators, power providers, water providers, and regulatory bodies.
• Strong capability in baseline management, planning review boards, change control, phasing adjustments, progress tracking, risk management, and delivery governance.
• Solid understanding of digital infrastructure interfaces with roads, utilities corridors, buildings, public realm, critical facilities, and operational assets.
• Ability to communicate complex planning scenarios clearly to senior client leadership, technical teams, operators, authorities, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to build planning teams, mentor professionals, and promote disciplined planning culture.
• High level of professionalism, strategic judgment, stakeholder confidence, and commitment to efficient, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure delivery.

Skills Set

• Digital infrastructure planning
• Telecommunications planning
• Fiber network planning
• Mobile infrastructure planning
• Data center planning
• Edge computing
• Smart city infrastructure
• ICT infrastructure
• Critical infrastructure planning
• Infrastructure master planning
• Strategic planning
• Phased implementation
• Planning governance
• Planning review boards
• Demand forecasting
• Capacity modelling
• District connectivity planning
• Fiber routing
• Tower siting
• MMRs
• POPs
• Duct banks
• Right-of-way allocation
• Utility interface coordination
• SEC coordination
• NWC coordination
• District cooling coordination
• CST approvals
• MOMRAH approvals
• SDAIA coordination
• Authority coordination
• MNO coordination
• TowerCo coordination
• FiberCo coordination
• Data center operator coordination
• Planning baselines
• Change control
• Phasing adjustments
• Progress tracking
• Risk management
• Constructability review
• Co-build planning
• Operational readiness
• Commissioning planning
• Integrated systems testing
• Phased handover
• Cybersecurity planning
• Network resilience
• Sustainability planning
• LEED
• PUE
• Renewable energy integration
• O and M planning
• Stakeholder governance
• Team leadership

Why Join Us

The Planning Director – Digital Infrastructure role in Riyadh offers a senior platform to shape the long-term digital foundation of a major development program.

About the Company

Parsons Corporation is a global engineering, construction, technology, and program management company supporting major infrastructure, transportation, urban development, utilities, digital systems, and smart city programs.