Central Virginia Water Practice Manager

Dewberry Engineers Incorporated; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Dewberry seeks a Central Virginia Water Practice Leader to guide the Richmond-based water/wastewater practice, collaborating with regional teams to deliver municipal projects across Central Virginia.

The role requires strong leadership, client relationship development, and strategic planning to drive performance and growth in a multi-office setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline.
• Virginia Professional Engineer (PE) license required.
• 15 years of experience in water/wastewater consulting for public-sector clients.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams on planning, design, and delivery.
• Proven ability to develop municipal client relationships in Central Virginia.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in business development, capture planning, and proposals.

Responsibilities

• Lead and advance the Central Virginia water/wastewater practice.
• Provide leadership to senior project managers and technical leaders.
• Forecast workload, plan resources, and coordinate staffing regionally.
• Develop client, capture, and pursuit plans aligned with national strategy.
• Collaborate with MA Water leadership and marketing teams.
• Drive practice performance and client service excellence.
• Represent Dewberry in industry organizations.

Skills

Water/Wastewater expertise

Leadership

Client relationship building

Strategic planning

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

Virginia PE license

Master’s degree preferred

15 years of water/wastewater experience

Job description

Central Virginia Water Practice Leader

• Job ID: 16099
• # of Openings: 1
• Job Location: US-VA-Richmond
• Category: Water/Waste Water
• Relocation Assistance: Yes

Dewberry is seeking an experienced and collaborative Central Virginia Water Practice Manager to lead and advance our Richmond‑based water/wastewater practice serving clients throughout Central and Southeast Virginia.

As a key member of the Central Virginia leadership team, you will provide operational, strategic, and client leadership for a well‑established regional practice, helping shape operational priorities, staffing strategies, resource planning, and practice performance while guiding senior project and client managers, supporting pursuit and proposal efforts, and ensuring the successful delivery of high‑quality projects for municipal clients.

Working collaboratively across our MA Water offices in Baltimore, Fairfax, Richmond, and Virginia Beach, you will leverage Dewberry's national water expertise, strategic market resources, and deep technical bench to drive client success, strengthen practice performance, and deliver meaningful infrastructure solutions throughout the region.

The ideal candidate will bring a strong understanding of water markets, public‑sector clients, and project delivery environments, along with demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams, implementing operational best practices, supporting business development initiatives, and fostering collaboration across geographically dispersed teams.

Dewberry is a leading, market‑facing professional services firm with more than 60 locations and 2,500 professionals nationwide. What sets us apart from our competitors is our people. At Dewberry, we seek out exceptional talent and strive to deliver the highest quality of services to our clients. Whether you're an experienced professional or a new graduate, you'll have the chance to collaborate with the best and brighten and work on innovative and complex projects at the forefront of the industry. Our commitment to excellence stems from our personal integrity and from other defining attributes, which we call "Dewberry at Work," that have inspired our employees to be successful for more than a half‑century.

Responsibilities

As a member of the Dewberry team, you will lead and advance our Central Virginia water/wastewater practice through operational leadership, client service, strategic collaboration, business development, and project delivery excellence. Provide leadership, mentorship, and strategic direction to senior project managers, client managers, and technical leaders to promote collaboration, accountability, operational efficiency, and professional growth.

Support practice operations through workload forecasting, resource planning, staff utilization management, and coordination of staffing needs across the region.

• Develop and execute client, capture, and pursuit plans that support the strategic objectives of the Central Virginia water/wastewater practice and align with Dewberry's national water strategy.
• Serve as a primary or secondary client manager for key municipal water and wastewater clients, building and maintaining trusted relationships with public‑sector agencies throughout Central Virginia.
• Support business development efforts through identification, evaluation, and pursuit of strategic opportunities, including leading go/no‑go decisions and fostering long‑term client relationships.
• Collaborate with Mid‑Atlantic Water business unit leadership, marketing, capture, and pursuit teams to develop winning strategies, proposals, interviews, scopes, and pricing.
• Drive achievement of practice performance, client service, and strategic business objectives by leveraging Dewberry's local and national water capabilities and technical expertise.
• Lead and coordinate local and geographically dispersed teams to position, win, and successfully deliver high‑quality engineering services while promoting consistency, collaboration, operational excellence, and implementation of best practices.
• Support implementation of operational best practices, quality initiatives, project delivery improvements, and performance metrics across the Central Virginia water practice.
• Assemble and manage client, project, and subconsultant teams to meet client needs and support successful project delivery, operational excellence, and practice objectives.
• Negotiate project scope, fees, schedules, and resources to achieve client expectations and project objectives.
• Support MA Water strategy and collaboration across offices in Baltimore, Fairfax, Richmond, and Virginia Beach, including work‑sharing, resource coordination, and early positioning for strategic opportunities.
• Participate in national and regional water market initiatives and represent Dewberry through active involvement in industry and professional organizations, enhancing the firm's visibility and reputation.
• Contribute to planning, coordination, and implementation of local, regional, and national practice initiatives within Dewberry's national water framework.
• Demonstrate Dewberry's commitment to honesty, integrity, teamwork, and client‑focused service.

Required Skills & Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Virginia Professional Engineer (PE) license required.
• 15 years of experience in the water/wastewater consulting industry serving public‑sector clients.
• Strong understanding of water and wastewater infrastructure systems and demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams responsible for planning, design, and project delivery.
• Experience building and maintaining municipal client relationships, preferably in Central Virginia.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven success leading business development, capture planning, proposal development, and interview efforts for municipal water and wastewater projects.
• Collaborative leadership style with the ability to work effectively with senior leaders, peers, and staff.
• Demonstrated success managing operational performance, staff utilization, and project delivery objectives within a consulting environment.
• Experience with resource planning, workload forecasting, project performance management, and operational leadership responsibilities.
• Experience leading practice operations, organizational initiatives, and regional business functions within a multi‑discipline engineering consulting environment.

Don't meet every single requirement? At Dewberry we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for our employees. So if you're excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the position description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may just be the right candidate for this or other opportunities.

*At this time, Dewberry will not sponsor a new applicant for work authorization.

*Dewberry is an Equal Opportunity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or sexual orientation.

*Only recipients of an offer of employment from Dewberry, will be required to submit to a background screening which may include, but is not limited to, employment verification, educational and other credential verification, driving record check, criminal background check, and an investigative consumer report. These screenings will be conducted by Dewberry's background vendor of choice and will be conducted in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.

Salary Range

The projected range for this position is $190,000 - $240,000 annually. Depending upon other factors, i.e., skills, experience, location, market conditions, the range may vary slightly.