Project Director - Smart City Delivery

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Project Director – Smart City Delivery

As a Project Director – Smart City Delivery at JLL, you will provide strategic programme leadership across IT, OT, and construction delivery environments within large-scale, government-level smart city initiatives. You will act as the principal translator between business ambition and technical execution, ensuring successful delivery of complex, multi-faceted programmes that transform urban environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic leadership and direction for large-scale smart city delivery programmes, ensuring alignment with client objectives, government mandates, and public sector requirements

• Convert strategic objectives and public-sector mandates into structured technology delivery programmes, ensuring traceability from requirement to operational outcome

• Direct multi-disciplinary programmes spanning IT, OT, infrastructure, and construction interfaces, applying structured programme management methodologies (e.g., MSP, PMI, PRINCE2)

• Manage competing stakeholder priorities across CIO functions, smart city design teams, delivery authorities, and systems integrators; drive alignment and facilitate risk-balanced decisions in complex governance environments

• Lead programme governance structures, chairing steering committees and programme boards with senior government officials, executive stakeholders, and delivery partners

• Articulate technical decisions in terms of economic, operational, and societal value; maintain oversight of performance metrics, risk registers, commercial exposure, and milestone achievement

• Own project-level P&L responsibility (approximately $5M), managing budgets, financial performance, and commercial outcomes

• Build and maintain full client relationships across technical and commercial dimensions in competitive delivery environments

• Lead, mentor, and develop programme delivery teams, fostering high-performance culture and capability development

• Identify and mitigate programme-level risks, escalating critical issues and implementing resolution strategies

• Drive value realization through continuous monitoring of benefits, outcomes, and performance against business cases

• Navigate complex contractual, political, and organizational landscapes to maintain programme momentum and stakeholder confidence

• Provide executive-level reporting to senior leadership, government entities, and key stakeholders on programme status, risks, and strategic decisions

Your Skills and Experience

• Minimum 15 years of experience delivering large-scale, highly complex programmes in smart city, digital transformation, infrastructure, or government technology environments

• Proven track record leading multi-disciplinary programmes with IT, OT, construction, and infrastructure components

• Demonstrated success managing government-level stakeholder relationships and navigating public sector delivery environments

• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing project P&L, budgets, and financial performance

• Expert knowledge of programme management methodologies (MSP, PMI, PRINCE2, or equivalent)

• Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts into business language and strategic objectives into technical delivery plans

• Extensive experience with governance frameworks, risk management, and stakeholder management in politically sensitive environments

• Proven capability resolving conflicts and driving consensus among diverse stakeholder groups with competing priorities

• Strong leadership skills with experience building, managing, and developing high-performing teams

• Deep understanding of smart city technology domains including IT systems, OT infrastructure, IoT platforms, and urban digital services

• Experience managing relationships with master systems integrators, technology vendors, construction partners, and consulting firms

• Outstanding communication and presentation skills with ability to engage confidently with C-suite executives, government officials, and technical teams

• Track record delivering programmes on time, within budget, and to required quality standards in complex, dynamic environments

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration, Project Management, or related discipline

• Professional certifications such as MSP Practitioner, PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner, or equivalent are highly desirable

Location:

On-site –Riyadh, SAU

If this job description resonates with you, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all of the requirements.  We’re interested in getting to know you and what you bring to the table!

At JLL, we harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently accelerate meaningful connections between candidates and opportunities. Using AI capabilities, we analyze your application for relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications to generate valuable insights about how your unique profile aligns with the specific requirements of the role you're pursuing.

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