Technical Director; Gateway Infrastructure Planner

Locations:
Bristol, Newcastle, Croydon, Southampton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Cardiff, London

Recruiter contact:
Ainsley Anstess

Mott Mac Donald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices.

We are seeking a Technical Director who is a specialist in Landside Airport Planning (Development Planning). The successful candidate will be recognised in the industry as a technical expert in their specialist field.

• Lead development planning work streams on major airport development, port and coastal development programmes, for owners and operators.
• Support scheme development and consenting approvals for port (air and water) related schemes.
• Be recognised by our clients and within the aviation industry as a technical specialist with world‑class landside planning expertise.
• Train others in this specialist field, nurturing junior members of the team and helping support them to develop their landside planning capabilities.
• Develop our planning expertise across all port (air and water) landside facilities including those for surface transport, airport cities, cargo and logistics, ancillary and support facilities, and port adjacent land uses.
• Optimise landside planning at ports (air and water) for land‑use and operational efficiency.
• Understand surface access numerical capacity analysis and simulation modelling to work closely and collaboratively with transport planners and modellers who specialise in this work.

• Seek and pursue new business opportunities to grow our airport landside planning services.
• Build and maintain robust relationships with new and existing airport operator clients, influencing key directors to become their preferred consultant.
• Plan and position for upcoming opportunities and prospects, converting them into projects and producing high‑quality proposals that are both technically and commercially sound.

• Provide technical leadership of landside planning work streams of major airport masterplan and development projects.
• Communicate effectively with client organisations and key stakeholders to give them confidence in the landside planning principles of their development programmes.
• Perform the role of Technical Director/Principal, accountable for achieving successful project outcomes, coaching and mentoring Project Managers.
• Be accountable for the successful completion of all projects under your oversight.

Essential experience:

• Extensive experience in port landside planning, including work on large-scale development programmes (development planning of major infrastructure).
• Experience to include landside transport facilities, port operations, land‑use planning, cargo and logistics, airport cities, and port support facilities.

We are looking for candidates with the following characteristics:

• Proactive and self‑motivated, with a learning mindset.
• A person who is naturally curious, willing to adopt new techniques and software and strive for continuous improvement.
• An ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, winning new work and becoming their preferred consultant.
• Strong project leadership skills with an ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• A team player who nurtures and uplifts colleagues, and is able to foster teamwork and collaboration.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, allowing you to confidently liaise with clients and cross‑functional teams.

We are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in the future.

We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces well‑being, flexibility and trust.

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for…