About the Role
The company is seeking a Senior Director – Permitting to lead the strategy, governance, and delivery framework for permitting across the city. This position offers an opportunity to establish a consistent and scalable service that protects city assets, supports safe working, and maintains operational continuity as the city grows.
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What You’ll Lead
- City-wide Strategy and Governance: Develop the permitting strategy, operating model, and implementation roadmap, establishing policies, permit classifications, approval matrices, and delegated authorities.
- Outsourced Service Delivery: Define provider scope, capacity, competency requirements, and service levels, holding partners accountable through performance monitoring, audits, and corrective action.
- Permit-to-Work Assurance: Govern the full permit lifecycle, from application and prerequisite checks through review, authorisation, issue, suspension, and closure, ensuring specialist approvals are secured.
- Access and Alteration Frameworks: Oversee access permitting in coordination with Security and asset operators, establishing robust review routes for building alterations and fit-outs. Maintain a clear distinction between permission to access a site and authorisation to undertake work.
- Operational Coordination: Align simultaneous works, shutdowns, access restrictions, and reinstatement requirements across infrastructure, utilities, property, landscape, mobility, and event operations to minimise disruption.
- Digital Enablement: Define requirements for a digital permitting platform that supports integrated workflows, controlled permissions, reliable records, and auditable approval histories.
- Performance and Compliance: Use risk-based assurance and service data to improve turnaround, compliance, and closure performance without compromising approval quality.
- Mobilisation and Functional Leadership: Lead phased service rollout, continuity planning, budgets, and resource forecasts while building internal governance capability and training arrangements.
What You’ll Bring
- A bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Facilities Management, or a related discipline.
- Extensive relevant experience in permitting, infrastructure, property, or facilities operations, including senior leadership accountability for governance, contractor interfaces, or outsourced operational services—typically 15+ years overall, including at least 7 years in senior leadership, subject to HR confirmation.
- Demonstrated experience establishing permitting strategies and operating frameworks across complex estates, cities, major developments, or live operational environments.
- Experience managing outsourced permit-to-work and access services, governing alterations and fit-outs, and coordinating multidisciplinary approvals and statutory interfaces.
- Strong capabilities in policy development, delegated authorities, commercial management, risk-based assurance, and stakeholder negotiation, supported by working knowledge of applicable Saudi requirements.
- Experience implementing digital permitting systems and leading service mobilisation, performance improvement, and executive reporting.
