KSA Practice Leader

Direct message the job poster from Connexa Recruitment

Connexa Recruitment is working in partnership with an international architectural design practice searching for a Head of Practice role based in Riyadh, KSA.

The position emphasizes management, leadership, communication, delegation, and profitability, along with a range of specific responsibilities in finance, human resources, and marketing/business development.

Key Responsibilities

• Engages in all phases of KSA projects to achieve design excellence as well as technical and financial success. Maintains consistency with the scope of work and goals of the firm. Assists with criteria and input from all disciplines into design solutions.
• Establishes, communicates, and maintains standards of quality for design and work products for the full internal and external team.
• Possesses an understanding of the local parameters and criteria for the KSA projects, including relevant local codes. Plays a contributing role in the design, programmatic, contextual, and cultural research and analysis required for the project.
• Works closely with Partners, MENA team members, and Business Operations to ensure awareness and provide leadership to all issues relating to operations in the KSA office.
• Assists and or leads the development of KSA project pursuit proposals.
• Helps lead KSA marketing and business development and directs the staff assisting in this work.
• Fosters lasting and positive relationships with clients, the design community, and important government agencies (i.e. planning departments, commissions, and advocacy groups).
• Assists the Project Manager in establishing project budgets, schedules, and work plans.
• Assists with time and workload of applicable teams to meet project task deadlines and commitments, with appropriate interaction and direction from Partners and Principals while guiding and teaching less experienced staff.
• Assists and guides the project team in identifying the appropriate follow-up process to address action items during all project phases.
• Attends and facilitates weekly internal project team meetings. Together with the applicable team members, develops the meeting agenda and project status updates.
• Actively participates in local and firm-wide Design Review Meetings and makes meaningful contributions to the advancement of activities led by these groups.
• Understands and participates in larger, firm-wide initiatives.
• Assists with other responsibilities as may be required for the position.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Assists with leadership of multiple projects and teams.
• Established as an officewide resource in an area of expertise for market, discipline, or department. Directly supervises, trains, and mentors team members.
• Engages in talent strategy to find specialists, leaders, and future professionals for the KSA office through resume review, interviews, and leveraging personal network.
• Demonstrates leadership in the implementation of sustainable strategies in all project assignments and the associated development of staff knowledge.
• Creates and drives new ways of working through contributing to the development of services, standards, procedures based on an understanding of the business principles that protect the practice from financial and legal risk.

Minimum Qualifications

• Completion of a professional degree in the Architecture field.
• Minimum of 12 years of relevant experience or equivalent knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Minimum of 5 years direct experience in KSA preferred.
• Exhibits initiative, process innovation, problem-solving, and decision quality with a high attention to precision and accuracy at a project level.
• Demonstrates effective communication both orally and in writing, with the ability to build quick rapport with all levels of employees, clients, consultants, and vendors.
• Demonstrates experience in team leadership to the successful completion of architectural and urban design projects.
• Demonstrates practical knowledge of building design, systems & construction in particular in KSA.
• Demonstrates a regional commercial awareness with the ability to exercise independent judgment and initiative.
• Epitomizes a well-organized and responsible team leader.
• Demonstrates the ability to multitask, effectively manage workloads, meet deliverables/deadlines, and work effectively under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Demonstrates practical knowledge of space programming and functional adjacencies, site planning, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, security engineering, etc.
• Demonstrates proficiency in Rhino, parametric and rendering software, Adobe Suite, and Google Workspace. Familiarity with Revit and AutoCAD.

• Director

• Full-time

• Management and Design
• Industries
• Architecture and Planning and Design Services