Director of Engineering – Water

ARCADIS Group; City Of London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A global engineering consultancy is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead the Water team in the UK's City of London. The successful candidate will manage key client relationships and oversee complex water projects. Responsibilities include promoting technical excellence, developing high-performing teams, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality solutions. Candidates should have a relevant degree and leadership experience in the engineering sector.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in leading technical projects in a pressured environment.
• Experience in developing high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong commitment to technical excellence and professional standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Water team ensuring technical solutions meet client expectations.
• Manage relationships with clients and business opportunities.
• Provide strong leadership and support for team development.

Skills

Leadership

Technical problem-solving

Client relationship management

Continuous improvement

Team development

Education

BSc/BEng or MSc/MEng in relevant discipline

Chartered or Fellowship professional status

Job description

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated toimproving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Arcadis is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead our Water team. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing key client relationships, ensuring the delivery of high-quality technical solutions, and advancing our expertise within the water sector. This role includes oversight of major projects, risk management, and the implementation of strategic growth initiatives. The Director will also provide strong leadership, supporting and developing team members to achieve their full potential.

In Engineering, you'll create some of the world’s most iconic and ground-breaking structures and spaces that transform the world around us, from making journeys easier to opening up public places that bring people together.

We work to protect our natural environment and water resources, while powering our world for future generations. Around the world, we’re feeling the effects climate change, rapid urbanization, loss of biodiversity. The rate at which we’re seeing large-scale, unforeseen events such as floods and wildfires, is becoming more frequent.We are here to protect our natural environment and water resources, while powering our world for future generations.

• Promote continual improvement in SHE performance across the business, including ‘safe by design’ initiatives and any personal targets.
• Build relationships with clients and partners to identify and realise business opportunities across all Service Lines and to ensure that client expectations and Arcadis’ commercial objectives are met or exceeded.
• Provide technical leadership at a subject level, promoting Arcadis technical excellence across industry and peer groups through strong regional networks. Promotes Arcadis technical excellence across industry and peer groups.
• Evaluate technical competence of senior staff proposed for projects, supporting our people to realise their potential, identifying and providing specific training and mentoring needs.
• Lead the recruitment and development of water engineering teams with Business Directors, setting objectives and managing performance, to ensure that the team has the resources and capability to achieve the business plan.
• Ensure that complex technical projects are effectively led with good communication and collaboration between Arcadis and its partner organisations, proactively leading the resolution of technical issues.
• Keep up to date with developments in the water sector (including technical and legislative), seeking opportunities to develop a strong professional profile for Arcadis at a national level (e.g. conference presentations, thought leadership articles and participation in technical committees).
• Sponsor innovation initiatives that resolve complex client challenges and promote Arcadis leadership in this area.
• In conjunction with Business Directors, establish and agree key performance targets and financial budgets for the engineering teams in order to optimise business performance in line with set objectives.
• Perform independent technical reviews for complex and major projects that are classified as high risk to the Arcadis Business.
• Encourage innovative and entrepreneurial thinking amongst team members, sponsoring service delivery CoPs.
• Promote and market all facets of the company’s services during client interfaces, providing direction and a leading contribution to complex technical aspects of bids, supporting the production of high quality winning pursuits.

Qualifications & Experience:

Demonstrable experience of:

• Applying independent judgement and responsibility in leading the resolution of complex technical challenges in a pressured environment
• Establishing and developing high-performing teams capable of delivering complex multi-disciplinary technical projects
• Providing inspiring leadership to mixed teams from varied disciplines, background and culture
• Leading continuous improvement in ‘safe by design’ initiatives, health, safety and welfare
• Providing effective contributions, insight and active leadership in support of successful pursuits
• A strong commitment to technical excellence and the professional standards demanded by their institution
• Building credible relationships with senior leaders (internally and externally)
• Exhibiting the leadership qualities and behaviors sought in the Arcadis Global Leadership Model

Candidate should possess:

• A broad understanding of the regulated water and water management sectors, challenges and opportunities
• An extensive knowledge of legislation, hazards and safe systems of work
• A strong understanding of the principles of commercial management
• A strong focus on health, safety and all dimensions of people welfare
• A strong focus on designing and deploying effective project delivery processes
• Have a BSc/BEng or MSc/MEng or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
• Have achieved Chartered (or ideally Fellowship) professional status.
• A sound knowledge of the principles of sustainable design

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.

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Job Info

• Job Identification 36772
• Job Category Design & Engineering
• Posting Date 12/22/2025, 11:21 AM
• Apply Before 01/30/2026, 11:21 AM
• Locations Suite 4D, Fourth Floor, Hodge House, 114-116 St Mary Street, Cardiff, CF10 1DY, GB