Director - Smart City and ICT

Qiddiya Investment Company

Key Responsibilities

a. Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement the City IT Operations strategy to drive digital transformation and operational readiness.
• Align IT operations with the city s Master Plan, Smart City vision, and Saudi Vision 2030.
• Lead the design and rollout of an integrated IT Systems Support Model across all city and district smart systems.
• Establish governance frameworks, including SLAs, SOPs, escalation paths, and performance dashboards.
• Develop and manage the annual business plan and budget.

b. Acquisition of Smart City Systems

• Review and approve Smart City Systems RFPs to ensure strategic alignment, stakeholder engagement, and clear business outcomes.
• Ensure compliance with governance, risk, legal, privacy, and security requirements.
• Enforce Qiddiya Technology design and Enterprise Architecture principles.
• Align City technology SLAs with City Operations SLAs and exit strategy provisions that ensures business continuity
• Negotiate and manage vendor contracts, ensuring adherence to SLAs, KPIs, and timelines.

c. City IT Systems Operations and Management

• Develop and enforce Qiddiya City IT operating standards aligned with QIC Technology Standards; audit compliance regularly.
• Manage City IT requirements, feature priorities, and delivery schedules with Qiddiya IT, ensuring minimal business impact and overseeing UAT.
• Prepare operational briefs for new assets, expansions, and seasonal activities; oversee transition planning for end-of-life products.
• Provide operational input on new systems and integrations across procurement, design, testing, and deployment.
• Evaluate third-party technologies for alignment with strategic goals and seamless integration.
• Support pre-opening onboarding and transition to City IT Operations.
• Oversee daily operations of city-wide IT systems, including ICT infrastructure, IoT/OT systems, and smart city applications.
• Ensure high availability, resilience, and security of all mission-critical systems.
• Drive operational excellence through proactive monitoring, incident prevention, and continuous improvement.
• Enforce data governance across all platforms.

d. Support Model Delivery

• Design, implement, and operationalize a multi-tier CITY IT Integrated L0 to L4 Support Model
• Recruit, train, and manage cross-functional operational support teams.
• Implement workforce development programs to build local talent capacity

e. Security & Risk Management

• Actively support the enforcement of robust cybersecurity and data privacy practices across ICT, IoT, and OT layers.
• Ensure compliance with Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) regulations and global standards such as ISO 27001.
• Collaborate with the city s Security Operations Center (SOC) for proactive threat detection, incident management, and disaster recovery planning.
• Conduct periodic risk assessments and resilience testing.