Project Director- Water-La Metro

About the role

The Project Director-Water-Southern, CA position is a critical role in GHD’s municipal business, focusing on delivering projects while building long-term client relationships.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted advisor to existing clients through direct project leadership and consistent delivery performance.
• Maintain deep understanding of client priorities, funding realities, and community outcomes.
• Represent client and community voices internally, shaping solutions and pursuits based on real delivery insight.
• Lead or play a senior role in the delivery of key projects, ensuring outcomes align with client expectations and commitments made during pursuits.
• Convert successful delivery into repeat work, expanded scope, and follow-on opportunities.
• Identify growth opportunities emerging from active projects and ongoing client engagements.
• Use delivery experience to inform strategy, pricing, risk assessment, and positioning.
• Shape and lead pursuits where delivery experience, technical judgment, and client trust are critical differentiators.
• Partner with Relationship Managers, Market Leads, and technical teams to pursue targeted opportunities.
• Contribute to proposal strategy, messaging, and interviews with a focus on credibility and execution confidence.
• Participate in contract negotiations with a clear understanding of delivery risk, resourcing, and outcomes.
• Oversee and be accountable for project performance, including scope, schedule, budget, quality, and client satisfaction.
• Track and manage key performance indicators such as backlog, margin, and client health for assigned accounts.
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulations, procurement requirements, and internal governance.
• Provide clear communication and reporting to internal leadership on client performance and growth outlook.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Environmental Science, or similar.
• Professional Engineer license preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in Project Management, with municipal or public sector project delivery and client relationship management.
• Strong Seller/Doer experience with strong business development, proposal preparation and marketing skills.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence at senior levels.
• Proficiency in CRM tools (Salesforce in particular) and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Strategic thinker with a client-centric mindset.
• Strong understanding of municipal operations, governance, and procurement.
• Experience in client engagement and business development, with a track record of building relationships across government, industry, and community stakeholders.

Additional Responsibilities

• Act as subject matter expert in an area of technology, policy, regulation, or operational management for the team.
• Maintain external accreditations and in-depth understanding of current and emerging external regulation and industry best practices through continuing professional development, attending conferences, and reading specialist media.
• Personal Capability Building: Act as subject matter expert in an area of technology, policy, regulation, or operational management for the team. Maintain external accreditations and in-depth understanding of current and emerging external regulation and industry best practices through continuing professional development, attending conferences, and reading specialist media.

Pay

$137,000 - $229,000 based on location and experience.

Schedule

Hybrid model, combining in-office collaboration and flexibility.