Director - Operations & Event Delivery

About the Role

Qiddiya is building Saudi Arabia’s next major destination for entertainment, sports, and culture — a 360 km² mega-development outside Riyadh. With racetracks, theme parks, stadiums, and performance venues in the pipeline, this initiative is designed to be far more than a construction program; it is part of a broader national shift. As delivery ramps up, the organization is looking for capable leaders who want to help bring a landmark destination to life.

This position is responsible for directing the planning and live execution of event operations and site-wide delivery for the Cultural and Heritage program. The focus is on delivering cultural activities, guest-facing experiences, and large-scale events safely, efficiently, and to a high standard, while staying aligned with asset-level objectives.

Core Responsibilities

The role covers full-cycle event operations planning and delivery, including the Festival and year-round programming. It also requires turning programming, marketing, and commercial plans into practical delivery models, then building and managing schedules, resource plans, and operational run sheets that support smooth execution.

You will also lead logistics, site readiness, and overlay planning. This includes temporary infrastructure, structures, utilities, and services, plus ensuring everything is in place before opening and across each event cycle. The role involves overseeing site setup, dismantling, and transitions between event phases, as well as coordinating access, transport, parking, and crowd movement.

Health, safety, and security are central to the role. You will establish and enforce HSE and security frameworks, guide crowd control and emergency planning, manage incident response protocols, and ensure compliance with regulatory and authority requirements. Coordination with security agencies and government entities will also be part of the remit.

The position is accountable for guest experience and on-ground delivery, with responsibility for smooth visitor flow, queue handling, accessibility, service standards, and real-time issue resolution. In addition, you will oversee operational vendors, contractors, and service providers to ensure safety, service quality, and delivery standards are met, while working closely with procurement and contract management teams.

Cross-functional coordination is another major aspect of the job. You will assess the operational feasibility of programming, commercial, and marketing initiatives, making sure delivery plans are realistic and aligned with actual site capabilities. You will work closely with programming, commercial, and marketing teams to support scheduling, activation requirements, and demand planning.

The role also requires coordination with Asset & Site Management on facilities, maintenance, and infrastructure readiness, plus alignment with permanent and temporary asset requirements. You will contribute operational input into planning, budgeting, and performance reviews, while also aligning with Qiddiya Group functions and external authorities where needed.

Finally, you will monitor operational performance through defined KPIs covering service levels, efficiency, and safety, and drive continuous improvement across event and site operations.

Key Success Measures

• Delivery performed according to plan
• Visitor satisfaction and experience quality
• Performance across health, safety, and security
• Operational efficiency during event execution
• Preparedness and delivery of major events

Skills and Competencies

The role calls for strong leadership in large-scale event operations, the ability to manage complex logistics and site activity, and solid understanding of crowd management and HSE requirements. Success also depends on working effectively in fast-moving, high-pressure environments and coordinating across multiple functions and stakeholders.

Requirements

Applicants should bring 12 to 15+ years of experience, with a significant portion in leadership positions overseeing major operations and event delivery. Experience should include planning and delivering large events, festivals, or destination-scale operations with high visitor volumes, as well as handling multi-site or multi-zone environments with varied activities and stakeholders.

Strong background in end-to-end event operations is expected, including planning, logistics, site readiness, and live delivery. The role also requires experience in crowd management, HSE, and security operations in major public events; transport, access, and site movement planning; and vendor and contractor management across multiple service lines.

Candidates must be comfortable making decisions in high-pressure, real-time environments, coordinating with government authorities, regulatory bodies, and security agencies, and leading large cross-functional operational teams and on-ground workforce. Experience in pre-opening and activation phases of large venues, events, or destinations is preferred, along with work in transitions from readiness to live operations and ongoing operating cycles.

Additional Information

This opportunity is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is a full-time, on-site role.