Highways & Streets Sector Lead Director

Job Title: Highways & Streets Sector Lead (UK & Ireland)

Location: UK & Ireland (Flexible / Major Hub)

Reports to: Managing Director Regional Business Line Leader

Our Transport Sector professionals are leading transformational changes delivering solutions that meet our clients complex challenges that ensure communities have access to transportation and transit systems that are safe reliable and sustainable today and in the future. We are modernising bridges delivering new modes of transportation such as high-speed rail and integrating new technologies.

About the Role:

AECOM is seeking a Highways & Streets Sector Director to provide strategic leadership and market direction for our Highways & Streets business across the UK. This role will be responsible for shaping sector strategy driving sustainable growth strengthening client relationships and ensuring the successful delivery of complex multidisciplinary Highways & Streets programmes.

The Sector Director will act as a market leader and trusted advisor to clients while working closely with technical commercial and delivery leaders to position AECOM at the forefront of the UK Highways & Streets market.

We are seeking an inclusive and innovative leader to spearhead our growth across Highways & Streets in the UK & Ireland. As a key member of our organization you will play a pivotal role in driving the growth and success of our business. Your passion and enthusiasm will be instrumental in shaping our strategies and operations for the future. We are looking for a transformational leader who can shape build and execute strategies to bring new technical direction and value to our current and future clients and projects.  This will include fostering a culture of digital innovation throughout our organisation.

The successful candidate will bring an unrivalled knowledge and commercial appreciation of the Highways & Streets Sector together with a strong applied awareness of the latest digital tools and innovations in the marketplace. The post holder will be held in high esteem within the industry and will be well versed to assume responsibility as our brand ambassador across the region. People leadership effective relationships with external clients and a good understanding of Highways & Streets engineering challenges and how we can address them are essential requirements for success.

About You:

You are a highly motivated organized and proactive leader with a proven track record in leading and growing infrastructure businesses business development bidding and delivering major projects and strategy implementation. Your in-depth understanding of the Highways & Streets market coupled with your grasp of the social political and economic drivers that influence it will be integral to our success. With extensive experience in leading diverse teams in a fast-paced environment you have excelled in planning designing and delivering projects while implementing data-led performance improvements. As a champion of equity diversity and inclusion you believe in creating a workplace that embraces and celebrates the unique talents and backgrounds of every individual.

Key Responsibilities:

Sector Strategy & Market Leadership

• Provide leadership and strategic direction for the Highways & Streets market
• Define and lead the Highways & Streets sector strategy in alignment with AECOMs UK and global Transportation objectives.
• Monitor market trends policy developments and investment programmes to identify growth opportunities across Highways & Streets.
• Position AECOM as a market leader in Highways & Streets advisory design and delivery.

Client & Relationship Leadership

• Serves as AECOMs regional industry leader in Highways & Streets and collaborates with peers in other geographies to provide consistent market approaches leverage technical expertise ensure client satisfaction and implement best practices
• Own coordination of the forming of teams as part of bids and mobilization
• Work with the regional teams to analyse and understand long medium- and short-term Highways & Streets opportunities to advise strategic planning and pursuit prioritization
• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with key Highways & Streets clients devolved authorities and major contractors
• Act as an executive sponsor for priority client accounts frameworks and alliances
• Lead strategic client engagement ensuring AECOM is seen as a trusted long-term partner
• Build and maintain C-suite relationships with key clients moving from a service provider to a strategic partner
• Ensure rigorous account plans are in place for all tier-one clients to maximize cross-selling and long-term retention
• Own the integrity of sector data within Salesforce ensuring opportunity pipelines are accurate and actionable.

Business Development & Work Winning

• Actively participate in the winning of work developing the market with the key regional and global transport/transit leads to create the necessary pipeline of work to support continuing growth
• Builds relationships with key clients funding sources industry organizations partners and stakeholders to identify opportunities and grow the business.
• Coordinates and collaborates across business lines to maximize cross-selling and to offer integrated services to regional clients
• Drive work-winning strategy for major Highways & Streets opportunities frameworks and commissions
• Provide leadership on bids tenders and pursuits including client strategy positioning and value proposition with a primary focus on bids exceeding $5m.
• Collaborate with commercial and delivery teams to develop competitive and innovative commercial models.

Delivery & Performance Oversight

• Provide executive oversight of project delivery performance ensuring quality safety programme and commercial outcomes are achieved with a primary focus on projects exceeding $5m.
• Support project directors and technical leads on complex or high-risk Highways & Streets programmes.
• Champion best practice in governance risk management and assurance across the sector.

External Profile & Thought Leadership

• Represent AECOM at industry forums conferences and client events enhancing AECOMs market profile
• Contribute to thought leadership innovation and sustainability agendas within the Highways & Streets sector.
• Strengthen partnerships across the supply chain and with industry bodies.
• Builds relationships with key clients funding sources industry organizations partners and stakeholders to identify opportunities and grow the business.
• Develops key industry relationships promotes technical practices innovation sharing and knowledge management.

Operational Excellence & Bidding

• Drive bidding best practices ensuring high-quality submissions that improve our % win rate and consistently grow the backlog.
• Work seamlessly across various technical disciplines to provide integrated solutions that meet complex client needs.
• Provide visible leadership in Health Safety & Wellbeing specifically championing Safety in Design principles across all sector projects.

People & Talent Development

• Partner with National Disciplines to identify key recruitment needs and bridge capability gaps.
• Proactively manage the talent pipeline for the sector to ensure leadership continuity and technical excellence.

Qualifications :

• BEng/BSc in Engineering Transportation or a related field/ demonstrated equivalency of experience and/or education including 6 years of leadership & large team management
• Member of a recognised professional body relative to core markets
• Understanding of the process and practices involved in the design and delivery of infrastructure projects
• Several years of progressive experience in the Highways & Streets Industry
• In-depth knowledge of Highways & Streets safety operations and compliance standards
• Financial acumen with proven ability to manage large budgets
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills with a proven ability to build and maintain long-term partner and customer relationships.
• Strategic thinker with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation
• Firm understanding of the Highways & Streets markets and the social political and economic drivers what influence this across the region
• Significant experience of leading large matrixed businesses.
• Experience of leading multi-year complex business transformation. 
• Material experience of leading high level client engagement.
• Proven ability to develop and execute strategy for a large business.
• Catalyst for innovation and solutions for our clients - particularly digital innovation.
• Experience of building diverse inclusive and highly motivated teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Chartered Engineer
• Membership of a recognised professional body relative to our core market

Additional Information :

• Demonstrate your dedication to driving our inclusion and wellbeing strategies by instilling a culture of respect and care within your team role modelling behaviours aligned to these strategies.
• Build a diverse and inclusive workforce by recruiting and retaining the best talent and nurturing the next generation of leaders who will do the same.
• Lead with empathy respect and understanding actively seeking out diverse points of view and creating a psychologically safe environment where these points of view can thrive.
• Provide all employees the freedom they need to grow develop innovate and be their whole selves at work.

About AECOM

AECOM is the worlds trusted infrastructure consulting firm delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle from advisory planning design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation buildings water new energy and the environment our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise a culture of equity diversity and inclusion and a commitment to environmental social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether youre working from an AECOM office remote location or at a client site you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. Were the worlds trusted global infrastructure firm and were in this together your growth and success are ours too.

Join us and youll get all the benefits of being a part of a global publicly traded firm access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer we believe in each persons potential and well help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address   if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time