Senior Vice President, Resilience

WSP; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 146,000 - 294,000; Full time

Job summary

WSP seeks a Senior Vice President, Resilience to lead and expand the Resilience Services Practice from a national platform across the United States. This is a full-time executive role focused on climate adaptation, risk-based decision making, and transportation resilience.

The role combines technical excellence with client leadership, business development, and team-building to deliver integrated resilience solutions for transportation infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, planning, economics, environmental science, public policy, geography, climate science, or related field.
• 20+ years of experience related to transportation infrastructure, resilience, climate adaptation, risk analysis, or infrastructure strategy.
• Leadership of large-scale transportation resilience, adaptation, or infrastructure investment programs.
• Strong understanding of transportation systems, climate hazards, and resilience solutions.
• Proven experience managing complex multidisciplinary projects and teams.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage large programs and practices for a line of business.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and strategic planning skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership as a thought leader in transportation resilience for WSP.
• Lead growth of WSP's State DOT resilience market across the U.S.
• Establish executive relationships with transportation agencies, ports, airports, and other stakeholders.
• Guide development of resilience-focused service offerings and pursuit strategies.
• Mentor resilience professionals and foster collaboration across practices.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Client relationships

Communication

Project management

Business development

Team mentorship

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Master's degree (preferred)

Job description

This Opportunity

WSP is currently initiating a search for a Senior Vice President, Resilience to support and expand our growing Resilience Services Practice. This is a full-time position located in any major WSP office in the United States.

This leadership position will serve as a nationally recognized thought leader in transportation resilience, helping clients prepare for and adapt to climate change, extreme weather, and other evolving risks to transportation infrastructure systems. The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership across planning, engineering, economics, policy, risk analysis, and implementation services, while guiding the growth of WSP's transportation resilience business.

The role requires a strong combination of technical excellence, industry influence, client leadership, business development, and team-building capabilities. The successful candidate will work collaboratively across WSP's transportation, infrastructure, water, energy, environmental, and advisory practices to deliver integrated resilience solutions for clients.

Your Impact

• Technical Leadership
  • Serve as a thought leader in transportation resilience for WSP.
  • Advance industry best practices related to climate adaptation, transportation resilience, risk-informed decision making, and infrastructure investment planning.
  • Guide development and application of innovative approaches for climate risk assessment, vulnerability analysis, resilience planning, adaptation strategy development, benefit-cost analysis, and resilience design criteria.
  • Provide executive technical oversight and quality review for major resilience projects and programs.
  • Translate emerging research, policy, and funding trends into practical client solutions.
  • Support integration of resilience considerations throughout planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance, and asset management processes.
• Client Leadership
  • Serve as trusted advisor to transportation agencies, infrastructure owners, ports, airports, transit agencies, freight stakeholders, and government organizations.
  • Build and maintain relationships with key transportation clients.
  • Lead strategic discussions regarding resilience investments, risk reduction priorities, and long-term adaptation programs.
  • Represent WSP in executive briefings, workshops, peer exchanges, and industry forums.
• Business Development and Market Growth
  • Lead growth of WSP's State DOT resilience market across the U.S.
  • Develop and execute business development strategies aligned with transportation and resilience priorities.
  • Lead pursuit strategy, opportunity identification, capture planning, teaming decisions, and key proposal efforts.Support development of resilience-focused service offerings that differentiate WSP in the marketplace.
  • Represent WSP at conferences, professional societies, industry advisory groups, and resilience-focused initiatives.
• People and Practice Leadership
  • Mentor and develop resilience professionals across multiple disciplines and career stages.
  • Help recruit, retain, and develop high-performing technical leaders.
  • Foster collaboration between resilience specialists and transportation planning, engineering, environmental, economics, and advisory teams.
  • Contribute to strategic planning and long-term growth of the Resilience Services Practice.
  • Promote innovation, technical excellence, inclusion, and a strong team culture.
• 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, planning, economics, environmental science, public policy, geography, climate science, or a related field.
• 20+ years of experience related to transportation infrastructure, resilience, climate adaptation, risk analysis, or infrastructure strategy.
• Demonstrated leadership of large-scale transportation resilience, adaptation, or infrastructure investment programs.
• Strong understanding of transportation systems, climate hazards, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and resilience solutions.
• Proven experience managing complex multidisciplinary projects and teams.
• Demonstrated ability with establishing, implementing, and managing multiple larger-scale discipline-related programs, documents, projects, and practices for a line(s) of business.
• Excellent leadership and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to manage staff, and effectively, persuasively, and tactfully interact with employees at all levels of the organization.
• Strategic lateral thinking and strong analytical skills with attention to detail and prioritization of responsibilities in a pressure work environment.
• Ability to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources, including senior management, clients, and company-wide staff, including those with whom no formal hierarchical relationship exits.
• Strong ability to quickly adapt to change and demonstrate flexibility to a variety of schedules and hours to meet business needs.
• Demonstrated success developing and maintaining executive-level client relationships.
• Proven track record of business development and winning major transportation or resilience programs.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and strategic leadership skills.
• Ability to effectively engage with technical experts, agency executives, policymakers, and elected officials.
• Advanced knowledge and proficiency with office automation/communication software, technology, math principles, predictive models, and tools used in the corporate environment.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP's health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in a relevant field.
• National reputation as a transportation resilience, climate adaptation, infrastructure risk, or resilience planning expert.
• Experience supporting federal transportation agencies, state DOTs, transit agencies, rail operators, ports, airports, or metropolitan planning organizations.
• Experience with resilience funding programs including PROTECT, IIJA, IRA, FEMA, FHWA, FTA, FRA, FAA, and related funding sources.
• Published thought leadership, research, guidance documents, or industry standards related to transportation resilience.
• Active participation in TRB, ASCE, APTA, AASHTO, PIARC, or similar professional organizations.

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): $146,300 - $293,900

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): $146,300 - $303,400

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.