Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering sustainable design engineering and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.
We are more than 36,000 people in over 70 countries dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.
Role description
As investment across the water sector accelerates we are seeking a senior Business Director to join our UK Water leadership team. This role holds full accountability for commercial performance, client relationships and the delivery of complex multidisciplinary programmes for the UK’s largest water companies. It offers significant scale influence and the opportunity to lead in a sector undergoing fundamental transformation.
This role will lead the business unit with full P&L accountability, driving disciplined delivery to protect margins and enable profitable sustainable growth. It will set and execute clear strategic plans, build and maintain strong client relationships and align cross‑functional teams to the business strategy.
We work to protect our natural environment and water resources while powering our world for future generations. Around the world we are feeling the effects of climate change, rapid urbanisation and loss of biodiversity. The rate at which we see large‑scale unforeseen events such as floods and wildfires is becoming greater. We are here to protect our natural environment and water resources while powering our world for future generations.
Role accountabilities
* Take full ownership of the business unit’s P&L, driving revenue growth, margin protection, cost control, utilisation, cash flow and accurate forecasting with proactive corrective actions.
* Lead, motivate and develop a senior team, setting clear objectives and fostering a high‑performance culture aligned to business goals.
* Develop and deliver the business plan, ensuring the team understands their role in achieving targets.
* Identify and pursue profitable client opportunities, ensuring robust pricing, resourcing and margin protection.
* Build and maintain strong client relationships to drive satisfaction, retention and sustainable growth.
* Coach project leaders to enforce strong governance and effective delivery that manages risk and safeguards margins.
* Spot and nurture talent in both technical and commercial functions, promoting career development through targeted programmes.
* Collaborate with service leads to optimise resource allocation, improving utilisation and profitability.
* Oversee risk management and compliance to protect commercial outcomes and the business reputation.
* Maintain deep market and client insight to inform strategy, growth priorities and investment decisions.
* Champion cross‑functional collaboration to unlock cross‑sell and trade‑up opportunities aligned to growth and margin targets.
Qualifications & Experience
Essential
* Mature and demonstrable experience in the water sector with demonstrable exposure to regulated water environments and/or major capital programmes.
* Degree qualified in a relevant engineering, technical or professional discipline (e.g. Civil, Mechanical, Environmental Engineering, Project or Programme Management, Construction Management).
* Proven experience in a senior leadership role with accountability for P&L performance including revenue growth, margin management, cost control and resource utilisation.
* Strong track record of leading complex multidisciplinary teams and delivering large‑scale programmes or portfolios in a consultancy delivery or client‑side environment.
* Demonstrable experience of client leadership including developing senior client relationships, securing repeat work and delivering profitable growth.
* Experience operating in matrixed organisations with the ability to work across business lines and actively drive cross‑sell and trade‑up opportunities.
* Strong commercial and operational judgement with the ability to balance delivery risk and financial performance in high‑pressure environments.
Desirable
* Chartered status (e.g. CEng, MAPM, MCIOB or equivalent) or working towards chartership.
* Experience working with Tier 1 contractors, joint ventures or international delivery partners.
* Exposure to major infrastructure programmes (100 m+), long‑term frameworks or regulated capital investment cycles.
* Formal training or qualifications in commercial management, leadership or business management (e.g. MBA, executive leadership programmes).
* Experience contributing to or leading business transformation, operating‑model change or performance improvement initiatives.
Why Arcadis
We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone’s contribution matters. That’s why we are pioneering a skills‑based approach where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximise the impact we can make together.
You’ll do meaningful work and, no matter what role you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.
Together we can create a lasting legacy.
Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that, by working together, diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.
Required Experience: Director
Key Skills: Anti Money Laundering, Account Management, Environmental Science, Channel Sales, Budgeting, Db2
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience: years
Vacancy: 1
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