About The Role

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Job Description

Parsons are looking for a highly experienced Safety Assurance Director to join their team!

The Director, Safety Assurance leads the development and implementation of safety assurance (SA) strategies, plans, systems and processes for infrastructure, the built environment and related assets (e.g. rolling stock etc.) across Qiddiya’s Transport Business Unit (TBU) portfolio of projects.

This strategic leadership role involves working closely with multi-disciplinary project teams and their supply chains to ensure safety and technical requirements and outputs support TBU’s objectives and ensure compliance with regulatory and industry standards frameworks.

The post holder works closely with TBU functions and project teams and QIC Districts to ensure alignment QIC’s “Safety First” culture, and TBU safety goals, objectives and internal and external stakeholder expectations.

The role ensures that TBU portfolio SA requirements (e.g. meeting statutory obligations, complying with industry standards and codes, adopting international best-practice etc.) are clearly defined and fully integrated into the planning, design and execution of all projects within TBU to reflect industry best practice and ensure compliance with third-party authorizing agency requirements.

The role complements a multidisciplinary systems engineering team committed to delivering an integrated, safe, high performance transportation system covering different modes, that meets user needs, regulatory standards, and long-term sustainability goals. Our mission is to guide the system lifecycle from concept to commissioning with clarity, discipline and integrity.

The role will be a key part of the decision points between transitions from design and development, construction and handover into operations.

What You'll Be Doing

Develop and implement safety assurance strategies, plans and supporting processes and tools required to ensure TBU meets its statutory obligations for securing all necessary transport system safety and technical approvals authorizations across the TBU portfolio in a timely and efficient manner, supporting designated project Duty Holders’ as required.
Act a role model for TBU leadership behaviors, in line with Qiddiya values, leading by example as a positive and engaging presence within the TBU team.
Develop the TBU’s project lifecycle for safety assurance (incl. V&V and Safety Risk) and supporting processes, milestones, recommendations, analysis and any other required information for leadership, in conjunction with each TBU project’s requirements and industry best practice (e.g. ISO15288, EN50126/29, EN50716).
Ensure TBU-specific safety assurance requirements are effectively communicated to, and shared with, relevant QIC Corporate Departments (e.g. Security & Resilience, Fire & Life Safety etc.) and other relevant BUs and Districts to ensure robust cross-BU alignment and efficient and compliant project delivery.
Ensure that the system safety risks are managed to an acceptable level, demonstrating that system safety risk being both tolerable and as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Define the V&V strategy and evidence framework, ensuring requirements (including hazards, RAM targets and operational needs) are verified and validated prior to formal acceptance.
Ensure TBU and suppliers (e.g. Duty Holders) meet their obligations with regard to the provision of mandatory independent assessment resources (e.g. Client’s Engineer, Product-level ISA, Approved Bodies (e.g. Notified Bodies etc.), TGA-approved Independent Competent Persons (ICP)) etc.
Develop and enhance as required TBU leadership and projects teams’ knowledge and understanding of safety assurance requirements (e.g. TGA Railway Guidance, industry standards (e.g. ISO15288, IEC61508, NFPA 130 etc.) and industry best practice (e.g. through COMET benchmarking) to ensure effective and timely project delivery and legal compliance.
Support the development of TBU safety risk tools and techniques (e.g. HAZOPs, FMEAs etc.) and conduct TBU-wide and project specific workshops as required in accordance with industry best practice and international standards (e.g. Common Safety Method (CSM), EN 50126 etc.).
Plan and conduct TBU performance monitoring activities including systems assurance audits and planned inspections and co-ordinate, and participate in, as required, third-party Duty Holder and authorizing agency activities (e.g. TGA site inspections, supplier FATs, emergency planning exercises etc.).
Work closely with the Director, Systems Engineering to ensure arrangements are in place to provide inputs, status reporting on project and supplier progress against related their Safety Plans and deliverables.
Work closely with the Director, Safety Certification & Regulation to ensure arrangements are in place to provide inputs to securing authorizations from relevant authorizing agencies (e.g. Transport General Authority (TGA), Civil Defense, SASO etc.).
Support project teams in securing engagement with authorizing agencies and the preparation, presentation and submission of the required phased submissions to TGA, Civil Defense and others as required, ensuring provision of sufficient advice to TBU project delivery teams and supply chain partners to enable them to discharge their corporate, TBU and regulatory obligations as required.
Hold TBU project delivery teams and their delivery supervision consultants, supply-chain partners (e.g. TBU Duty Holders) to account for adherence to TBU and external regulatory requirements in the course of design, development and project delivery activities), to ensure their production in a timely manner.
Motivate and inspire a high-performance safety compliance culture through clear direction, providing continuous feedback, recognizing and rewarding exceptional performance and fostering an environment of collaboration, innovation, and accountability across TBU and QIC and throughout the supply-chain.
Participate and contribute to national and industry-specific events, conferences and thought-leadership to ensure full immersion in sector best practice, keeping abreast of the latest trends and technologies.
Establish opportunities to contribute to SA knowledge sharing, lessons learned working towards a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Provide coaching, guidance and support to projects and suppliers to ensure industry standards and best practice are implemented. Ensures project teams, consultants and contractors are prepared to meet safety requirements.

What Required Skills You'll Bring;

Bachelor's degree in an Engineering discipline (Master’s preferred), relevant to Railway Systems Safety.
Recognized professional membership e.g.
Chartered Engineer or equivalent internationally recognised professional registration.
20+ years’ minimum relevant experience within land transport-related design, construction and/or operations & maintenance programs. 5+ years in a senior leadership role within major project environment.
Previous Middle East experience considered advantageous.
Strong understanding of smart city frameworks and sustainable design principles.
Proven background delivering safety assurance evidence within the safety-critical transport sector.
Detailed understanding of the Safety performance metrics and international benchmarks.
In-depth knowledge of industry-specific design, construction and operation of railway assets, safety regulations, industry standards and best practices (e.g. ISO61508, EN50126/29, EN50716).
Possess exceptional written and verbal skills in English to effectively articulate ideas, strategies, and project performance to a range of audiences including international teams.
Demonstrated leadership skills to set clear goals, self-motivate and deliver results.
Ability to provide strategic oversight and guidance in managing and prioritizing workloads, deadline-driven and ability to optimize workload.
Expert ability to negotiate and influence effectively with internal teams and suppliers.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and deliver challenging goals and objectives using industry knowledge to aid decision making.
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and across multiple departments.

Parsons equally employs representation at all job levels no matter the race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information.

We truly invest and care about our employee’s wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest—APPLY TODAY!

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