Project Director - Water Infrastructure

Job Description Overview

Atkins Réalis is one of the world’s leading engineering and project management organizations, delivering innovative solutions across infrastructure, transportation, energy, and water sectors.

As part of our continued growth within the Water Sector, we are seeking an experienced Project Director to lead the successful delivery of major and complex water infrastructure programmes across the UK and internationally.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Project Delivery Practice (PDP) and play a key role in shaping, growing, and delivering critical water projects.

Working with major clients across the regulated water industry, you will lead multidisciplinary teams, build trusted client relationships, drive business growth, and ensure successful project outcomes from inception through to completion.

The role combines strategic leadership, commercial accountability, and technical excellence while contributing to the delivery of sustainable and resilient water infrastructure solutions.

Your role

As a Project Director, you will provide strategic leadership and governance across major water infrastructure projects, ensuring successful delivery of programme objectives while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality, commercial performance, and client satisfaction.

Key responsibilities include

• Manage end-to-end delivery of major, complex water sector projects and programmes, ensuring safety, quality, schedule, and commercial success.
• Provide strategic management throughout the project lifecycle, from feasibility and concept development through design, construction, commissioning, and close-out.
• Act as the Project Director and primary client interface, building and maintaining trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and executive-level decision-makers.
• Oversee project performance, ensuring effective management of cost, schedule, risk, resource allocation, and performance reporting.
• Drive excellence in project governance, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, contractual obligations, and Atkins Réalis delivery standards.
• Resolve complex commercial, contractual, and operational challenges while protecting both client and business interests.
• Apply extensive knowledge of the water sector, including water treatment, wastewater treatment, networks, reservoirs, flood resilience, and environmental sustainability initiatives.
• Maintain accountability for commercial performance, including contract strategy, financial management, forecasting, and negotiation of key project agreements.
• Mentor and develop high-performing project teams, fostering collaboration, inclusion, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Support business development activities through bid, client engagement, strategic account management, and securing future opportunities.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of best practices, delivery excellence, and capability growth within the Project Delivery Practice.
• Health, safety, wellbeing, and environmental performance across all project activities.

About you

• Proven experience in managing major, complex multidisciplinary engineering or infrastructure projects at Project Director level.
• Significant experience within the regulated water industry, working with major UK water companies and associated stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience delivering large-scale capital programmes involving water treatment works, wastewater treatment facilities, pipeline networks, reservoirs, pumping stations, or flood resilience schemes.
• Extensive experience managing client relationships and stakeholder engagement within highly regulated and operationally critical environments.
• Strong commercial acumen, including budget management, financial forecasting, risk management, procurement, and contract administration.
• Experience operating under industry-standard delivery and contract frameworks such as NEC, FIDIC, or equivalent forms of contract.
• Strong lead capability with a proven track record of building, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams.
• Degree qualification in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Environmental Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Chartered professional status such as APM, ICE, CIWEM, RICS, or an equivalent professional institution.
• Strong understanding of health, safety, environmental, and quality management principles.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills with the ability to engage effectively at executive and board level.
• Rewards & benefits

Explore the rewards and benefits that help you thrive – at every stage of your life and your career.

Enjoy competitive salaries, employee rewards and a brilliant range of benefits you can tailor to suit your own health, wellbeing, financial and lifestyle choices.

Make the most of a myriad of opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise.

And combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and fulfilling personal life.

Be rewarded.

Find out more.

About Atkins Réalis

We're Atkins Réalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear organization.

We connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and energy systems.

Together, with our industry partners and clients, and our global team of consultants, designers, engineers and project managers, we can change the world.

We're committed to leading our clients across our various end markets to engineer a better future for our planet and its people.

Additional information

Security clearance This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance.

If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview.

The vetting process is delivered by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) and may require candidates to provide proof of residency in the UK of 5 years or longer.

If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance.

We are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they belong - a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop to be the best we can be.

So, we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee resource groups to support all employees.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we value applications from all backgrounds, cultures and ability.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we are committed to offering an interview to all applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria.

If you would like to be considered under this commitment, please let us know at the application stage.

#LI-INFRASTRUCTURE | #LI-UK | #PDPractice | #PDPJOBS At Atkins Réalis, we seek to hire individuals with diverse characteristics, backgrounds and perspectives.

We strongly believe that world-class talent makes no distinctions based on gender, ethnic or national origin, sexual identity and orientation, age, religion or disability, but enriches itself through these differences.

Created by the integration of long-standing organizations dating back to 1911, Atkins Réalis is a world-class engineering services and nuclear company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people.

We create sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and and .

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