Water Engineering Director

GAI Consultants is seeking a Director of Water - Florida to lead, grow, and execute the firm's water, wastewater, and stormwater practice in Florida while playing a key role in supporting GAI's national water initiative. This is a senior leadership position for a proven, hands-on leader who combines technical excellence, people leadership, client development, and strategic vision.

The Director will lead a team of engineers, actively identify and pursue new work, write and lead proposals, and direct project execution for water-related infrastructure programs. This role also contributes to firm-wide strategy for client development, service expansion, and long-term growth nationwide.

Key Responsibilities

Practice, Team & National Water Initiative Leadership

• Lead and manage GAI's Florida water, wastewater, and stormwater practice, including direct supervision, mentoring, and development of engineers and project managers.
• Serve as a key contributor to GAI's national water initiative, collaborating with executive leadership and peer Directors to align regional execution with firm-wide water strategy.
• Establish staffing strategies, workload planning, and resource coordination to support growth and successful project delivery.
• Support organic and inorganic growth initiatives, including evaluation of new services, strategic hires, partnerships, and potential acquisitions.

Business Development, Pursuits & Proposals

• Proactively identify, qualify, and prioritize pursuits for water, wastewater, and stormwater projects in alignment with Florida and national strategies.
• Lead and contribute to proposal development, including pursuit strategy, positioning, technical authorship, pricing, and interviews.
• Serve as capture lead or senior technical lead for major pursuits, partnering with marketing, operations, and leadership teams.
• Build on existing client relationships while developing new opportunities with municipal utilities, counties, authorities, state agencies, and private-sector clients.

Client Development & Market Expansion

• Act as a senior client relationship manager and trusted advisor for key water, wastewater, and stormwater clients.
• Expand services within existing accounts while supporting national key client initiatives and cross-regional pursuits.
• Represent GAI through industry organizations, conferences, and professional networks, strengthening the firm's Florida and national water market presence.

Project Leadership & Execution

• Provide direct project leadership and executive oversight for planning, design, and delivery of water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects.
• Serve as Project Manager or Executive in Responsible Charge on select key projects.
• Ensure excellence in technical quality, schedule, budget performance, risk management, and client satisfaction.
• Guide and support project managers and technical leads in resolving complex technical, contractual, and client issues.

People, Talent & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of engineers and project professionals.
• Support recruiting, onboarding, and succession planning to build long-term depth in water, wastewater, and stormwater capabilities.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Promote consistent best practices and integration across offices to support scalable national growth.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or a related field.
• Florida Professional Engineer (PE) license (or ability to obtain).
• 15+ years of progressive experience delivering water, wastewater, and/or stormwater projects within a consulting environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams, identifying pursuits, writing proposals, and directing project execution.
• Strong understanding of Florida water, wastewater, and stormwater markets, regulatory frameworks, and funding mechanisms.

Preferred:

• Master's degree in Engineering or Business (MBA).
• Experience contributing to or leading regional or national water initiatives.
• Proven ability to grow services across multiple offices or client sectors.
• Established relationships with Florida and national water-related clients.

General Characteristics

• Makes decisions with broad influence on activities of their practices.
• Makes authoritative decisions and recommendations that are conclusive and have a far-reaching impact on the practice and the industry.
• Demonstrates a high degree of creativity, foresight, and mature judgment in planning, organizing, and guiding projects and activities of major consequence.
• Provides leadership and develops and engages others to create a common vision for their projects and the practice.
• Assesses the acceptability of engineering economic analyses and the risks associated with solutions to complex engineering problems.
• Evaluates solutions to complex problems that involve multiple specialty areas of engineering.
• Advocates for ethical behavior in the practice of engineering and assesses courses of resolution to ethical…