Technical Director - Roads & Highways

Job Description

WSP is seeking an experienced Technical Director – Roads & Highways to join our Transport & Infrastructure team in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This is a senior role responsible for providing technical direction, project oversight, and client engagement across major roads, highways, infrastructure, and land development projects throughout the Kingdom.

The successful candidate will bring extensive experience delivering complex, multidisciplinary infrastructure projects and will possess a strong understanding of the Saudi Arabian market, including key clients, government entities, and approval authorities. This highly client-facing role requires an individual with the credibility and leadership skills to build trusted client relationships, provide strategic technical advice, and support the growth of the Roads & Highways business across the region.

The role is ideally suited to a professional with a proven track record working for leading international engineering consultancies, managing large-scale transportation and infrastructure projects from concept through detailed design and delivery while leading multidisciplinary teams in a dynamic project environment.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Project Delivery

• Provide technical leadership and strategic direction for the delivery of roads and highways projects across Saudi Arabia.
• Lead the planning, design, and execution of large-scale transportation, infrastructure, and land development projects.
• Oversee multidisciplinary project teams, ensuring the successful integration of highways, structures, transportation planning, utilities, drainage, and urban infrastructure disciplines.
• Drive design excellence through technical innovation, value engineering, and the implementation of international best practices.
• Review and approve key technical deliverables, ensuring compliance with client requirements, local regulations, and company standards.
  
  
  

Client & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as a senior point of contact for clients, government agencies, developers, and other key stakeholders.
• Build and maintain long-term relationships with major clients and authorities across Saudi Arabia.
• Lead client presentations, technical workshops, design reviews, and strategic project discussions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to clients, providing technical and commercial insights throughout the project lifecycle.
• Support stakeholder engagement and authority approvals to facilitate successful project delivery.
  
  
  

Business Development & Market Leadership

• Support the growth of the Roads & Highways business through active client engagement and business development activities.
• Contribute to strategic pursuits, tenders, technical proposals, and major bid submissions.
• Identify new project opportunities within the Saudi market and strengthen relationships with existing clients.
• Support regional leadership in developing market strategies and growth plans.
  
  
  

Project & Commercial Management

• Provide oversight of project programmes, budgets, resources, and delivery performance.
• Ensure projects are delivered in accordance with agreed commercial, technical, and quality objectives.
• Monitor project risks and implement mitigation strategies to maintain successful project outcomes.
• Support project directors and design managers in resolving complex technical and delivery challenges.
  
  
  

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop teams of engineers and project professionals.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and technical excellence.
• Support recruitment, succession planning, and capability development within the Roads & Highways team.
• Promote effective multidisciplinary coordination across all project phases.
  
  
  

Quality, Governance & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with company quality management systems, project governance procedures, and HSE requirements.
• Lead technical reviews and assurance processes to maintain the highest standards of project delivery.
• Champion best practices and continuous improvement initiatives across the business.
  
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or a related discipline (Master's degree preferred).
• Minimum 18+ years of professional experience in roads and highways engineering, design, and project delivery.
• Demonstratable client-facing experience managing key stakeholders.
• Proven experience working with leading international engineering consultancies, preferably in Saudi Arabia for the last 5 years.
• Extensive experience delivering large-scale roads, highways, infrastructure, and land development projects.
• Strong understanding of Saudi Arabian infrastructure markets, project delivery frameworks, and authority requirements.
• Demonstrated involvement in projects across feasibility, concept design, detailed design, and construction support phases.
• Arabic language skills are preferred but not essential.
  
  
  

What if we can have work-life balance? What if we can be rewarded in ways that support our individual needs? What if we can be accepted for who we are? Here at WSP – we can!

WSP recognizes that work is only one part of our lives and making time for the other things in our life is important – be that our families, our friends or ourselves. So, if working from home, working part-time or having flexible start and finish time will help with this let us know as part of your application.

As well as rewarding you with competitive pay, WSP offers standard benefits including first class medical cover, generous days annual leave, and paid professional subscriptions.

Imagine a better future for you and a better future for us all.

Join our close-knit community of talented individuals who share your passion for making a positive impact. Our global team includes more than 69,000 employees, working together to make a difference in communities both close to home and around the world.

With us, you can. Apply today.