Business Development Lead, Water/Wastewater Construction

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

Arcadis seeks a Business Development Lead for California’s Water/Wastewater Construction group, with 20 or more years’ experience, to join our Water Construction Management team in our San Francisco, CA office. 

Arcadis has significantly grown its municipal water team and construction management services in Northern California over the past few years. Continuing the path of growth, this position offers an exciting opportunity for a self-motivated individual to join our local team. The Business Development Lead, with the support of a strong nationally recognized technical staff, will utilize their expertise and technical knowledge of the water and wastewater construction market along with a proven reputation within Northern California to successfully execute projects, to help build and grow our practice.

Role accountabilities:

As the Business Development Lead for California’s Water/Wastewater Construction group you will play a key part in driving marketing efforts, recruiting top talent, and leading teams to deliver winning proposals and impactful presentations.

You will provide hands-on leadership throughout all phases of construction projects, overseeing daily activities, managing contracts, and ensuring quality assurance and control. Regular client updates and progress reporting will be a core part of your responsibilities. You’ll also monitor contractor performance, site safety, and the work of subcontractors and suppliers, proactively communicating any changes or deviations from plan.

This role involves managing scopes of work and budgets, and working closely with project and program managers to ensure engineering projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to client expectations. You’ll supervise and mentor junior technical staff, fostering their development and ensuring high standards of work.

Strong communication skills are essential as you’ll lead meetings on project progress, safety, scheduling, and contract administration with clients, agencies, and community stakeholders. You’ll also recommend improvements to project costs, budgets, and schedules, using tools such as Primavera or MS Project. Additionally you’ll serve as a liaison to design staff, helping to gather field information and respond to RFIs, correspondence, and shop drawing reviews.

Key Attributes:

You will bring proven excellence in client management and project delivery, backed by strong leadership experience and effective communication skills. You will need to be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite with particular expertise in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which you will use regularly to support project documentation, analysis, and presentations.

Qualifications & Experience:

Required Qualifications

• 20 years’ total experience, with a minimum of 10 years of construction experience on water wastewater plants & facilities projects as a Resident Engineer or Construction Manager. 
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or construction.
• California PE 
• Experience managing construction budgets and schedules including estimating and change order negotiating.

Preferred Qualifications

• 20+ years of construction experience specifically related to water or wastewater facilities, with a minimum of 10 years' experience on projects as a Resident Engineer or Construction Manager on a $50+ million water/wastewater project.
• Masters degree in Engineering, Construction or a BS in these fields and an MBA.
• In addition to the PE, a CCM is also highly desired. 
• Active participation in a regional or national professional association.
• Previous experience successfully leading project pursuits include both developing proposal approaches and overseeing making presentations to major clients and agencies.

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and t