Program Director (Power & Energy) - Remote

WSP; Freeport (ME); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 259,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

Travel opportunities

Job summary

WSP Global Inc. is seeking a Program Director (Power and Energy) to lead large, complex EHV Transmission and Distribution programs from our Maine-area locations (Freeport, Portland, Augusta). The role allows remote work but requires Maine residency and travel to offices as needed.

You will provide leadership, define strategy, oversight, and governance for multi-project portfolios, ensuring QA/QC, contractual compliance, and profitable performance while guiding staff and multi-disciplinary teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 12+ years of post-education project management experience in the industry.
• Strong understanding of A/E/C project delivery and PM principles.
• Experience communicating with leadership, subcontractors, and staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, large-scale projects; manage budgets, forecasts, margins, KPIs; monitor risks and contingencies.
• Foster stakeholder engagement and report on project progress.
• Participate in contract negotiations and client meetings; provide strategic guidance.
• Ensure profitable performance and successful completion of projects within the portfolio.
• Provide leadership to multi-disciplinary teams and mentor staff.
• Develop and maintain project governance documents (RMP, PMP, QP, PSP, Communications Plans).
• Lead project management discipline meetings and drive continuous improvement and innovation.
• Develop project recovery plans for budget and overruns with client.
• Ensure regular reporting to clients and management; closeout and lessons learned.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Budgeting & KPIs

Contract negotiation

Analytical thinking

Leadership

Communication

Adaptability

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering/science

Master’s Degree in Engineering

Tools

MS Office (Word, Excel, Visio, Project, SharePoint)

Job description

This Opportunity

WSP is seeking a Program Director (Power and Energy) for our Power & Energy Program Management Office. The following locations will be considered: Freeport, ME; Portland, ME; Augusta, ME. The successful candidate can work remotely but must be located in Maine with the ability to travel to a WSP and/or Client office as needed. This position provides leadership, definition, and oversight pertaining to the consistent delivery of large scale/highly complex programs within the Extra High Voltage (EHV) Transmission and Distribution sector.

Your Impact

• Lead the most complex and largest scale projects within the organization, ensuring contributors know what they are required to do and by when, preparing and overseeing relevant project budgets, forecasts, margins and KPIs, monitoring external events and risk contingencies, tracking hours and expenses, ensuring QA/QC and satisfactory performance, and managing the contractual obligations to deliver the project or assigned portfolio of assigned project(s) as defined in the contract.
• Foster effective and proactive strategies to engage project stakeholders at all levels, maintain effective relationships, and report on project progress.
• Participate in the technical aspects of contract negotiation, presentations, and meetings.
• Accountable for the profitable performance and successful completion of all individual projects within the specified area or portfolio.
• Provide leadership to multi-disciplinary project teams and contribute to providing high level strategic advice to clients.
• Provide performance guidance and proactive leadership to assigned managers and staff.
• Help develop, maintain, and update Project Initiation and governance documentation, including Risk Registers (REF/RMP), Project Management Plans (PMP), Project Quality Plans (QP), Project Safety Plans (PSP), and Communications Plans, in accordance with WSP and client requirements.
• Lead project management discipline meetings, addressing root cause issues and potential solutions, leveraging opportunities for improvement in area of responsibility, and providing updates and recommendations to staff that ensure all appropriate measures are taken to foster innovation, development, and quality project delivery.
• Lead the development of project recovery plans, including team input for developing strategy for correcting project budget and overrun issues with the client.
• Ensure regular project reporting and updates are provided to clients, technical areas, and business unit managers, identifying any emergent issues with scope, risk, and/or budget.
• Ensure the completion of all formal project closeout activities, along with the facilitation and documentation of a lessons-learned meeting with key project staff.
• Collaborate with professionals and leadership from a variety of disciplines to provide "trusted advisor" service and future ready solutions for clients.
• Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures.
• Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, or a related major, or equivalent experience in a technical or engineering firm.
• 12+ years of relevant post education experience in a project management role within our industry.
• Highly proficient understanding of project delivery process within the A/E/C industry and strong background and experience in project management.
• Advanced proficiency with analytical and organizational skills, with business acumen to bridge the business and project management.
• Advanced proficiency with critical thinking and problem-solving skills to make assessments and calculations involving the application of project management principles, with a sound understanding of intent, impact, and optimal outcomes.
• Advanced proficiency with interpersonal and communication skills to interact effectively, persuasively, and tactfully with leadership, subcontractors, and employees at all levels of the organization.
• Excellent self-leadership with attention to detail, multi-tasking, and adjusting readily to the changing prioritization of responsibilities in a dynamic work environment.
• Strong experience in managing the review and approval of documents and discipline-specific project deliverables, processes, and plans in a multi-project environment is highly desirable.
• Ability to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources, including senior management, subcontractors, consultants, and company-wide staff, including those with whom no formal hierarchical relationship exits.
• Advanced knowledge and proficiency with technical writing, office automation, relevant software, MS Office suite products (e.g., Word, Excel, Visio, Project, SharePoint), technology, spreadsheets, and PM tools.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
• Strong ability to quickly adapt to change and demonstrate flexibility to a variety of schedules and hours to meet project-specific needs.
• Up to 25 % travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Engineering
• Essential project management certification required (e.g., PMP, CAP-M).

WSP Benefits:

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee's career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Compensation:

Expected Salary (all locations): $145,400 - $259,100

WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant's sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.

Expected Salary (Colorado only): $111,200 - $186,100

WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and/or offer for this position within the state of Colorado, based on the successful applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant's sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.

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