Associate Director - Place & Placemaking - 20003894 (MAS 711)

About Qiddiya:

As a flagship Giga project under the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Qiddiya is a visionary destination located approximately 45 kilometers from Riyadh and spanning 366 square kilometers, Qiddiya aims to become the global hub for entertainment, sports, and culture. Qiddiya’s overarching purpose has been crystallized into ‘Now We Play'.

Qiddiya visitors will have access to more than 300 ground-breaking recreational and educational facilities across five innovatively designed pillars focusing on: high-end theme parks; numerous sports arenas capable of hosting international competitions and world-class training facilities and academies; desert and asphalt tracks for motorsport enthusiasts; outdoor and adventure activities alongside nature and animal experiences; and an array of historical, cultural and educational activities and events. There will also be a range of residential and commercial options and community services. 

In addition to becoming an Entertainment, Sports and Culture destination, Qiddiya is also a city with compelling residential, offices and community offering, expecting 600,000 residents and 250,000 jobs at scale.

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Associate Director / Senior Manager of Place & Placemaking to help define and lead the integration of placemaking principles into master planning, design, and development processes. This role will contribute to the creation of vibrant, people-first environments that align with the overarching City purpose and value proposition of Qiddiya and ensure commercial success and long-term value creation across a diverse range of projects. The ideal candidate will bring expertise in visioning, stakeholder management, placemaking, and urban design, with a strong focus on public realm.

As a key collaborator, you will work closely with the internal teams, the Placemaking consultants and external stakeholders to define the unique identity of the district, establish place objectives, and translate vision into tangible outcomes. You will ensure that placemaking strategies inform all aspects of the development lifecycle, from design and public realm strategy to activation, marketing, and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the development of people-first strategies that prioritize community needs, aspirations, and user experience.
• Oversee the creation of district visions and place narratives that help to define character and translate the strategic objectives into actional strategies.
• Manage a collaborative stakeholder engagement process to ensure vision reflects and integrates the needs of relevant disciplines and assets.
• Participate in place workshops with the broader design team to test ideas, themes, and outcomes with stakeholders.
• Help to define and shape an experience plan by identifying key places, articulating their experience objectives, features and opportunities in alignment with the district place strategy. Create controls and visuals to guide asset teams to respond to the place experience.
• Help to source strong visual storytelling and imagery to convey place intent.
• Support the iteration and development of the narrative into a place brief to align tactical strategies across the first 10m to bring the vision and place ambition to life – including edge conditions, facade treatments, materiality, people-first strategies for thermal comfort, visual identity, cultural context, character and rhythm.
• Support development of early activation strategies and ongoing programming opportunities, partnerships and operations.
• Ensure integration of place initiatives in master plan, public realm and other assets and disciplines.
• Ensure place informs project strategies including marketing, communication, staging, activation, and operations.
• Define and guide key performance indicators to measure and track the impact of placemaking strategies.
• Prepare and manage place-related scopes and studies including user research, activation strategies, meanwhile uses, operations and maintenance, social infrastructure and other applicable workstreams.
• Support arts, culture and heritage team to ensure alignment and embedment with place initiatives.
• Develop and manage project budgets and financial forecasts relating to place, activation and operational strategies.
• Develop leadership presentations and materials.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior staff, fostering a culture of creativity and innovation.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices in landscape design and sustainability.