Digital & AI Transformation Director Design & Engineering

Arcadis•Highlands Ranch, CO

About The Position

Arcadis is seeking a Digital & AI Transformation Director for its Design & Engineering division. This role is responsible for integrating digital, data, and AI capabilities into the core delivery workflows, decision-making processes, and operational rhythms of the Design & Engineering service line. The goal is to enhance value delivery to clients by improving decision-making, reducing risk, increasing quality, and scaling successful practices. The director will lead the strategic direction for digital and AI within Design & Engineering, aligning with the company's overall vision and strategic priorities. This involves defining key digital initiatives, redesigning workflows, fostering adoption of new technologies and ways of working, and strengthening data foundations. The role also includes managing the innovation backlog and roadmap, driving investment prioritization, and championing digital adoption across the workforce.

Requirements

Extensive leadership experience building and scaling global digital, AI, automation or technology-enabled capabilities within the AEC or related professional services industry, with clear accountability for capability maturity, business value and enterprise impact.
Experience embedding responsible AI principles, including governance, transparency, human oversight, risk mitigation and regulatory alignment into enterprise AI adoption and operational practices.
Proven strategic leadership in defining and executing a global Digital & AI capability vision aligned to business goals, enterprise priorities and long-term transformation objectives.
Deep expertise in digital, AI, automation and emerging technologies, with a strong understanding of how these can be applied to improve delivery models, business performance and client outcomes within complex organizational environments.
Demonstrated experience driving organizational change and broad adoption of new digital and AI capabilities, tools and ways of working across global and local teams.
Strong track record of identifying, sponsoring and scaling successful innovations, pilots and proof of concept initiatives into practical, repeatable and value-adding business capabilities.
Proven ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across global, regional and local teams, building commitment to shared priorities and securing support for transformation roadmaps and implementation plans.
Strong understanding of scalable delivery models, process optimization and operational excellence, with experience designing approaches that improve consistency, efficiency and quality in digital and AI-enabled services.
Governance and risk management experience, including understanding of data privacy, AI ethics, information security and relevant compliance requirements, with the ability to embed these into capability design, deployment and ongoing management.
Demonstrated talent and capability development experience, including building learning programs, enabling skills development and fostering communities of practice that strengthen digital, data and AI capability across the organization.
Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to connect cross-functional teams around a unified transformation agenda and deliver outcomes across a complex matrixed environment.
Demonstrated strategic judgment and execution discipline, with the ability to translate vision into clear priorities, practical roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
Leadership style that empowers Arcadians, promotes accountability and continuous improvement, and supports a healthy, inclusive and high engagement culture aligned to the Arcadis Leadership profile of being curious, driving success and igniting passion.
Degree level education in a relevant technical or commercial discipline such as digital technology, data science, artificial intelligence, computer science, engineering, business or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred such as an MBA or a relevant Master’s in artificial intelligence, data science, digital transformation, technology management, engineering, business or a related field, or equivalent executive level experience in complex global organizations.

Responsibilities

Set the Digital & AI direction for the Service Line
Create a Design & Engineering specific digital & AI strategy
Define and regularly update “digital must-win” areas
Identify which Design & Engineering delivery domains and workflows must be redesigned
Setup collaboration rhythm with Digital Intelligence, Investment governance, pipeline management approach and prioritization framework, change network, CoPs, etc.
Set clear objectives for the transformation that link to overall Design & Engineering performance metrics
Own the Opportunity Portfolio
Collect and pro-actively source digital opportunities and use cases
Kick-start and actively participate in AI studios
Work closely together with Digital Intelligence counterparts to make buy/build/partner decisions
Actively stop or kill initiatives that do not demonstrate clear value, adoption potential, or strategic fit
Participate regularly in client conversations to better understand client needs
Act as primary interface and product sponsor to product managers
Redesign end‑to‑end Design & Engineering delivery workflows to embed digital and AI
Work with Service Line leadership to support adjustments to new ways of working
Embed Digital & AI in our capabilities and drive adoption
Build a local network of digital & AI champions
Strengthen foundational digital skills and AI usage within the organization
Setup adoption campaigns around new tooling / digital products, and ways of working
Strengthen data foundations and other boundary conditions
Turn global data strategy into an actionable plan within the service line
Create knowledge and data libraries around discipline areas
Setup data governance and measure adherence and progress
Define any other pre-requisites for digital innovation and bake into transformation plan
Own the Design & Engineering Digital and AI innovation backlog and roadmap
Drive investment prioritisation and portfolio transparency within the Innovation governance framework
Champion digital adoption across the Design & Engineering workforce and project delivery