Senior Director - Playing Surfaces & landscaping

Leads the strategy, design, delivery and long-term management of playing surfaces and landscaped environments across Qiddiya's growing sports portfolio. It covers major stadiums, training facilities, indoor and covered venues, competition and community pitches, public realm and extensive landscaped areas. The position establishes consistent technical and performance standards for natural, hybrid and synthetic surfaces to meet elite athlete, international competition and major event requirements.

• Develop and lead the playing surfaces and landscaping strategy across Qiddiya's Sports assets.
• Establish technical, operational and performance standards for stadiums, training facilities, indoor or covered venues and landscaped environments.
• Provide specialist input into venue design, ensuring roofing, shading, airflow, lighting, drainage, irrigation and operational requirements support optimum growing conditions.
• Lead the selection, design, construction and management of natural, hybrid and synthetic playing surfaces.
• Oversee pitch construction, turf establishment, testing, renovation, resurfacing and replacement programmes.
• Develop technical solutions for growing and maintaining elite sports turf in extreme heat, shaded stadiums and controlled indoor environments.
• Direct the design and performance of irrigation, drainage, soil profiles, root zones, grow-lighting and specialist turf-management systems.
• Establish agronomic and maintenance programmes covering grass selection, nutrition, moisture management, mowing, aeration, disease control and seasonal transition.
• Ensure playing surfaces meet the standards of relevant international sports federations and governing bodies.
• Develop pitch-protection, conversion and recovery plans to support demanding sporting and entertainment event schedules.
• Lead landscaping strategy across sports assets, including public realm, ornamental planting and climate-resilient landscape solutions.
• Manage commissioning and operational readiness, ensuring teams, equipment, materials, procedures and contingency plans are in place before venue opening.
• Build and lead multidisciplinary teams of grounds professionals, agronomists, landscapers, irrigation specialists, mechanics and technical staff.
• Oversee specialist suppliers, consultants and contractors, setting clear standards and performance measures.
• Manage capital and operational budgets, procurement strategies and lifecycle replacement plans.
• Drive sustainable practices through efficient water use, climate-appropriate planting, environmentally responsible materials and emerging turf technology.

• Bachelor's degree, diploma or equivalent professional qualification in Sports Turf Management, Agronomy, Horticulture, Plant Science, Landscape Management or a related discipline.
• Extensive senior-level experience leading playing surface, sports turf and landscaping operations within major stadiums, professional sports organisations, international tournaments or large sports destinations.
• Proven experience delivering competition-standard playing surfaces for elite domestic and international sporting events.
• Deep technical knowledge of natural, hybrid and synthetic surfaces, turfgrass science, agronomy, irrigation, drainage, soil and root-zone construction, grow-lighting and specialist machinery.
• Demonstrable experience growing and maintaining high-performance natural grass in challenging climates or technically complex stadium environments.
• Experience working across stadiums, training facilities and indoor or covered venues with restricted sunlight, airflow or growing conditions.
• Strong experience supporting major venue projects through planning, design, construction, commissioning, handover and operations.
• Detailed understanding of how stadium architecture, roofing, shading, ventilation, lighting and event operations affect playing-surface performance.
• Experience managing significant landscaped estates, public realm or high-profile ornamental environments.
• Knowledge of international sports federation requirements and surface testing standards.
• Proven ability to lead large, multidisciplinary and multicultural teams while developing local technical capability.
• Strong commercial experience, including capital and operational budgets, procurement, contractor management and lifecycle planning.
• Ability to advise senior executives, designers, engineers, contractors and operational teams on complex technical matters.
• Excellent communication, leadership and stakeholder-management skills.

• Professional certification or membership with a recognised international sports-turf, agronomy, grounds-management or horticultural body would be advantageous.

• Major stadiums, training facilities, indoor and covered venues, competition and community pitches, public realm and extensive landscaped areas.