Director - East

About The Role

Balfour Beatty Living Places is looking for a Contract Director to lead, manage and successfully deliver its East Sussex highways contract. This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for shaping strategy, driving performance and delivering outstanding outcomes for our customer, communities and partners.

​You will take full ownership of a complex, high‑value contract, balancing operational excellence with strong commercial control, while building trusted relationships with local authority stakeholders, elected members and supply chain partners.

This is a role where your leadership will directly influence customer satisfaction, long‑term growth and Balfour Beatty’s reputation as a trusted delivery partner across the region. The role can be offered either on a permanent or fixed‑term basis.

• Lead the end‑to‑end delivery of the East Sussex contract, ensuring outcomes are achieved safely, on time, to budget and to the highest quality standards
• Take full accountability for contract P&L, overseeing financial forecasting, cost control and profitability across the portfolio
• Set and champion a Zero Harm culture, embedding safety leadership and continuous improvement across teams and the supply chain
• Build and sustain strong, trusted relationships with the client, elected members and Alliance partners, proactively managing change and expectations
• Drive operational excellence through robust planning, risk management, project controls and performance reporting
• Embed sustainability and social value into contract delivery, supporting environmental targets and community outcome
• Lead and develop a large, diverse workforce, creating high‑performing teams and a strong future talent pipeline
• Oversee effective supply chain management, ensuring alignment with Balfour Beatty and client standards
• Support business growth by strengthening customer relationships and contributing to future work opportunities

• Significant senior leadership experience within highways term maintenance, managing large and complex local authority networks
• Proven background in Alliance or partnership‑based delivery models, with strong local authority client exposure
• Highly developed commercial and financial acumen, with experience of full contract P&L responsibility
• A confident, credible leader with experience leading large teams and influencing at senior and political levels
• Strong communicator with the ability to build long‑term, trust‑based stakeholder relationships
• Passion for safety, sustainability and continuous improvement in operational performance

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more …

Balfour Beatty Living Places works in long‑term partnerships with local authorities to create great places to live, work and play. We actively engage with local people to understand the needs of the communities we work in and shape the places where local economies can thrive and grow. As a leader in sustainable working, diversity, and social value, we use our expertise to bring real, positive change for our customers.

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit

We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at: candidate recruit