Senior Vice President, California Technical Excellence Director

WSP•Los Angeles, CA

4d•$250,000 - $323,000•Hybrid

About The Position

WSP is seeking a Senior Vice President, California Technical Excellence Director for its Southern California office(s). The position is part of the California Transportation Regional Business Line and the California leadership team. It provides direct leadership of a multi-sector technical excellence engineering team, functional oversight of the Southern California Civil group, and technical leadership across the California region to support exemplary project delivery and technical excellence. This hybrid leadership role combines regional technical leadership with direct project delivery. The director provides technical decision-making, delivery quality oversight, standards, strategic guidance, mentorship, and quality assurance, while maintaining meaningful involvement in major, complex, high-visibility programs (targeting approximately 50% engagement). The role also supports coordinated pursuits, client engagement, and development and implementation of California Region marketing and business growth strategies, with particular focus on transportation infrastructure. As a senior regional leader and core member of the regional leadership team, the director contributes to business strategy, operational performance, and growth of the California market. The role collaborates with regional, local, and national business line leaders on business development, forecasts, talent recruitment and development, project performance, financial and operational metrics, and client relationships. It reports directly to the Regional Business Lead for California, who retains full accountability for the region. WSP describes itself as an engineering and professional services firm serving the buildings, transportation, energy, water, and environment markets. WSP USA has more than 15,000 employees in over 300 U.S. offices. The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States. Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a closely related discipline.
15 or more years of relevant post-education experience in the A/E/C industry, including leadership on large, complex infrastructure programs.
Demonstrated advanced experience in a senior technical leadership role, such as Chief Engineer, Technical Director, Senior Technical Program Director, or equivalent.
Proven ability to lead across multiple teams, projects, and business units with clear accountability for outcomes.
Strong record of client engagement, business development, and successful delivery of major programs.
Advanced experience with business performance and project economics, with the ability to contribute to or lead a profit center over time.
Ability to assess teams, make difficult decisions, and drive organizational and delivery improvement.
Strong leadership presence and communication skills, with the ability to operate effectively at executive, client, and project levels.
Commitment to technical excellence, delivery quality, and client-focused outcomes.
Advanced knowledge and proficiency with office automation, discipline-specific design software, technology, mathematical principles, predictive models, spreadsheets, and corporate tools.
Proven record of upholding workplace safety and ability to comply with WSP health, safety, drug/alcohol, and harassment policies.
Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

California Professional Engineer (P.E.) licensure or equivalent is preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership and oversight of technical work across the California region, with authority for technical decisions, delivery quality, and standards.
Establish and reinforce a clear regional technical leadership structure with accountability aligned to responsibility and decision-making.
Balance regional leadership with direct engagement on major, complex, high-visibility programs, targeting approximately 50% project engagement.
Contribute directly to regional performance and key performance indicators, potentially including Net Revenue, EBITDA, direct and indirect labor, utilization, sales, and funding.
Serve on the regional leadership team and contribute to business strategy, operational performance, and growth of the California market.
Collaborate with regional and local leaders to drive business growth, manage project performance, oversee overhead expenditures, and meet operational, business, and financial metrics.
Support development of regional growth, forecast, and business development strategies with regional and national business line leaders, including recruitment and development in transportation design and delivery, rail and transit, and alternative delivery.
Strengthen client relationships, support pursuits, and enhance WSP’s presence across key clients and programs.
Assess team capability, project leadership, and organizational effectiveness, and drive changes in coordination with the Regional Business Lead and leadership team.
Identify and address project risks, underperformance, and delivery issues, driving timely resolution and strong client outcomes.
Align technical delivery, client satisfaction, and commercial performance through a seller-doer leadership model.
Develop and inform proposals and project scopes, schedules, pricing, and budget metrics; plan, develop, and manage projects in compliance with applicable codes, regulations, and engineering practices.
Make responsible and ethical decisions regarding company funds, resources, and conduct, and follow WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies.
Work with the California Region Business Leader on business organization, vision and culture, talent development, team building, client engagement, and performance and growth strategy.
Mentor senior technical staff and project managers and help develop future leaders.
Lead recruiting, mentoring, and development of high-performing teams.
Collaborate with the Region Business Leader to attract industry talent and foster a collaborative, inclusive, diverse work environment that encourages creative thinking.
Provide strategic process and people leadership for engineering and technical disciplines’ project and program involvement across the district and organization.
Promote employee engagement and morale and represent WSP to clients and communities.
Support WSP programs and principles for quality, safety, sustainability, ethics and compliance, and inclusion and diversity.
Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Disability coverage
Life insurance
Retirement savings
Paid sick leave
Paid vacation or other personal time
Paid parental leave
Paid time off for bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings
Flexible and agile workplace model