California Water Market Leader, Vice President
About the role
This Vice President Water Market Leader position is responsible for leading the strategic direction, growth, sales of Harris’ water and wastewater infrastructure in the California market. This role ensures alignment of business development, client engagement, and service delivery to achieve long-term business objectives and key client relationships while partnering with Business Unit leaders to deliver Harris services.
Responsibilities
Own and direct the Water Market strategic plans aligned with corporate growth objectives and sales efforts within the California Water Market, including strategic opportunity identification, client engagement, pre-positioning, and capture planning and go/no go decisions to ensure Harris' pursuit resources are focused on the highest-value, highest-probability opportunities.
Build and maintain trusted relationships with cities, counties, Special Districts, municipal-owned utilities, public agencies, and key industry stakeholders to position Harris for long-term partnership opportunities within the Water Market.
Own and execute market growth strategies aligned with Business Units and corporate priorities to expand Harris’ presence in the California Water Market and initially position the firm for expansion of program management and engineering design services.
Provide strategic leadership for Water System program management and engineering design services, including planning, design, and project delivery in collaboration with other Harris leaders.
Lead and inspire multidisciplinary pursuit and delivery teams across multiple offices fostering a culture of high-quality project execution, collaboration, accountability and staff development.
Accountable for Harris’ California Water Market sales, backlog growth, and resource planning, and collaboration with other Harris leaders.
Lead the development of compelling technical proposals, and client presentations that clearly articulate Harris’ approach, qualifications and value proposition that support marketing initiatives to secure new business and strengthen brand presence in the Water Market.
Represent Harris as an industry leader and market spokesperson at industry conferences, professional organizations, and client forums to elevate the firm’s visibility and influence within the California Water Market.
Collaborate with corporate support teams including Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, and Information Technology to support business development and organizational growth.
Monitor market trends, capital program planning activity, and competitor positioning to inform pursuit strategy and identify emerging opportunities before they reach formal solicitation.
Identify and cultivate teaming relationships with subconsultants and strategic partners to strengthen Harris' position on major Water Market pursuits.
Partner with ELT (Executive Leadership Team) and senior leadership to influence firmwide strategy and investment decisions.
Track KPIs for Water Market sales and BD efforts in alignment with firmwide Water Market goals.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
Licensed California Professional Engineer (PE) required.
Minimum of 20 years of progressively advanced experience in the delivery of program management and engineering design services of water systems delivered by cities, counties, Special Districts, or separate municipal-owned utilities.
Strong executive presence and experience influencing enterprise-level decisions.
Demonstrated experience leading business development efforts, including pre-positioning and capture planning, development of technical proposals, and securing new contracts for Water System programs and capital projects delivered by the public sector.
Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategic client engagement plans to develop new and maintain key client relationships with public agencies within the Water Market.
Demonstrated successful track record managing large Water System programs and engineering design projects, and leading multidisciplinary program management and/or engineering design project teams.
Experience managing financial performance, including an understanding of financial key performance indicators, revenue growth, backlog development, budgeting, and profitability.
Strong leadership skills with the ability to mentor staff, build teams, and foster a collaborative culture.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and client management skills.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary Rate for this role is $250,000 to $325,000. Title and compensation will be commensurate with a candidate’s professional background, experience, and location. We offer competitive salaries and benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. Harris & Associates is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability) and provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, genetic information, disability or veteran status.