Job Description
We are seeking a highly experienced Senior / Principal Pavement Engineer to join our airport design team in Saudi Arabia, supporting the delivery of major aviation infrastructure projects. This role will focus on the design, assessment, and rehabilitation of airport pavements, including runway pavement rehabilitation, taxiways, aprons, and associated airside pavement infrastructure.
The successful candidate will bring strong technical expertise in airport pavement engineering, with a deep understanding of pavement design principles, rehabilitation methodologies, material performance, and airfield operational requirements. In addition to specialist runway and airfield experience, broader knowledge across other pavement types such as highways, roads, heavy-duty industrial pavements, and landside infrastructure will be advantageous.
Given the regional nature of the work, Middle East experience is strongly preferred, particularly due to the need to interpret and apply different international standards, local authority requirements, climatic considerations, and project delivery conditions relevant to airport pavements in the region.
Responsibilities
Technical Delivery
- Lead and undertake the design of airport pavements for aviation infrastructure projects, including:
- Runways
- Taxiways
- Aprons / aircraft stands
- Shoulders and blast pads
- Airside service roads and associated paved areas
- Deliver runway pavement rehabilitation designs, including evaluation of existing pavement conditions, structural assessment, rehabilitation strategies, strengthening options, overlay design, reconstruction solutions, and staged implementation planning.
- Carry out pavement engineering tasks covering:
- Pavement thickness design
- Flexible and rigid pavement design
- Overlay design and rehabilitation schemes
- Pavement condition evaluations
- Life-cycle assessment and durability considerations
- Pavement materials selection and specification development
- Develop engineering solutions for both new airfield pavements and existing pavement upgrades/rehabilitation.
- Contribute to the design of broader pavement works beyond runways, including landside roads, heavy-duty pavements, maintenance areas, access roads, and service infrastructure, where required.
Design Management & Coordination
- Coordinate with multidisciplinary teams including:
- Airfield civil engineering
- Geotechnical engineering
- Drainage and utilities
- Structural engineering
- Aviation planning and operations
- Construction and phasing teams
- Ensure pavement designs are integrated with wider airport systems, operational requirements, safety constraints, and construction staging strategies.
- Review and validate pavement design inputs such as traffic loading, aircraft movement data, subgrade parameters, material properties, drainage considerations, and operational constraints.
- Support the preparation of design reports, technical notes, specifications, drawings, bill items, and tender documentation.
Assessment, Standards & Compliance
- Apply relevant international and project-specific standards, guidance, and best practices for airport pavement design and rehabilitation.
- Ensure designs are compliant with applicable aviation, airport, and infrastructure requirements, while also adapting solutions to suit regional conditions in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East.
- Consider factors such as:
- High-temperature environments
- Material availability
- Construction methodologies
- Asset longevity
- Airport operational continuity
- Safety and regulatory expectations
- Provide technical review and governance over pavement design outputs prepared by others.
Project & Client Leadership
- Act as a senior technical point of contact for clients, stakeholders, and project teams on pavement engineering matters.
- Support project planning, programme input, risk identification, and resource coordination for pavement design activities.
- Contribute to client presentations, technical workshops, design reviews, and value engineering sessions.
- Mentor and support junior engineers and less experienced pavement team members.
- Depending on level, provide technical leadership across multiple packages or projects and support business development opportunities in aviation pavement engineering.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline.
- Master's degree in Pavement Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or related field would be advantageous.
- Proven experience in airport pavement design on major aviation or airfield infrastructure projects.
- Experience working on airport or aviation infrastructure projects in the Middle East, preferably Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, or wider GCC.
- Strong experience in runway pavement rehabilitation, including inspection, structural assessment, rehabilitation planning, and design of strengthening or reconstruction works.
- Demonstrated technical capability across airfield pavement systems, including runways, taxiways, aprons, and associated paved infrastructure.
- Experience in pavement engineering covering both new build and rehabilitation / upgrade projects.
- Familiarity with a range of pavement types including flexible and rigid pavements.
- Ability to work within multidisciplinary design environments and manage interfaces across complex infrastructure projects.
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