Practice Director

AtkinsRéalis•Chicago, IL

3d•$200,000 - $249,000

About The Position

AtkinsRéalis is seeking a Practice Director to join its team in Chicago, Illinois. Under the general direction of Water Infrastructure leadership, the Practice Director for Water and Resource Recovery will lead strategy, growth, technical excellence, and operational performance for a rapidly expanding practice serving Federal, State, Local, Industrial, and Private-sector clients throughout the United States. The role provides leadership and direction to engineering managers, technical leaders, and project delivery teams, driving business growth, client satisfaction, staff development, technical collaboration, project quality, and profitability. The position combines business and technical leadership, strategic project development, and organizational collaboration. The Practice Director connects regional offices, technical specialists, business development professionals, and delivery teams to pursue and win multidisciplinary consulting and engineering assignments and strengthen national water and wastewater capabilities. The Practice Director develops and implements national and regional growth strategies for water treatment, wastewater treatment, reuse, biosolids, and resource recovery; leads strategic pursuits; cultivates client and stakeholder relationships; and supports acquisitions, partnerships, and market expansion. The role also champions technical excellence, establishes networks and knowledge-sharing practices, supports innovation and research, and provides executive-level technical oversight on strategic projects. The director evaluates staffing needs, recruits and develops professionals, mentors direct reports, supports succession planning, and fosters a collaborative, inclusive, high-performing culture. The role oversees project resourcing and performance, quality management, and major project delivery while supporting business development, industry visibility, forecasting, financial performance, commercial risk management, and investment decisions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Civil, Environmental, Chemical, Mechanical, or a related Engineering discipline.
Licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible experience in water, wastewater, reuse, biosolids, resource recovery, or related infrastructure consulting and engineering.
Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams, business operations, growth initiatives, and complex engineering projects.
Strong understanding of planning, process engineering, design, permitting, construction, commissioning, and operational optimization of water and wastewater facilities.
Proven business development and client relationship management experience.
Excellent leadership, communication, technical writing, collaboration, and presentation skills.
Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategic growth plans and lead major project pursuits.
Ability to represent AtkinsRéalis effectively before clients, regulatory agencies, industry organizations, and senior stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree.
Experience with water reuse, biosolids management, nutrient removal, anaerobic digestion, renewable energy recovery, industrial water/wastewater treatment, and emerging treatment technologies.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement national strategy and regional growth initiatives for water treatment, wastewater treatment, reuse, biosolids, and resource recovery practices.
Identify and advance consulting, engineering, and infrastructure opportunities across markets, geographies, and technical disciplines.
Lead strategic pursuits by defining pursuit strategies, technical approaches, teaming structures, scopes, schedules, fee strategies, and proposal content.
Build relationships with utilities, industrial clients, infrastructure owners, regulators, and industry stakeholders; translate their needs into studies, assessments, pilot programs, engineering assignments, and implementation projects.
Support acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and market expansion initiatives.
Champion technical excellence through technical communities, global networks, and thought leadership initiatives.
Establish and maintain a Water Infrastructure Capability Network connecting specialists, project experience, offices, and delivery resources in North America and globally.
Support development and implementation of technical standards, best practices, innovation programs, and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Provide executive-level technical oversight on strategic projects and help resolve complex technical, operational, and client challenges.
Identify opportunities for applied research, pilot programs, technology demonstrations, and innovation initiatives.
Evaluate staffing requirements based on workload forecasts, growth plans, and project demands.
Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain technical and management professionals; conduct performance reviews and career development discussions with direct reports.
Establish technical development pathways and succession planning programs, and promote training, certifications, professional involvement, and leadership opportunities.
Foster a collaborative, inclusive, high-performing culture and strengthen regional capabilities through recruitment, staff mobility, mentoring, and strategic deployment of specialists.
Ensure projects are appropriately staffed and resourced, and oversee quality, schedule, budget, profitability, and client satisfaction.
Support compliance with quality management systems and delivery standards; review project quality control plans and participate in quality assurance reviews and audits as appropriate.
Partner with project managers and delivery teams to resolve challenges and coordinate multidisciplinary resources; maintain executive oversight of major projects.
Lead and support business development, pursuit, and marketing activities with existing and prospective clients.
Represent AtkinsRéalis at conferences, industry associations, technical committees, and other professional engagements; contribute presentations and publications.
Work with marketing and communications teams on technical content, project profiles, case studies, thought leadership materials, and market campaigns.
Represent AtkinsRéalis with clients, industry organizations, public officials, regulators, and professional associations.
Support business planning, forecasting, financial performance management, pursuit planning, contract negotiations, and commercial risk management.
Monitor revenue growth, utilization, profitability, and backlog, and support investment decisions for strategic initiatives, research, recruitment, and capability development.
Approve expenditures and capital requests in accordance with established authorization requirements.