Pump Stations and Pipelines (PS&PL) Business Class Director

About the role

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As part of our Water Business Group, you’ll help shape how communities manage water for generations to come. From delivering safe drinking water and treating wastewater responsibly to developing sustainable water supplies and protecting lives and property through flood control, your work will directly support public health, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.

We bring together experts across disciplines to solve complex challenges with bold thinking and technical excellence. As the Pump Stations and Pipelines (PS&PL) Business Class Director, you will provide company-wide leadership, coordination, and quality oversight for pump stations, pipeline, and tunneling design programs. This role ensures technical competencies meet client needs, market demands, and risk management standards across HDR.

Responsibilities

• Provide company-wide leadership of technical capabilities within the business class.
• Build close working relationships and coordinate with related business classes, market sectors, business groups, and operations.
• Lead and participate in technical risk management through process and resource reviews, technical advisory services, and claims prevention.
• Drive quality assurance and control processes; coordinate with the WBG Quality Manager.
• Oversee development and application of technical tools, standards, and techniques to enhance service quality and efficiency.
• Ensure technical staff monitor emerging technologies and assign qualified staff to projects, including effective work-sharing.
• Work with market sector directors to develop strategic plans and provide business trend input to leadership.
• Lead applied research strategy (e.g., Water Research Foundation) to advance technical capabilities and translate research into practice.
• Maintain strategic relationships with university graduate programs for workforce development and recruiting.
• Facilitate business class teamwork, communication, and work-sharing between offices, management, marketing, and staff.
• Monitor business class direction, adherence to policies, quality assurance, and resource allocation.
• Build technical expertise and production capacity through recruitment and training; coordinate strategic hires.
• Support client development and project pursuits by facilitating technical experts.
• Ensure technical experts represent HDR in industry organizations through presentations and publications.
• Oversee Practice Groups within the Business Class.
• Facilitate “lessons learned” for project delivery, processes, trends, successes, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Monitor company-wide performance to achieve defined goals and support operational managers in corrective actions.
• Facilitate the PARR process through assignment of Lead Reviewers, acting as a Lead Reviewer, and reviewing exemption requests.
• Collaborate with HDR legal, project managers, and leadership on go/no-go decisions, SOWs, contracts, and project pricing, especially for water conveyance tunnels.
• Coordinate with regional and corporate business class technical leads and advisors.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering, or closely related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in a related field.
• For Business Class leadership roles overseeing technical design, must maintain a professional or Architecture/Engineering registration with related technical experience.
• Experience in development and management of diverse teams.
• Works cooperatively with other business class directors, operations managers, technical directors, and marketing managers.
• Committed to quality, improvement, and HDR values.
• Active participant in our employee-owned culture.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a Business Class or Professional Services leadership role.
• Experience working cooperatively with other HDR business class directors, operations managers, technical directors, and marketing managers on business class efforts.

Keywords: pumps, pump station, pump facility, design, pipe, pipeline, transient, tunnel.

Location and Travel

The geographic location of this position is non-specific; however, a location with significant HDR presence is preferred. The estimated average travel requirement is 50%, with monthly variations between 0% and 75%.

Benefits

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, health, performance, and success, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability and life insurance.
• Employee assistance program.
• Paid time away, parental leave, and holidays.
• Retirement savings plan with employer match.
• Employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement.

Eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) foster inclusion and support.

Pay

The expected compensation range for this position is $178,952–$336,375, depending on skills, experience, education, and geographical location.