Senior Manager - PlayPath Development Programs

Role Overview

Senior Manager - PlayPath Development Programs at Qiddiya Investment Company. This role leads the design, development, and execution of Qiddiya's PlayPath Development Programs to build a sustainable internal Saudi talent pipeline aligned with the company's future workforce needs and strategic objectives.

Role Purpose

Lead the end-to-end design, governance, and delivery of structured development programs that accelerate capability build, strengthen participant experience, and establish a sustainable internal Saudi talent pipeline focused initially on Engineers. Drive program governance, critical stakeholder alignment, readiness activities, and comprehensive progress tracking to align with Qiddiya's future workforce needs and strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Program Design & Governance

• Own the end-to-end design, governance, and delivery of the Engineering Professions Program.
• Define program objectives, design KPIs and success criteria, and architect programs.
• Design and maintain program pathways, including attraction, selection, assessments, rotations, development experiences, and progression requirements.
• Define assignments, assessment methods, and exposure opportunities aligned to engineering capability and workforce needs.
• Establish and maintain governance frameworks, policies, selection criteria, documentation standards, and evaluation methodologies.
• Ensure alignment with talent strategy, capability priorities, workforce planning, and future skills requirements.
• Define program KPIs, success measures, and effectiveness metrics to evaluate impact against strategic talent objectives.

Stakeholder Management & Partnership

• Partner with Talent Acquisition, Rewards, and other stakeholders to ensure program competitiveness, internal equity, attraction, and retention outcomes.
• Partner with business leaders and functional teams to secure placements, meaningful assignments, and development opportunities.
• Drive stakeholder alignment through clear expectations, communication, and coordinated execution across business units.
• Ensure alignment with Capability & Learning, Talent Management, Performance, and Workforce Planning to strengthen development pathways.
• Manage external partners and vendors supporting assessments, learning interventions, and program delivery.

Program Delivery & Operations

• Lead participant recruitment, onboarding, cohort management, rotation planning, and overall program operations.
• Ensure a high-quality participant experience through structured development, mentoring, engagement activities, and support mechanisms.
• Shape structured rotation models that align with business requirements.

Performance Tracking, Reporting & Insights

• Oversee participant progress tracking, performance reviews, assessment outcomes, and readiness evaluations.
• Ensure all assessment, feedback, and review cycles are delivered in line with governance requirements.
• Monitor program performance, pipeline health, and talent outcomes through dashboards, analytics, and reporting.
• Provide insights and recommendations to leadership on program effectiveness, risks, and opportunities for improvement.

Continuous Improvement

• Drive continuous improvement through participant feedback, benchmarking, data insights, and external leading practices.
• Recommend and implement improvements to program design, content, and delivery to enhance participant outcomes and accelerate readiness.

Qualifications & Experience

• 8+ years of experience, with majority in career development, program management, or talent development in the development, construction or engineering industries.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, Project Management, Human Resources, Business Administration, Learning & Development, or a related discipline.
• Strong working knowledge of engineering and development environments, including how technical teams operate, how capability is built, and what is required to develop early-career engineering talent.
• Proven experience designing and delivering structured learning or talent development programs, including rotations, assessments, development plans, mentoring, and progress tracking.
• HR/Talent/Learning candidates must bring direct experience working with engineering, construction, infrastructure, or real estate development functions.
• Engineering/Development candidates must bring demonstrated experience in learning, capability building, program design, or talent development.

Skills & Competencies

• Program design and architecture.
• Governance framework development and maintenance.
• Stakeholder alignment and management.
• Participant experience design.
• Performance analytics and reporting.
• Data-driven insights and recommendations.
• Capability and workforce planning.

Additional Information

• CIPD, SHRM, ICE, SCE or equivalent preferred.