Senior Project Manager - Rail Technical

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons in Riyadh is seeking a Senior Project Manager - Rail Technical to lead architecture, civil, and rail-infrastructure scope on a major transportation program. You will govern design activities, ensure safety-by-design, and coordinate across stations, depots, tunnels, bridges, and track works.

With 15+ years in rail/major transport projects and strong PMC experience, you will drive technical assurance, interface management, and complex stakeholder coordination to successfully deliver the

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related field; Master’s preferred.
• Professional registration/chartership desirable.
• PMP/PRINCE2 or equivalent certs are advantages.
• Minimum 15 years of experience in architecture, civil/structural engineering, rail infrastructure, or major transport projects.
• Significant rail-related experience (stations, depots, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, etc.).
• Strong PMC or international consultancy background with multidisciplinary design leadership.
• Fluent written and spoken English; Arabic beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary PMC focal point for design and rail infrastructure workstreams.
• Represent client in senior technical/design coordination meetings.
• Ensure employer requirements and standards are applied by delivery partners.
• Provide independent technical advice on risk, constructability, scope, and schedule.
• Lead design lifecycle for stations, depots, and related facilities.
• Oversee civil/structural design assurance including RAMS, risk, and controls.
• Coordinate interfaces across architecture, civil, rail systems, MEP, and utilities.
• Maintain interface registers and ensure traceability across disciplines.
• Conduct design reviews, design verification, and change management.

Skills

Rail project management

Project Management

PMC technical governance

Client representation

Design management

Technical assurance

Architecture coordination

Civil engineering coordination

Structural engineering coordination

Rail infrastructure

Track infrastructure

Stations

Depots

Viaducts

Bridges

Tunnels

Cut‑and‑cover works

Retaining structures

Foundations

Earthworks

Trackform

Rail civil interfaces

Design‑build contracts

Employer requirements

Design review

BIM models

Technical reports

Design calculations

Specifications review

Value engineering

Constructability reviews

Safety by design

RAMS

Hazard identification

Risk assessments

Interface management

Interface registers

Requirements management

Traceability

Verification and validation

Configuration management

RFIs

Non‑conformance reports

Field changes

Authority approvals

NOCs

Building control

Civil defense coordination

Rail regulator coordination

Independent safety assessor

Project controls coordination

Risk registers

Progress dashboards

Common data environments

BIM

Revit

Track design software

Multidisciplinary coordination

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

Master's degree in Engineering, Rail, Transportation, Architecture, or Project Management

Professional registration or chartership

PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification

Tools

BIM

Revit

Track design software

Common data environments

Job description

Job Title

Senior Project Manager - Rail Technical

Location

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Industry and Function

Transportation – Trucking – Railroad; Project Management

Job Type

Full‑time

Salary

55,000 – 75,000 (estimated)

Overview

The Senior Project Manager – Rail Technical will act as the senior PMC representative for architecture, civil, structural, and rail infrastructure scope on a major transportation program in Riyadh. The role requires strong technical governance, client advisory capability, design management expertise, safety‑by‑design awareness, and the ability to coordinate across complex station, depot, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, track, earthworks, and rail‑civil interface packages.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary PMC focal point for technical matters across architecture, civil, structural engineering, and rail infrastructure workstreams.
• Represent the client in senior technical, design, interface, and coordination meetings with consultants, contractors, authorities, regulators, and third parties.
• Ensure employer requirements, design briefs, rail‑specific criteria, and technical standards are clearly communicated and implemented by delivery partners.
• Provide independent technical advice to the client on risk, design, constructability, scope, program, and delivery issues related to built environment and rail infrastructure.
• Lead the design lifecycle for architectural works including stations, depots, ancillary buildings, public realm, and related facilities.
• Manage technical assurance for civil and structural works including viaducts, bridges, tunnels, cut‑and‑cover works, retaining structures, foundations, and earthworks.
• Oversee rail civil and track‑related infrastructure, including trackform, slab or ballast design, formation, drainage, and trackside civil works.
• Review design submissions, BIM models, calculations, technical reports, specifications, drawings, and design documentation for compliance and buildability.
• Chair multidisciplinary design review workshops, constructability reviews, value engineering sessions, and technical coordination meetings.
• Oversee requirements management and traceability from capture through verification, validation, and closeout.
• Ensure formal technical assurance processes are followed, including design verification, validation, peer reviews, independent checks, and approval tracking.
• Coordinate interfaces between architecture, civil, structures, rail infrastructure, MEP, signaling, telecoms, power, rolling stock, systems integration, utilities, and highways.
• Maintain and review interface registers to ensure cross‑discipline and cross‑contract issues are identified, assigned, tracked, and resolved early.
• Ensure station and structural designs accommodate track alignment, rail clearances, access routes, evacuation requirements, maintenance needs, and rail system constraints.
• Embed safety‑by‑design principles into architectural, civil, structural, and rail infrastructure solutions.
• Review RAMS, hazard identification records, risk assessments, mitigation plans, fire and life safety requirements, evacuation strategies, and rail‑specific safety requirements.
• Coordinate with independent reviewers, safety assessors, regulators, civil defense, building control authorities, and rail authorities to support approvals and certifications.
• Align design outputs with construction methodologies and sequencing for stations, civil structures, tunnels, depots, and rail infrastructure.
• Support evaluation of design changes, technical deviations, value engineering proposals, RFIs, non‑conformance reports, and field changes.
• Oversee configuration management for architectural, structural, and rail civil designs, including version control, change tracking, and decision traceability.
• Monitor design and construction‑related technical activities against the integrated master schedule and key program milestones.
• Identify critical path activities, interface constraints, technical risks, and delivery delays, then develop mitigation or recovery actions.
• Support project controls and commercial teams in assessing schedule and cost impacts linked to technical issues or design changes.
• Maintain risk registers for architecture, civil, structural, and rail infrastructure scope, including mitigation measures and contingency actions.
• Prepare technical reports, progress dashboards, briefing notes, and presentations for client leadership and governance boards.
• Coordinate with internal client stakeholders including operations, maintenance, safety, rail systems, commercial, planning, and urban development teams.
• Interface with planning authorities, rail regulators, utility providers, civil defense, building control bodies, and other regulators to support permits, NOCs, and approvals.
• Lead and mentor architectural, civil, structural, and rail engineers or design managers within the PMC team.
• Promote quality, safety, collaboration, proactive risk management, and continuous improvement across design and construction support activities.
• Ensure robust QA and QC processes for technical deliverables, independent checks, design reviews, and as‑built verification.
• Capture and share lessons learned related to design, constructability, rail‑civil interfaces, safety by design, and technical coordination.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Rail Engineering, Architecture or a closely related discipline.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Rail, Transportation, Architecture, or Project Management is advantageous.
• Professional registration or chartership is highly desirable.
• PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification is an advantage.
• Minimum 15 years of experience in architecture, civil engineering, structural engineering, rail infrastructure, or major transport project delivery.
• Significant experience on rail‑related works such as metro, mainline rail, light rail, high‑speed rail, multimodal hubs, stations, depots, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, and track‑related infrastructure.
• Strong background in PMC, client organization, or international consultancy environments managing design and build contracts.
• Proven record managing multidisciplinary design for complex stations, depots, bridges, tunnels, civil structures, rail corridors, and associated infrastructure.
• Demonstrable experience in technical assurance, safety by design, design governance, authority approvals, and contractor technical oversight.
• Experience coordinating MEP, signaling, telecommunications, power, track, systems integration, utilities, and rail operations interfaces.
• Strong technical understanding of architectural, civil, structural, and rail infrastructure design principles, codes, standards, and delivery best practices.
• Solid knowledge of systems engineering concepts, interface management, requirements traceability, configuration control, and RAMS fundamentals.
• Strong project management, planning, organizational, reporting, and governance skills in complex multi‑stakeholder environments.
• Ability to present complex technical matters clearly to non‑technical stakeholders and senior decision‑makers.
• Proficiency with standard project and design tools.
• Familiarity with BIM, Revit, civil and structural design software, track design software, and common data environments is advantageous.
• Fluent written and spoken English is required; Arabic language skills are beneficial.
• Strong professionalism, integrity, client‑service orientation, negotiation ability, and structured decision‑making skills.

Skills

• Rail project management
• Project Management
• PMC technical governance
• Client representation
• Design management
• Technical assurance
• Architecture coordination
• Civil engineering coordination
• Structural engineering coordination
• Rail infrastructure
• Track infrastructure
• Stations
• Depots
• Viaducts
• Bridges
• Tunnels
• Cut‑and‑cover works
• Retaining structures
• Foundations
• Earthworks
• Trackform
• Rail civil interfaces
• Design‑build contracts
• Employer requirements
• Design review
• BIM models
• Technical reports
• Design calculations
• Specifications review
• Value engineering
• Constructability reviews
• Safety by design
• RAMS
• Hazard identification
• Risk assessments
• Interface management
• Interface registers
• Requirements management
• Traceability
• Verification and validation
• Configuration management
• RFIs
• Non‑conformance reports
• Field changes
• Authority approvals
• NOCs
• Building control
• Civil defense coordination
• Rail regulator coordination
• Independent safety assessor coordination
• Project controls coordination
• Risk registers
• Progress dashboards
• Common data environments
• BIM
• Revit
• Track design software
• Multidisciplinary coordination
• Stakeholder management