Director, Advisory (Project Finance & Commercial)

AECOM•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

AECOM Advisory is seeking a Director to expand its global Advisory business line in the US West Region. The Director will lead business development, oversee engagement delivery, and support practice development. The position is available in Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. AECOM Advisory serves clients across infrastructure, the built environment, and community vibrancy, including governments, regulators, city agencies, utilities, transit agencies, infrastructure operators, and investors. The role combines client-facing consulting leadership with commercial and operational responsibilities. The Director will originate and shape opportunities, lead proposal development, oversee multiple consulting teams and workstreams, guide client interactions, ensure the quality of analyses and deliverables, and manage project financial performance. The Director will also contribute to practice improvement, thought leadership, intellectual property generation, and the development of junior staff. AECOM requires a bachelor's degree, preferably in a STEM discipline, and at least 10 years of management consulting and/or related industry experience. The position will not offer sponsorship now or in the future. Newly hired employees must attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location. Benefits may vary by employment status and include health and insurance coverage, paid time off, retirement savings, employee stock purchase plan, flexible work options, and other programs.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree, preferably in a STEM discipline.
At least 10 years of management consulting and/or related industry experience.
Strong interpersonal skills, a client-service mindset, and ability to serve as a trusted adviser.
Ability to work in a high-tempo, high-context, client-facing environment while maintaining poise and maturity under pressure.
Self-directed, anticipatory, and comfortable working across a highly matrixed consulting organization.
Strong verbal communication and narrative development skills, including the ability to convey insights to C-suite and senior management audiences.
Strong commercial acumen and informed point of view, grounded in interest in enterprise challenges involving people, process, and technology, and an advanced understanding of client industries and context.
Collegial team-player able to work within a small, motivated team of diverse consulting professionals.
Domain expertise in at least two of the following areas: corporate or enterprise strategy, market analysis, and target operating model design; organizational assessment, business transformation, and performance improvement; capital projects advisory, including project finance and/or infrastructure investment appraisal, capital improvement planning, asset management, and portfolio strategy; decarbonization, climate action implementation, resilience strategies and frameworks, including non-financial valuation methodologies; economic development, industrial policy, broadband and digital equity, and market transformation; technology-led business transformation; or corporate finance, valuations, M&A, divestitures, divestments, and privatizations.
Fluency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
The position does not offer sponsorship now or in the future.
Must attend in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

Nice To Haves

MBA or another master's degree in Operational Research, Management, Management Science, Finance, Economics, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
Strong technical skills, including experience with one or more of ArcGIS and other spatial analysis tools, quantitative/statistical programs such as R or Python, or evaluation of financial cashflows—particularly public finance—via Excel.

Responsibilities

Build industry presence and professional networks to identify and originate business development opportunities.
Use industry expertise and commercial acumen to target, define, and shape business development campaigns.
Manage proposal responses as Capture Manager, including narrative development, coordination of technical solutions, pricing, team definition, subcontractor engagement, internal risk review, and compliance procedures.
Outline, supervise, and quality-control multiple delivery teams of 5–8 Consultants and Senior Consultants across interdependent workstreams.
Lead client interactions concerning delivery progress and validation of insights, and plan interactions with C-suite clients and senior management stakeholders.
Coordinate inputs from regional leadership, Directors, Client Account Managers, and technical experts, identifying delivery choices, considerations, and risks related to technical scope, client satisfaction, and commercial constraints.
Design analytical workstreams and guide engagement teams.
Provide timely quality assurance and control over project scope, assumptions, analyses, and insights.
Lead narrative formulation and production of polished deliverables that meet client expectations and firm standards.
Manage project financial performance and support practice-area operational improvement, thought leadership, and intellectual property generation.
Coach and mentor junior staff in core consulting skills.