Vice President – Higher Education Sector Leader

WSP • Austin, TX

26d

About The Position

WSP Property and Buildings business line has seen rapid growth across multiple sectors in the last two years. This includes work at a wide range of higher education institutions. This sector has seen many changes in research as space needs have adapted post pandemic. Additionally, Higher Education clients continue to seek innovative and creative ways to decarbonize their buildings and infrastructure. WSP brings a wide range of services and talented indications to answer these challenges. Come join our team and grow your career using your skills and experience to prepare our higher education institutions for the next 100 years of innovation.
To respond to this growth, WSP’s Property and Building Business has an opportunity for a Higher Education Sector Leader to join our teams in Texas/Louisiana and beyond. This is a growth position for motivated candidates looking to expand their influence in the building industry. As a Vice President – Higher Education Sector Leader, you will have the opportunity to develop and grow relationships in the high education market, develop strategy, lead pursuits and multidiscipline engineering teams. This position is an exciting opportunity for a candidate to join our Texas/Louisiana teams of experienced professionals in a leadership role and grow a team focused on Higher Education Clients. The position is based in WSP's Austin, TX office.
This person can also sit in any of the offices below:
Houston, TX
Dallas, TX
Your Impact
WSP's vision is based on a passionate, thoughtful strategy that embraces the four pillars of our business: Clients, People & Culture, Operational Excellence, and Expertise:
Clients
Drives the performance of the facility-based higher education-focused business and strategically grows our market share to fulfill our goal of making WSP our clients' preferred, trusted advisor.
Manages local client coordination and cross-selling efforts in coordination with Region, District, National Business Lines, and Pursuit Management.
Represent the firm in the facility-specific higher education market through regular involvement in client and industry events and associations to promote intelligence gathering and pipeline development.
Brings an expanded view and integrated response to complex challenges by leveraging our full suite of offerings across all end markets.
Utilizes our extended reach of technical and subject matter experts (SMEs) across regions, districts, offices, and the globe to foster new and innovative client delivery.
People & Culture
Works with the Regional Development Director and Local Business Line Leaders to attract the best industry talent by fostering a collaborative work environment, values inclusion and diversity, and invites broad, creative thinking – crafting a more attractive place to work, grow, and thrive.
Emphasizes employee training and development to create an unique work experience.
Inspires, motivates, and promotes the best of WSP to our clients and communities to ensure strong employee engagement and morale.
Supports programs such as Safety, Sustainability, and Ethics & Compliance.
Operational Excellence
Optimizes the client and employee experience through regular reviews while embracing process improvement.
Focuses on innovation and collaboration while maintaining and improving quality.
Develop local growth, forecast, and business development strategy in collaboration with Regional and National Business Line Leaders.
Resolves conflict and other internal/external issues that may arise in the office, amongst WSP's client base, or on projects.
Collaborates with regional leaders and other area leaders to strategically drive the business, assess and suggest improvements for project performance, oversee overhead expenditures, and focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Sales, Funding, EBITDA, Staff Hiring and Retention, DSO, Utilization, Backlog, Inclusion & Diversity, and Guiding Principles.
Expertise
Leverages our broad technical experience to enhance current and new service offerings.
Fosters the development of new and emerging innovations to remain the trusted thought leaders in our industry.
Advances the region's strategic direction in the location of responsibility for sustained and continued growth consistent within the context of the strategic plan.
Encourages, supports, and promotes the technical and professional development of local WSP staff.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant engineering field.
• 12+ years of experience in the Higher Education Industry, focusing on a combination of any of the following: Engineering Management, Business Development, and Business and Operations Management.
• Engineer license required (multi-state preferred).
• Demonstrated experience in starting and rapidly growing a team of professionals to capture market share in a sector that is not a current strength in the region.
• Demonstrated balanced, solid management/leadership skills, including leading and developing staff.
• The ability to develop strong, established local client relationships and industry contacts.
• Demonstrated sound decision-making, strategic and visionary thinking, and creative business development capabilities across a multi-disciplined practice.
• Ability to effectively manage large groups of engineering staff.
• Proficient writing, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP's health, safety, and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in a relevant field.

Responsibilities

• Drives the performance of the facility-based higher education-focused business and strategically grows our market share to fulfill our goal of making WSP our clients' preferred, trusted advisor.
• Manages local client coordination and cross-selling efforts in coordination with Region, District, National Business Lines, and Pursuit Management.
• Represent the firm in the facility-specific higher education market through regular involvement in client and industry events and associations to promote intelligence gathering and pipeline development.
• Brings an expanded view and integrated response to complex challenges by leveraging our full suite of offerings across all end markets.
• Utilizes our extended reach of technical and subject matter experts (SMEs) across regions, districts, offices, and the globe to foster new and innovative client delivery.
• Works with the Regional Development Director and Local Business Line Leaders to attract the best industry talent by fostering a collaborative work environment, values inclusion and diversity, and invites broad, creative thinking – crafting a more attractive place to work, grow, and thrive.
• Emphasizes employee training and development to create an unique work experience.
• Inspires, motivates, and promotes the best of WSP to our clients and communities to ensure strong employee engagement and morale.
• Supports programs such as Safety, Sustainability, and Ethics & Compliance.
• Optimizes the client and employee experience through regular reviews while embracing process improvement.
• Focuses on innovation and collaboration while maintaining and improving quality.
• Develop local growth, forecast, and business development strategy in collaboration with Regional and National Business Line Leaders.
• Resolves conflict and other internal/external issues that may arise in the office, amongst WSP's client base, or on projects.
• Collaborates with regional leaders and other area leaders to strategically drive the business, assess and suggest improvements for project performance, oversee overhead expenditures, and focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Sales, Funding, EBITDA, Staff Hiring and Retention, DSO, Utilization, Backlog, Inclusion & Diversity, and Guiding Principles.
• Leverages our broad technical experience to enhance current and new service offerings.
• Fosters the development of new and emerging innovations to remain the trusted thought leaders in our industry.
• Advances the region's strategic direction in the location of responsibility for sustained and continued growth consistent within the context of the strategic plan.
• Encourages, supports, and promotes the technical and professional development of local WSP staff.

Benefits

• WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive