Civil Engineering Expert At UN Development Programme

Organization: UNDP Saudi Arabia, through Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development (SOC).

VA No. VA24-97

Position Title: Civil Engineering Expert
Consultancy Type: International Expert

Duty Station: Jeddah/Makkah and remotely

Level of Effort/Duration: Up to 80 days over 6 months with possibility for extension

Vacancy Date of Issue: 13 June 2024

Vacancy Closure Date: 29 June 2024

Expected Starting Date: August 2024

This vacancy is announced by UNDP Saudi Arabia through Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development (SOC). SOC is a sub-contractor for UNDP Saudi Arabia, assisting the programme in implementing their activities through HR and contract management of consultants working in their support.

Project Description

Makkah City is one of the two holy cities of Islam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the other being Madinah City. The two holy sites attract millions of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims every year. Indeed, the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages are the backbone of Makkah’s economy. However, the total population of Makkah City over the Hajj period reaches over 4 million, almost doubling the population density and severely straining infrastructure and services. Nonetheless, a key goal of the Saudi Vision 2030 — the Kingdom’s long-term development blueprint launched in 2016 which aims to cut Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil, while promoting new sectors, from manufacturing and financial services to culture and tourism — is to provide quality services to 30 million international Umrah visitors (in addition to ~15 million local visitors) every year by 2030, tripling the international Umrah capacity existing today.

The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites (RCMC) was established by Royal Decree as a result of KSA’s commitment to improve the pilgrimage experience within Makkah and to transform the city. Its primary mandate is to improve services in Makkah City and the Holy Sites in a manner that is commensurate with their sanctity, with the overall aim of enhancing, strengthening, and evolving the city of Makkah for the benefit of all. The RCMC’s vision for the City of Makkah is of a polycentric, liveable, cultural touristic, resilient, and sustainable city for 2040. The scope of this focus of this project covers the update the Makkah City Strategy (Stream A), the development of its Spatial Development Framework (Stream B), the development of a Detailed Masterplan for the Central Area (Stream C), and finally, the development of Al Mashaer Concept Master Plan (Stream D) for the target year of 2040 (Plan). Streams A and B cover the entire Plan boundary (approx. 2700 km2); while taking the entire Plan boundary into consideration, Stream B focuses on the urban envelope (approx. 560km2), Stream C focusing on the

Central Area inside holy Makkah’s second ring road (approx. 6km2) including the Grand Mosque and its plazas and, and Stream D focuses on Al Mashaer Al Muqqaddasa area (approx. 32 km2). Work on this Plan via a selected international consortium of over 10 world-renowned companies has commenced in February 2024.

The RCMC seeks to be an effective contributor to the achievement of the ambitious objectives of KSA. Vision 2030 and to providing quality services to 45 million Umrah visitors annually by 2030 as will be stipulated by the Plan. One of the main subject areas to be addressed in the Plan will be Utilities in a comprehensive manner with the aim of plugging any existing gaps and providing an adequate and integrated utilities network that is efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly towards 2040.

The RCMC is the main beneficiary of the Support to the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites Project through which UNDP will provide technical assistance, quality control, advisory services, and capacity development support to strengthen the capacity of the RCMC to deliver on its mandate, fulfil its responsibilities and achieve its vision for Makkah City and the specific objectives of the Plan while also contributing to the realization of KSA Vision 2030.

Scope of Work

Broadly speaking, the scope of this assignment will cover the civil engineering subject area (including road and pavement structures, vehicular / pedestrian crossings, pedestrian/vehicular grade separation structures, pavements, retaining walls, cut and fill solutions, stairs, plantation structures,…etc.) within the scope of Streams C and D. Regarding the former (Stream C), special focus should be afforded to the design and construction documents being prepared for public realm development and upgrading of three relatively small public-realm oriented sites (20,000 – 30,000 m2) within the central area. This scope will also entail support and assistance to RCMC in ensuring that this subject area is being addressed in the best, most efficient and most accurate way by the consortium preparing Streams C and D of the plan. The appointed expert will also ensure that this area is addressed in line with approved or ongoing RCMC projects. In addition, the appointed expert will provide general support to RCMC in any civil engineering subject matter related to the Plan throughout the duration of this assignment. As such, the scope is a hybrid between advisory & quality control duties related to how and to what extent the civil engineering subject matter is being addressed in the preparation process and relevant outputs from Streams C and D of the Plan, and technical support to the RCMC around the general domain of civil engineering by as much as it relates to the Plan.

Duties and responsibilities (Tasks)

The expert shall ensure the following are accurately captured and addressed with respect to the process and outputs of streams C and D of the Plan being prepared by the selected consortium:

1. The current state of relevant civil engineering situations, works, elements, challenges and opportunities by as much as relevant to the three rapid intervention sites under Streams C and D.
2. The Architectural, Structural, street furniture and Landscaping plans and construction documents being prepared for three sites inside the central area.
3. Best-practice civil engineering guidelines and quality-control requirements.
4. Any required immediate mitigation measures required. As for general technical support to RCMC, the expert shall:
5. Support the RCMC planning and development departments and liaise with relevant stakeholders and consultants on any other relevant tasks by as much as required to successfully undertake the above tasks within the Plan and other supporting projects within the RCMC.

Payment

All deliverables are to be shared with UNDP team. Payment will be monthly based on total days worked and tasks performed. To this effect, the Expert is to keep a record of her/his work throughout the consultancy assignment using agreed upon timesheet template. Afterwards, a Certificate of Payment will be initiated to affect the payment.

Institutional Arrangement

The Civil Engineering expert will work under the overall guidance of the Urban and Local Development Portfolio Management at UNDP Saudi Arabia Office. Technically, he/she will work under the guidance of the UNDP Chief Technical Adviser (CTA), coordinate with the RCMC project manager (PM) and team, relevant stakeholders in addition to the UNDP appointed team of consultants throughout the duration of this mission.

Duty Station

This assignment will be partly undertaken remotely but the selected expert is expected to spend a minimum of 20 and up to 30 working days in Jeddah/Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Adjustment to this modality can be agreed in discussion with UNDP and RCMC.

Requirements

Education:

• MSc in civil engineering or civil works would be an advantage.
• BSc in civil engineering.

Min. years of relevant Work experience

• 8 after MSc or an equivalent higher degree
• 10 after BSc

Required skills

• Technical report writing.
• Ability to participate actively in meetings and/or workshops.
• Civil and structural design knowledge and skills including cut and fill solutions.
• Ability to understand, assess and if necessary, modify detailed structural plans and documents.
• Knowledge of road and pavement construction.
• Knowledge in soil mechanics.
• Local construction knowledge in KSA would be a major advantage.
• AutoCAD.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Interpersonal and communication
• GIS applications.

Required Language(s)

Full proficiency in the English is required. Ability to read/write/speak Arabic will be an advantage.

Professional Certificates

An asset if acquired in relevant fields