SYSTRA is one of the world's leading engineering and consultancy groups specialising in public transport and sustainable mobility. With over 10,300 employees, SYSTRA's mission is to design safe and sustainable transport solutions to bring people together, develop social inclusion and facilitate access to employment, education and leisure throughout the world.
For 65 years, the Group has been working alongside cities and regions to contribute to their development by creating, improving and modernising their infrastructure and transport systems, throughout the life cycle of their projects. SYSTRA is involved from the earliest stages of design through to the testing, deployment and maintenance phases. The company provides all its services in over 80 countries worldwide and generates 74% of its turnover internationally. With its new services, SYSTRA supports its clients and partners in their digital, ecological and energy transition, in order to invent the mobility of tomorrow.
Context
The Transport Expert will serve as the senior oversight lead for the Client on the end-to-end development, calibration, validation, deployment, and sustained operation of the Riyadh's multimodal transport model ecosystem . The role ensures that modeling activities directly support Vision 2030, the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS), and Riyadh's transport and logistics strategy, translating complex analytical outputs into actionable decisions for investment planning, service operations, and event-readiness, evolving land use, mega-projects, and mobility initiatives.. The successful candidate combines deep modeling expertise with robust governance, stakeholder leadership, and an ability to integrate land use, mega-projects, freight flows, and special events (Expo and FIFA World Cup 2034) into coherent, defensible planning guidance.
Missions/Main Duties
Strategic Oversight and Governance
The transport expert will serve as the Client's senior technical and governance lead for the end-to-end update, calibration, validation, deployment, and sustained operation of Riyadh's multimodal transport model ecosystem. He will establish and lead a modeling governance framework for the client, defining standards, assumptions, peer-review processes, and audit trails across strategic, operational, and microsimulation tools. Ensure consistency with the Client's policies, Riyadh master plans, and inter-agency frameworks, maintaining a single source of truth for model inputs and outputs.
Stakeholder Coordination and Alignment
Coordinate assumptions and scenarios across mainly, the Client's departments, Government authorities, Traffic Police, relevant ministries, municipalities, and operators (bus, metro, traffic management). Facilitate timely decisions on land use forecasts, socio-economic inputs, network changes, operational plans, parking and pricing policies, and curbside strategies. Resolve conflicts through transparent evidence-based processes and maintain traceability of decisions for executive assurance.
Event-Readiness and Major Events Planning (mainly World Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034)
Integrate special event planning into the citywide modeling suite, including venue demand profiling, peak-hour surge analysis, spectator transport plans, last-mile access, park-and-ride, shuttle operations, and temporary traffic management. Develop event-time operational scenarios, crowd movement forecasts, and near-real-time decision-support dashboards. Coordinate with security and emergency services on incident management, contingencies, and resilience to disruptions.
Data Strategy and Quality Assurance
Oversee a citywide data strategy covering household travel surveys, O-D matrices, traffic counts, AFC/AVL from Riyadh transit systems, GPS/telemetry, telco-derived mobility data, and freight flows. Direct ETL pipelines, metadata, and QA/QC protocols, integrating GIS and digital twin assets to sustain high-quality, traceable datasets for modeling.
Model Development, Calibration, and Validation Assurance
Supervise the design and updates of strategic demand models, mode choice, time-of-day, and assignment components; ensure rigorous calibration and validation against observed screenlines, cordons, and KPIs. Lead independent reviews and acceptance testing, with clear criteria for model readiness and version releases.
Profile/Skills
Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's in Transport Planning/Engineering, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Data Science, or related field.
- 15+ years in transport modeling and analytics with substantial leadership in oversight, governance, and assurance; extensive experience in GCC/Saudi and strong familiarity with Riyadh's context preferred.
- Demonstrated delivery of large-scale multimodal models and microsimulation linked to implemented projects and operational decisions.
- Deep literacy in strategic demand modeling, mode choice, assignment, microsimulation, and freight modeling; proficiency coordinating teams using Python/R, SQL, and GIS.
- Experience integrating AFC/AVL, telco mobility data, GPS telemetry, and survey data; strong statistical calibration/validation expertise.
- Strong stakeholder leadership and communication skills (English is a must, and Arabic is an advantageous ), with the ability to brief executives and guide technical teams.
- Advantageous Certifications:
- Transport modeling: PTV VISUM/VISSIM, EMME, Aimsun, SATURN/Dynameq, MATSim/SUMO3
- Data and GIS: Python, R, and PostGIS, Esri ArcGIS / QGIS
- Others: PMP/PRINCE2, PE/Chartered status, RAMS, ISO 55000, and relevant data/cloud governance certifications.
Competencies
- Governance-first mindset with technical rigor and decision-usefulness.
- Systems thinking linking models to strategy, design, and operations.
- Data engineering awareness and reproducibility/automation best practices.
- Commercial acumen, risk management, and assurance discipline.
- Leadership, talent development, and cultural awareness within Riyadh's institutional ecosystem.
Systra is an equal opportunities company; this position is open to all applicants.
