Digital and Cyber - DSR - Digital Strategy - Senior Associate

Digital and Cyber - DSR - Digital Strategy - Senior Associate

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Job Summary:

We are seeking a Senior Associate with proven expertise in Smart Cities and Digital Strategy to work on high impact, strategic client engagements across the region focusing on shaping and delivering digital frameworks, platforms and governance models that form the backbone of world‑class, data‑driven and sustainable smart destinations. The ideal candidate will combine a deep understanding of urban innovation, digital strategy and emerging technologies to help shape the future of leading smart destinations.

This role will be based in Riyadh, KSA and focus on strategic planning, digital ecosystems design and implementation oversight for smart cities and districts ensuring integration of cutting‑edge technologies into cohesive, future‑ready city strategies. It requires an ability to translate visionary urban aspirations into practical, data‑enabled frameworks that enhance citizen experience, sustainability and economic competitiveness.

• Smart City and Digital Strategy Development
  • Experience in development of smart city technology masterplans and digital transformation strategies for city authorities, governments and developers.
  • Develop multi‑year digital transformation roadmaps that define phased technology, data and organisational initiatives with clear milestones and measurable impact on city performance and citizen experience.
  • Conduct in‑depth competitive benchmarking and ecosystem analyses to evaluate leading global smart city destinations, governance models, and international frameworks and translate insights into actionable best practices tailored for the regional context.
  • Define a cohesive digital vision and strategic direction for next‑generation, sustainable and human‑centric urban environments ensuring alignment between urban design, infrastructure, data and digital service delivery.
  • Develop city‑wide digital and data frameworks/guidelines that foster interoperability, open data exchange, platform integration and innovation across all city domains.
  • Advise clients on the design and delivery of citizen‑centric, digitally‑enabled services leveraging emerging technologies to improve quality of life, operational efficiency and inclusivity across sectors.
  • Define, monitor and communicate measurable outcomes and success indicators for digital programmes ensuring alignment with national strategies, KPIs and global benchmarks.
• Digital Platform and Ecosystem Design
  • Lead the design of integrated smart city digital architectures encompassing smart city platforms and related platforms ensuring scalability, interoperability and resilience across city domains.
  • Ensure robust alignment with local as well as global leading cybersecurity, data governance and privacy standards, embedding trust at the core of digital initiatives.
  • Collaborate with infrastructure, technology, and system integration partners to achieve seamless digital integration and operational interoperability across city domains.
  • Manage vendor selection and procurement strategy including preparation of procurement documents, assessing proposals, defining SLAs and establishing vendor KPIs and performance frameworks.
  • Ensure data governance, interoperability, open‑data framework and privacy/compliance frameworks promoting cross‑entity data sharing, transparency and compliance with local and international regulatory requirements.
  • Drive innovation and scalability by supervising pilot programs, proof‑of‑concepts and phased roll‑outs of smart city digital services ensuring seamless transition from concept to full‑scale implementation and measurable impact.
• Emerging Technology and Innovation
  • Leverage cutting‑edge technologies such as AI, digital twins, IoT, advanced analytics and others to optimise city operations, enhance decision‑making and drive data‑informed governance across urban ecosystems.
  • Conceptualise and deliver high‑impact innovation use cases that improve urban capabilities across multiple city domains.
  • Foster partnerships with technology providers…