Technical Director Environment & Sustainability - Water Sector

We have an exciting opportunity for a Technical Director for Environment and Sustainability to be based in either our Cambridge, Croydon or Reading office, potentially with the opportunity for co-located working at our key client's offices. You will join as a technical leader within our Environmental & Sustainability Services (ESS) team that consists of an expanding team of environmental and sustainability professionals located across 18 offices throughout the UK.

This role has been created to support and grow our Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management capabilities in water sector projects across the UK. The water sector is at the core of Mott MacDonald's heritage, and we collaborate closely with most of the UK water and sewerage companies. We are at the forefront of water resource planning and development across the sector and have an industry-leading role across the current strategic water resource options (SROs). Our unique position with the SRO programme means that we have numerous opportunities in front of us to work with our clients to progress these schemes and create a culture for long-term successful delivery. This covers both smaller schemes delivered under the Town and Country Planning Act, and significant infrastructure schemes delivered through Development Consent Order (DCO). Your role will be central to delivering this service.

Our team works with several key clients, supporting them with development of their Water Resource Management Plans (WRMP) and SRO commitments. We are passionate about providing our clients with sustainable solutions by constantly looking at challenges from a fresh angle, and we are looking for like-minded, forward-thinking individuals to join our growing team in one of our environment hubs around the UK. We are also at the forefront of developing best practice and pragmatic approaches to the delivery of environmental assessments and consents and have extensive capability in EIA, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Appraisals across the full project cycle.

You will be responsible for leading on a range of predominantly water sector planning and consenting projects. Working with our sectoral and client account leaders to provide technical leadership and advice, you will also work alongside the full range of technical disciplines we offer on some of the largest infrastructure and development projects.

As a Technical Director, you will work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team, alongside engineers, town planners and a range of environmental and social specialists and will engage with a diverse range of clients, from both the public and private sector. You will lead a highly collaborative group of environmental specialists, delivering a broad range of environmental projects and advisory services, with particular focus on our water sector clients.
There shall be opportunity to work on projects that help our clients achieve their net zero carbon commitments, deliver nature-based solutions and become climate resilient.

It is a very exciting time for us, and we would welcome your application for this role to lead the environmental technical delivery of our water sector projects, based in our Cambridge, Croydon or Reading offices.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Providing technical leadership to environmental, social and sustainability teams to deliver EIAs, sustainability strategies, management plans and Sustainability Appraisals.
• Being responsible for driving sustainable outcomes and influencing design solutions at a project and programme level.
• Technical checker of environmental and sustainability deliverables and undertake project reviews in line with our business and environmental management systems.
• Engaging with a diverse range of clients and stakeholders at a Senior level, from both the public and private sector. This could be via public consultation events, stakeholder workshops, public inquiries or industry events.
• As technical director you will be involved in monitoring resources, managing budgets, undertaking project management, assisting with contract and risk management and attendance at client meetings.
• You will also be involved in the preparation of fee estimates, proposal writing and general business development activities and will have a key role in delivering our ESS services and growing the business.
• People management including coaching and mentoring of senior team members in their technical and career development, as well as supporting them with their line management duties of junior team members.

Candidate qualifications, skills and experience to include:

• Significant experience of UK environmental and sustainability legislation and policy, experience in delivery of EIA for major infrastructure projects is essential; DCO experience would be beneficial.
• Qualified in a related technical subject (Minimum of a Bachelor's degree essential).
• Qualified to Master's degree level in a relevant subject (desirable).
• Chartered with a professional institution (e.g., CIWEM, IEMA) or equivalent level.
• Experience working in diverse multi-disciplined teams and leading teams to produce environmental and sustainability deliverables to a high standard.
• Experience of working in a client facing environment and ability to build relationships and influence stakeholders to deliver positive outcomes.
• Well organised with strong planning and management skills, with ability to produce high quality deliverables and manage budgets and programmes.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Ability to problem solve, think creatively, and seek continual improvement.

If you meet 80% or more of what we're looking for, please still apply. We understand not everyone will meet all the requirements, but you might have skills we didn't know we need.