Associate Director - Water Market

Our client is a major design, engineering and project management consultancy who has been rapidly growing within various sectors and who is looking for multiple experienced professionals to join them on permanent basis. This role is for an Associate Director - Water Market located in Surrey.  

They welcome a variety of experience and plan to utilise your specialist skills to support their team in winning and delivering innovative multidisciplinary engineering solutions for their local water clients in the South East, plus their broad range of strategic UK and international clients, across both Clean Water and Wastewater infrastructure and non-infrastructure areas. This includes treatment works, desalination, pipelines and pumping stations, collection and storage systems and digital twins.  

On their frameworks act as programme manager or Project Director on regional frameworks with key clients, maintaining strong client relationships and driving continuous improvement in delivery.  

On major projects act as Lead Project Manager / Design Manager or Discipline Lead on project delivery across UK and international project lifecycles: feasibility studies, front-end to detailed design (incl. Design and Build), and construction support.  

Responsibilities include:  

- Develop and maintain key client relationships with local and national water clients.  

- Lead on work winning through bid management; production of proposals, fees, scope definition, and quality answers in response to client tenders, in accordance with the bid management system.  

- Client or contractor engagement (incl. Design & Build) to lead discussions on technical water civil engineering solutions, to technical and non-technical clients – both during project delivery and bidding stages.  

- Identify opportunities to promote value propositions with water clients.  

- Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary environment across teams and Practices to ensure successful delivery of projects.  

- Lead the efficient delivery of projects to meet programme and budget, complying with business management governance.  

- Accountability for profitable delivery of of projects and effective risk management.  

- Undertake technical design and/or review and supervision of project teams’ design deliverables including engineering design calculations, drawings and report writing complying with the design management system.  

- Lead on quality and safe design of technical solutions for projects in accordance with relevant design standards and codes.  

- Champion the application of digital engineering initiatives and execution of innovative advances in water sector solutions.  

- Mentoring and line management responsibilities for team members from graduates to less experienced senior team members.  

- Provide technical leadership in water engineering.

- Educated to degree level in an engineering discipline (Civil, Mechanical, Process, EICA); Chartered Member of a recognised engineering institution.  

- Extensive hands on experience of design / design-&-build / project and bid delivery and leadership in the water and/or wastewater engineering sector.  

- A strong technical water sector background, incl. knowledge of relevant UK and international codes and standards, for water and/or wastewater infrastructure and/or non-infrastructure assets.  

- Highly motivated, organised and with a strong desire to promote technical excellence within project teams and wider team/practice.  

- Experience of working with contractors to deliver the successful implementation of engineering solutions, including the Design & Build environment.  

- Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work both collaboratively and independently within a multidisciplinary team including with Clients, Contractors and colleagues alike.  

- Proven track record of innovation in the water sector – digital advances, circularity, low carbon, new materials, prefabrication etc.  

- Flexible approach to work type and locations for project assignments, including overseas working or visits, if required.