Senior Rail Safety & Assurance Director

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons is seeking a Safety Assurance Director – Rail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to lead the development and governance of the rail safety assurance framework across infrastructure, rolling stock, signaling, and operations. This senior role requires deep experience in safety cases, RAMS, and regulatory liaison.

You will chair executive safety committees, oversee hazard logs, manage change control, and drive continuous improvement in safety performance while aligning with Saudi regulations and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, rail technology, systems engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 20 years of experience in rail safety, systems safety, safety assurance, or related technical fields.
• Extensive experience in railway, metro, mass transit, or similarly complex transportation environments.
• Demonstrated success developing and managing rail safety cases.
• Strong experience establishing safety management systems and assurance frameworks.
• Proven leadership across operational railways, infrastructure projects, rolling stock, signalling, or integrated transport systems.
• Strong knowledge of rail safety legislation and regulatory requirements in Saudi Arabia.
• Sound understanding of recognized international rail safety and systems engineering standards.
• Experience managing hazard logs, safety requirements, technical evidence, and assurance documentation.
• Strong knowledge of lifecycle safety processes from concept through decommissioning.
• Practical experience with safety by design, risk assessment, verification, validation, and change control.
• Demonstrated capability in regulatory liaison, safety certification, licensing, and approval processes.
• Experience coordinating with independent safety assessors, accreditation bodies, and technical reviewers.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary safety and engineering teams.
• Strong background influencing executive leaders, government entities, contractors, operators, and maintainers.
• Track record of managing assurance for complex rail systems and multi‑package programs.
• Experience overseeing incident investigations, safety audits, and corrective‑action programs.
• Excellent analytical, strategic, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Strong written and spoken English communication abilities.
• Ability to explain complex safety and engineering matters to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• High standards of integrity, independence, professional judgement, and accountability.
• Strong leadership, mentoring, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder‑management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the rail safety assurance strategy, policies, standards, and management systems.
• Align safety assurance arrangements with Saudi Arabian regulations, international standards, and recognized industry practices.
• Define the safety governance framework for rail operations, maintenance, renewals, upgrades, and new developments.
• Chair or participate in executive safety committees, technical assurance panels, and safety review boards.
• Provide regular assurance reports, risk summaries, performance trends, and strategic recommendations to executive leadership.
• Lead the preparation, review, maintenance, and approval of safety cases and supporting evidence.

Skills

Rail safety assurance

Systems safety

Safety case development

Hazard identification

Risk assessment

Verification & validation

Regulatory compliance

Systems engineering

Safety by design

Safety governance

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Job description

Parsons is seeking a Safety Assurance Director – Rail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to lead the development and governance of the rail safety assurance framework across infrastructure, rolling stock, signaling, and operations. This senior role requires deep experience in safety cases, RAMS, and regulatory liaison.

You will chair executive safety committees, oversee hazard logs, manage change control, and drive continuous improvement in safety performance while aligning with Saudi regulations and