US Director, Project Governance & Execution

WSP; New York (NY); On-site; USD 240,000 - 395,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Retirement savings plan

Paid time off

Job summary

WSP USA seeks a US Director, Project Governance & Execution to lead enterprise governance for project delivery across all US business lines. The role reports to the COO and collaborates with regional and global teams to set standards, tools, and execution practices that improve performance and client satisfaction.

You will drive commercial excellence, risk management, and technical quality, while advancing project controls and PM capability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, construction management, finance, or a related field.
• 17+ years of experience in project delivery, operations, commercial management, risk management, project controls, or enterprise delivery leadership.

Responsibilities

• Set and maintain enterprise project delivery governance across US business lines.
• Drive commercial excellence, pricing discipline, contract review governance, and risk management.
• Oversee technical quality frameworks, design reviews, and client satisfaction feedback mechanisms.
• Lead development and execution of project delivery training for PMs and project directors.
• Coordinate acquisition integration and alignment with global project delivery practices.

Skills

Leadership

Governance

Project delivery

Risk management

Commercial acumen

Strategic influence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, construction management, finance, or a related field

17+ years experience in project delivery, operations, commercial management, risk management, project controls, or enterprise delivery leadership

Job description

This Opportunity

The US Director, Project Governance & Execution is the senior leader responsible for strengthening project delivery governance, execution discipline, commercial performance, project management, technical quality, and delivery capability across all US business lines.

The role exists to help the US business deliver projects safely, profitably, on schedule, at high quality, and with satisfied clients, consistent with the mission reflected in the US project delivery organization design. This leader establishes standards, tools, governance routines, and execution practices to enable consistent project performance across a complex, multi-business-line organization.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and serving as part of the US Leadership Team, this role works closely with the regional, functional and global teams, in addition to leaders within each of the Business Lines in WSP US.

The successful candidate will bring demonstrated operational results, commercial acumen and discipline, enterprise influence, and the ability to move key business priorities across a matrixed organization. This role requires a leader who can set the bar, build alignment, enhance collaboration, make high-stakes decisions, hold accountabilities, and drive practical execution across policy, process, people, tools, and governance.

What This Role Owns

The US Director, Project Governance & Execution owns the enterprise framework for how WSP US governs and improves project delivery performance across the full project lifecycle. Key areas of ownership include:

• Project delivery governance and standards:Establish, maintain, and continuously improve policies, procedures, guidelines, tools, best practices, lessons learned, and practical how-to guidance across all US business lines.

• Commercial and risk management:Drive commercial excellence, pricing discipline, contract review governance, risk identification and mitigation, contingency management, subconsultant oversight, change management, claims and dispute resolution, commercial terms negotiation support, RDOA approval governance, and Work at Risk review.

• Technical quality governance:Oversee QA/QC frameworks, technical standards, design reviews, technical audits, lessons learned, client expectation processes, and client satisfaction feedback mechanisms.

• Project controls, tools, and reporting:Develop and evolve project delivery processes and procedures, including integration with ERP and Horizon, cost management, pricing development, scheduling, forecasting, EAC, earned value, and project performance reporting. Stay at the forefront of project management technology tools, including -enabled capabilities, and lead their practical adoption to improve project delivery insight, consistency, efficiency, and decision-making

• PM advancement and development:Strengthen project manager and project director onboarding, ongoing development, WSP best practices training, project leadership training, and coordination with global project leadership programs.

• Acquisition integration:Lead the project delivery component of acquisition integration, including gap analysis, project analysis, ERP transition support, training, and continued support.

• Global and regional alignment:Represent the US region in global project delivery forums and ensure the US execution model aligns with global initiatives while remaining practical for US business needs.

Your Impact

Enterprise Project Delivery Governance

• Set and maintain the US project delivery governance framework across all business lines.

• Establish clear standards for project planning, readiness reviews, project reviews, delivery controls, issue escalation, and recovery planning.

• Ensure governance practices are practical, business-focused, scalable, and consistently applied.

• Serve as the senior US decision maker on project delivery governance matters.

• Represent project delivery in US and global leadership forums.

Participate in go/no-go governance for pursuits that meet defined size, risk, complexity, commercial, contract, or delivery-risk thresholds. Commercial Performance and Risk Management

• Drive commercial excellence and standards across the US business.

• Strengthen pricing discipline, rate development, and commercial decision-making in partnership with Finance, Legal, Sales, Procurement, and business line leadership.

• Enable contract review and compliance processes for high-risk opportunities and projects in conjunction with the Legal team and enforce good risk management practices resulting from that process in line with WSP's approach.

• Oversee change management, contingency management, subconsultant management, and provide direct engagement on claims, dispute resolution and commercial terms negotiation.

• support Legal function in RDOA approval governance.Lead Work at Risk governance, and high-risk project/pursuit reviews.

Technical Quality and Delivery Assurance

• Establish and oversee US Technical quality frameworks, technical standards, and technical assurance processes.

• Ensure consistent use of independent technical reviews, design reviews, technical audits, and lessons learned.

• Monitor client expectations and client satisfaction feedback to identify improvement opportunities.

• Partner with business line, geographic, sector, and quality leaders to improve project performance and reduce delivery risk.

Project Controls, Tools, and Performance Reporting

• Oversee US project delivery tools, dashboards, and performance reporting.

• Support consistent practices for cost management, scheduling, forecasting, EAC, earned value, pricing development, and project performance reporting.

• Partner with Finance, BI & Analytics, IT, and Global teams to improve data quality, reporting discipline, and adoption of tools including Horizon.

• Ensure project controls are used to drive action, not simply reporting.

PM and Project Director Capability

• Lead the development and execution of project delivery training, onboarding, and ongoing development for project managers and project directors.

• Maintain a US project manager and project director qualifications roster, including certification status, and demonstrated delivery experience.

• Promote WSP best practices and project leadership expectations across business lines.

• Build and lead a stronger project delivery community with clear expectations, practical tools, and regular communication.

• Co-sponsor relevant global project leadership programs where applicable.

Acquisition and Integration Support

• Lead the project delivery component of acquisition integration.

• Conduct delivery gap assessments and support project portfolio reviews for acquired firms.

• Drive integration of WSP delivery practices, tools, governance, training, and ERP-related transitions.

• Ensure acquired teams are supported through the transition while delivery risk is actively managed.

Communication and Change Leadership

• Establish a clear communication cadence to the business on delivery expectations, governance changes, tools, training, and performance trends.

• Translate enterprise priorities into practical guidance for business line and project delivery teams.

• Lead change with clarity, consistency, and empathy, recognizing that adoption requires both discipline and support.

• Convene the extended project delivery team through regular working sessions and periodic in-person collaboration.

Leadership Expectations

This role requires a leader who can operate at both enterprise and practical execution levels. The successful candidate will:

• Own the decisions:Make critical calls that affect project performance, commercial outcomes, risk posture, and business objectives.

• Lead through influence:Build trust across US, global, functional, and business line stakeholders without relying solely on hierarchy.

• Think enterprise-wide:Represent the full US business, across all business lines and corporate functions, before making decisions. Apply clear enterprise standards where consistency is essential, while allowing appropriate flexibility based on a project’s size, scale, scope, complexity, and risk profile.

• Drive execution:Own the rollout, communication, training, adoption, and follow-through required to turn governance into measurable performance improvement.

• Build capability:Develop a strong governance team, empower decision-making, and create a culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.

Key Interfaces

The role requires regular partnership with:

• US COO

• US CFO and Finance Directors

• US General Counsel and Legal team

• Global Project Delivery Executive

• Global Financial Operations Director

• Global BI & Analytics Director

• Business Line Executives

• Business Line Operations Directors

• Business Line Project Delivery/Commercial Directors

• Geographic, sector, quality, commercial, and project delivery leaders

• Sales, Procurement, IT, HR, and acquisition integration teams

• Other WSP regional delivery teams globally

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, construction management, finance, or a related field.

• 17+ years of experience in project delivery, operations, commercial management, risk management, project controls, or enterprise delivery leadership.

• Demonstrated experience leading project delivery governance across a large, complex, matrixed organization.

• Strong understanding of project economics, including revenue, margin, pricing, risk, EAC, forecasting, earned value, and delivery performance.

• Experience working across multiple business lines, geographies, functions, and stakeholder groups.

• Strong commercial judgment, including experience with contract review, risk allocation, change management, claims, disputes, contingency, and Work at Risk decisions.

• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment within a global operating model.

• Proven ability to lead enterprise change, communicate clearly, and convert strategy into practical execution.

• Sound judgment in ambiguous, high-risk, and high-stakes situations.

• Strong executive presence, credibility, and relationship-building skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer license, PMP, or equivalent project delivery credential.

• Experience in engineering, consulting, construction, infrastructure, environmental, buildings, energy, transportation, program management, or related professional services.

• Experience leading or participating in global delivery governance, project controls, quality, risk, or commercial management forums.

• Background in quality systems, technical assurance, or enterprise QA/QC governance.

• Experience integrating acquired businesses into enterprise project delivery standards, tools, and operating rhythms.

• Familiarity with ERP-enabled project delivery processes, including Horizon or similar platforms

• Experience developing delivery dashboards, performance reporting, and governance

WSP Benefits

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on 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): $240,000-$395,000

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.

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