East Strategic Water Leader

Arup; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 310,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

401(k) plan with company match

Flexible working

Job summary

Arup in Washington, DC is seeking an East Strategic Water Leader to expand water advisory, planning, resilience, and digital services across DMV and the Americas. You will drive executive relationships, strategic pursuits, and delivery oversight for priority utilities, municipalities, and federal programs.

The role demands 20+ years in water, strong market knowledge, and ability to connect market strategy with delivery capacity while guiding large-scale programs and teams.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of water-sector experience with client leadership, delivery, and multisector teams.

Responsibilities

• Grow Arup's water advisory and delivery across DMV and wider Americas.
• Lead executive relationships and strategic pursuits with priority clients.
• Oversee project delivery quality, scope, schedule, budget, and risk.
• Shape win themes, teaming strategy, and interview messaging for major pursuits.
• Mentor DMV water talent and contribute to cross-office collaboration.

Skills

Water sector leadership

Client relationship management

Business development

Delivery oversight

Strategic planning

Proposal strategy

Job description

Arup's purpose, shared values, and collaborative approach has set us apart for over 80 years, guiding how we shape a better world.

The East Strategic Water Leader will grow Arup's water advisory, planning, resilience, digital, and technical services across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia as well as thought and market leadership to the wider Americas and global business. The role focuses on executive and senior client relationships, strategic pursuits, revenue growth, and delivery oversight for priority utility, municipal, federal, and infrastructure clients.

The successful candidate will develop trusted executive and senior-client relationships and bring together Arup's advisory, planning, resilience, digital, financial, and technical capabilities to deliver integrated solutions beyond traditional infrastructure design and delivery. Typical services may include organizational/human capital strategy and transformation, data, cyber, and AI consulting, policy and regulation, enterprise risk management, performance management, One Water planning, business operating model optimization, program advisory, and management consulting.

The role will be based in Washington, D.C. and will work closely with regional water leadership, the Americas Strategic Water Services leadership team, and colleagues across Arup's regional and global water business.

The Opportunity

• Develop and execute the DMV water growth strategy aligned with US growth strategy.
• Track client priorities, funding drivers, regulations, and capital plans.
• Identify growth areas in resilience, advisory, infrastructure investment, digital, and program delivery for the water sector.
• Recommend investments in capture, teaming, hiring, and market visibility.
• Represent the firm in relevant regional water and infrastructure forums.
• Serve as senior relationship lead for selected priority DMV clients.
  • Lead relationship and promotion of Strategic Services with other major national utilities
• Maintain focused account plans for priority clients and opportunities.
• Build relationships with others regionally and nationally around Strategic Water Services.
• Connect client needs with strategic, planning, engineering, advisory, resilience, digital, and delivery capabilities.
• Build trust through practical commitments and effective management of Arup and its collaborator resources.
• Lead capture planning for DMV area consulting pursuits.
• Shape win themes, teaming strategy, and value propositions.
• Guide proposal messaging, team structure, partner roles, and interview strategy.
• Confirm pursuit commitments are realistic and deliverable.
• Capture debrief lessons to improve future win rates.
• Delivery Performance
  • Provide senior delivery oversight for strategic consulting services.
  • Align client expectations, pursuit commitments, and delivery outcomes.
  • Promote quality, collaboration, and proactive risk management.
  • Support resource planning and resolution of critical delivery challenges.
  • Leverage project success to strengthen client relationships and drive growth.
• Team Development
  • Support recruiting and retention of DMV water talent.
  • Identify local capability gaps and address them through hiring, mentoring, or partnerships.
  • Mentor project managers, seller-doers, and emerging client leaders.
  • Create visible client, pursuit, and industry roles for rising leaders.
  • Strengthen a collaborative culture linking growth, technical excellence, and delivery.
• Align DMV priorities with broader water business plans.
• Share local market intelligence, client feedback, and competitor insight.
• Bring national technical and advisory expertise to DMV clients.
• Work with other leaders to bring Arup's strategic services offer to other major national water utilities
• Coordinate cross-office pursuits and facilitate work-sharing

At Arup, you belong to an extraordinary collective – in which we encourage individuality to thrive. Our strength comes from how we respect, share and connect our diverse experiences, perspectives and ideas.

You will have the opportunity to do socially useful work that has meaning – to Arup, to your career, to our members and to the clients and communities we serve.

Is this role right for you?

• 20+ years of water-sector experience, including business development, client leadership, delivery, and multidisciplinary team leadership.
• Strong understanding of the DMV water market and public-sector clients.
• Proven ability to build relationships, shape opportunities, lead capture, and support major wins.
• Strong understanding of scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, staffing, and client communication.
• Ability to connect market strategy with delivery capacity and responsible resource planning.
• Strong communication, executive presence, collaboration, and mentoring skills.
• Ability to work across offices and disciplines while maintaining a DMV-focused mandate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer license or equivalent credential.
• Experience with utility capital programs, resilience, flood mitigation, CSO/stormwater, treatment, conveyance, asset management, or program management.
• Existing relationships with DMV utilities, water market leadership, municipalities, federal agencies, or infrastructure owners.
• Experience leading major pursuits, interviews, account planning, and teaming decisions.
• Active participation in AWWA, WEF, NACWA, AMWA, ACEC, SAME, ULI, MWCOG, or similar organizations.
• Experience mentoring seller-doers and project leaders.

What we offer you

At Arup, we care about each member’s success, so we can grow together.

Guided by our values, we provide an attractive total reward package that recognizes the contribution of each of our members to our shared success. As well as competitive, fair and equitable pay, we offer a career in which all of our members can belong, grow and thrive – through benefits that support health and wellbeing, a wide range of learning opportunities and many possibilities to have an impact through the work they do.

We are owned in trust on behalf of our members, giving us the freedom, with personal responsibility, to set our own direction and choose work that aligns with our purpose and adds to Arup’s legacy. Our members collaborate on ambitious projects to deliver remarkable outcomes for our clients and communities. Profit Share is a key part of our reward, enabling members to share in the results of our collective efforts.

Benefits at Work - At Arup, we have a comprehensive and valuable benefits program that works for our employees and their families while keeping costs low. These benefits provide health and welfare security for you as well as paid time off for rest and renewal. As a member of Arup, everyone shares in our success through a global profit share scheme (payments are dependent on the firm’s financial performance). Our Global Profit Share Plan (paid bi-annually) provides an opportunity for you to share in the success of the Firm. As a valued employee of Arup, you can also choose to participate in our 401(k) plan with up to 10% company match to help you save for your future

Flexible Working - We believe that flexible arrangements create a more inclusive way of working that supports our diversity and the wellbeing of our people. Options for alternative schedules and the ability to work outside of the office for a portion of your workweek are available

Washington DC Hiring Range - The good faith base salary hiring range for this job if performed in Washington DC is $250,000 to 310,000 per year. This range is commensurate with experience, educational background, and skill level. Benefits are not included in the base salary. Please note hiring ranges for candidates performing work outside of Washington DC will differ.

Different People, Shared Values

Arup is an equal opportunity employer that actively promotes and nurtures a diverse and inclusive workforce. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age (within legal limits), gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, neurotype or mental health, race or ethnicity, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you're pregnant or on family leave. We are an open environment that embraces diverse experiences, perspectives, and ideas – this drives our excellence.

Guided by our values and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we create and contribute to equitable spaces and systems, while cultivating a sense of belonging for all. Our internal employee networks support our inclusive culture: from race, ethnicity and cross-cultural working to gender equity and LGBTQ+ and disability inclusion – we aim to create a space for you to express yourself and make a positive difference. Discover more about life at Arup at www.arup.com/careers/your-life-at-arup.

Our Application Process

We will be reviewing our candidates for this position on a rolling basis. Once you have applied you will be evaluated and potentially moved on to the next round, at which point a member of the talent resourcing team will reach out to you directly.

Arup is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, spouse of a protected veteran, or disability.

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