Director of Water Innovation

Parsons Corporation•Houston, TX

1d•$148,300 - $266,900

About The Position

Parsons is seeking a Director of Water Innovation to join Parsons X and support its Water business sector. The role leads the development and growth of digital solutions for water, wastewater, stormwater, flood resilience, and broader infrastructure clients. The Director shapes scalable digital twin and AI-enabled delivery strategies connecting engineering models, geospatial information, asset data, analytics, and operational systems throughout the asset and systems lifecycle. The position combines water-sector expertise with executive-level leadership in digital twins, hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, AI-enabled applications, data governance, dynamic master planning, and capital improvement planning. The Director works across strategy, business development, rapid prototyping, client advisory, and solution delivery to turn emerging technologies into practical, repeatable capabilities for public utilities, municipal water agencies, airports, utilities, and transportation clients. This position is part of Parsons’ Critical Infrastructure team, which plans, designs, builds, and modernizes infrastructure intended to connect and protect communities and promote economic growth, mobility, sustainability, and resiliency. The role has no security clearance requirement.

Requirements

20+ years of progressive experience in water resources, water utility planning, wastewater or stormwater systems, hydraulic modeling, infrastructure planning, digital transformation, or a closely related field.
Demonstrated leadership in digital twin strategy, architecture, governance, implementation planning, or enterprise-scale adoption for water utilities or complex infrastructure owners.
Deep understanding of water distribution, wastewater collection, water-quality, hydrologic, stormwater, or flood modeling and its application to planning, operations, regulatory compliance, resilience, and capital programs.
Experience translating AI, analytics, geospatial technology, engineering models, and emerging digital concepts into practical tools, repeatable workflows, and decision-support capabilities.
Experience leading innovation from concept and prototype through operational implementation, adoption, and sustained delivery.
Strong knowledge of data governance, data readiness, systems integration, knowledge management, digital maturity, and lifecycle information management.
Demonstrated experience advising utility executives, public agencies, or infrastructure owners on digital strategy, organizational change, risk reduction, investment priorities, and implementation roadmaps.
Proven ability to lead capture, client engagement, solution shaping, proposal development, demonstrations, and technical presentations for complex consulting or technology-enabled pursuits.
Experience leading and developing multidisciplinary teams and collaborating across engineering, GIS, modeling, software, data, operations, and business leadership functions.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts to executive, technical, operational, and public-sector audiences.
Demonstrated industry engagement through professional organizations, conference presentations, technical publications, training, working groups, or standards development.
Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Geospatial Science, or a related discipline.
20+ years of relevant professional experience, including significant leadership responsibility for complex water-sector programs, modeling initiatives, digital transformation, innovation delivery, or client advisory services.
Demonstrated success leading water-sector digital solutions from strategy and concept development through implementation, adoption, and measurable client value.

Nice To Haves

Executive or owner-side experience within a large public water utility, municipal agency, or comparable infrastructure organization.
Experience developing or implementing dynamic master planning, model-led CIP prioritization, scenario evaluation, risk assessment, or continuously updated planning systems.
Hands-on familiarity with AI agents, large language model applications, prompt-based interfaces, Model Context Protocols, automation frameworks, or utility knowledge assistants.
Experience with Esri geospatial technologies, web-based dashboards, enterprise GIS, asset management systems, engineering design platforms, operational systems, or cloud-based integration environments.
Experience with Autodesk and Bentley 2D and 3D design tools.
Experience developing digital twin maturity assessments, smart-water roadmaps, governance frameworks, or enterprise adoption strategies.
Experience supporting regulatory compliance, consent decree programs, groundwater or water-supply planning, development review, or utility resilience initiatives.
Active leadership or contribution within AWWA, SWAN, WEF, ASCE, or other relevant water and infrastructure organizations.
National or international recognition as a speaker, trainer, author, working-group leader, or subject matter expert in water innovation, digital twins, hydraulic modeling, AI, or infrastructure transformation.
Professional Engineer registration or other relevant professional certification.
Master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering, Civil or Environmental Engineering, Data Science, Business, Public Administration, or a related field; doctoral study or an advanced degree is a plus.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership for Parsons X water innovation initiatives, aligning sector priorities, client needs, digital delivery capabilities, and technology investment.
Establish and scale a water and infrastructure digital twin practice, including solution architecture, data governance, modeling, analytics, integration, and adoption frameworks.
Lead conceptualization, prototyping, and deployment of domain-specific AI solutions, including knowledge assistants, AI agents, agentic workflows, and Model Context Protocol integrations.
Turn emerging technologies into practical web-based automation tools, dashboards, decision-support applications, and repeatable operational workflows.
Lead demonstrations and proof-of-concepts involving automation, systems integration, geospatial applications, dashboards, and AI-enabled decision support using Esri platforms and complementary enterprise systems.
Oversee water distribution, wastewater collection, water-quality, hydrologic, stormwater, and flood modeling initiatives supporting regulatory pathways, development review, capital sequencing, resilience, and master planning.
Advance dynamic master planning that moves clients from static plans to continuously updated, scenario-driven systems for capital improvement prioritization, risk management, and executive decision-making.
Advise clients on applying GIS, engineering design, hydraulic models, asset management systems, operational data, and analytics to create lifecycle-spanning digital twins.
Partner with Parsons X and global, regional, and water-sector leaders to identify, shape, and pursue digital transformation opportunities across water, aviation, utility, and DOT markets.
Advise utility executives and infrastructure owners on smart-water transformation, data readiness, governance, organizational adoption, risk reduction, and long-term digital investment strategies.
Guide multidisciplinary teams through discovery, solution architecture, prototyping, validation, deployment planning, and transition to sustainable delivery models.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers, modelers, GIS professionals, data scientists, software developers, and interdisciplinary project teams.
Build Parsons capabilities, reusable intellectual property, delivery methods, and strategic partnerships in water-sector digital innovation.
Maintain an industry presence through leadership in organizations such as AWWA and SWAN, conference and client-forum participation, and development of presentations, articles, white papers, and training content.