Client Discovery & Delivery Leadership

Jacobs; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) plan

Stock purchase program

Hybrid work policy

Job summary

Jacobs seeks a Discovery & Implementation Lead to own the discovery-to-delivery lifecycle for digital and AI solutions. You’ll interview users, shape requirements, and manage a backlog with FDEs to protect schedule and cost.

You’ll work in a hybrid model with US offices, guiding the team to deliver measurable impact and high-confidence outcomes for clients in North America.

Qualifications

• Experience in discovery, business analysis, requirements gathering, product ownership, or similar client-facing role.
• Experience owning and prioritizing a backlog and leading a technical team without formal authority.
• Strong facilitation skills to extract real drivers behind a request.
• Ability to define measurable success criteria and write actionable requirements.
• Proficiency with Azure DevOps or Jira.
• Comfort working at pace with incomplete information and tight timelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Run Rapid Discovery — lead interviews and small workshops to identify risks in days/weeks.
• Identify real drivers behind requests such as schedule risk or cost overrun.
• Translate findings into clear, buildable requirements.
• Own and prioritize the project backlog to protect schedule and cost.
• Lead the FDEs on the project and ensure accountability for deliverables.
• Define and track success metrics, and report progress to stakeholders.
• Validate work against client needs and discovery findings throughout.
• Ensure final quality and prevent half-finished work.
• Serve as the client’s primary contact between the client and FDE team.

Skills

Discovery & requirements

Backlog ownership

Facilitation

Measurable criteria

Azure DevOps / Jira

Clear communication

Fast-paced work

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Scheduling tools

Job description

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow — turning ideas into solutions that transform the world for good. Our Digital Program Solutions (DPS) team pairs Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) with clients to build fast, high-impact digital and AI solutions. Before any of that gets built, someone must quickly figure out what's actually needed — and once it's being built, someone must make sure it lands.

We're looking for a Discovery & Implementation Lead to own both ends of that process. Every client and stakeholder challenge you take on should trace back to one or more of three equally important outcomes delivering earlier — or protecting the schedule as-is — at lower cost, and with greater certainty and confidence. You'll start with fast, focused discovery — days and weeks, not months — meeting directly with users and small working groups (2–4 people) to find what's actually putting schedule, cost, or confidence at risk. From there, you'll own the backlog, lead the FDEs on your project, and stay engaged until the work is buttoned up and its impact is proven. This is not a development role — you won't write production code — but you're accountable for the FDE team delivering the right thing, well, with results you can show.

Location Hybrid 2 days per week at any US based Jacobs office with occasional travel for client discovery and delivery activities, primarily in North America.

A list of offices can be found here https//www.jacobs.com/locations/americas/united-states

What You'll Do

• Run Rapid Discovery — Lead interviews and small-group workshops (2–4 users), completing a discovery cycle in days or weeks, focused on finding what's putting schedule, cost, or delivery confidence at risk.
• Identify Real Challenges — Dig past the stated request to the actual driver — a schedule risk, a cost overrun, or a source of uncertainty the team hasn't named yet.
• Translate Findings into Requirements — Convert what you learn into clear requirements aimed at protecting or improving schedule, cost, and certainty alike.
• Own & Prioritize the Backlog — Maintain the project backlog and sequence work by what most protects or improves schedule, cost, or certainty — not just what's requested loudest.
• Lead the FDEs on Your Project — Set direction for your project's FDEs and own accountability for what gets delivered.
• Define & Track Success Metrics — Establish upfront how you'll measure impact — schedule days pulled in or protected, cost saved, or confidence/certainty gained — and report against it.
• Validate Against the Client's Needs — Continuously check work against discovery findings and client expectations, catching gaps early.
• Button It Up — Own final quality — nothing half-finished, undocumented, or unclear before the team calls it done.
• Be the Client's Point of Contact — Serve as the primary line between client and FDE team, managing expectations and keeping the client confident in where things stand.

Here’s what you'll need

• Experience in discovery, business analysis, requirements gathering, product ownership, or a similar client-facing role — ideally with exposure to program/project schedule or cost management.
• Experience owning and prioritizing a backlog, and leading or directing a technical team's work without formal authority.
• Strong facilitation skills — able to extract clarity and the real driver behind a request, not just notes.
• Ability to define measurable success criteria and write requirements a technical team can build from directly.
• Working fluency with Azure DevOps or Jira.
• Comfort working at pace, with incomplete information, on compressed timelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

• Professional services or consulting experience.
• Experience with rapid prototyping or mockup tools (e.g., Figma).
• Familiarity with project schedule/cost tools or methods (e.g., critical path analysis, EVM).

Our health and welfare benefits are designed to invest in you, and in the things you care about. Your health. Your well-being. Your security. Your future. Employees have access to medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and the ability to purchase company stock at a discount. Eligible employees may also enroll in a deferred compensation plan or the Executive Deferral Plan. Jacobs has an unlimited U.S. Personalized Paid Time Off (PPTO) policy for full-time salaried/exempt employees, seven paid holidays, and caregiver leave. And certain roles may be eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases, performance discretionary bonus, and stock.

The base salary range for this position is $170,000.00 to $185,000.00. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

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

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both the culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split the work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.