Associate, Collaborative Partnering in Birmingham

WSP is one of the world's leading engineering professional services consulting firms, dedicated to local communities and propelled by international brainpower. We are technical experts and strategic advisors, including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, environmental specialists, and other design, program, and construction management professionals.

Guiding Principles

• We value our people and our reputation.
• We are locally dedicated with international scale.
• We are future‑focused and challenge the status quo.
• We foster collaboration in everything we do.
• We have an empowering culture and hold ourselves accountable.

Collaborative Partnering Team (CPT)

CPT works with clients, project leaders, and delivery teams to establish and embed a high‑performance collaborative culture, behaviours, and ways of working across the project lifecycle. We offer a practitioner‑based approach across four broad workstreams:

• Work Winning: Contribute to tender strategy and response, preparing integrated delivery teams for client engagement.
• Project Mobilisation: Help leaders and teams establish high‑performance culture and collaborative behaviours to mobilise complex, integrated programmes.
• Project Delivery: Develop leaders’ knowledge, skill, and capability, providing bespoke team performance intervention to enable successful project delivery.
• Client Experience: Provide consultation and direct project delivery to clients, covering organisation development, culture and collaboration, leadership, and team development.

A Little More About Your Role

The Associate, Collaborative Partnering (ACP) is a hands‑on performance coach and trusted advisor. The ACP develops high‑performance culture, collaborative behaviours, and working practices for leaders and teams delivering complex infrastructure programmes. The ACP builds strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders, understands their needs, and delivers bespoke interventions that build knowledge, skill, and capability.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted partnering relationships with internal and external stakeholders to enable needs analysis and delivery of Collaborative Partnering services.
• Provide aligned subject‑matter expertise, advice, feedback, and coaching to individuals and teams.
• Design and deliver high‑quality leadership and team interventions that meet needs, outcomes, budget, and timescale.
• Partner with colleagues to contribute to work‑winning strategy, written responses, and training tendering teams.
• Contribute to the evolution of Collaborative Partnering services and toolkits.
• Role‑model high‑performance collaborative behaviours in all interactions.

What We Will Be Looking For You To Demonstrate

• High Performance Culture and Collaborative Skills Development: Demonstrable knowledge of human behavioural science, leadership theory, and team dynamics with experience helping teams work effectively together.
• Excellent facilitation skills for in‑person, online, and hybrid settings, leveraging technology to ensure engagement.
• Confidence in providing advice, coaching, and constructive challenge to drive high performance and achieve programme outcomes.
• Interest in high‑quality consulting services directly to clients and contributing to best practice for collaborative working.

Mindset & Behaviours

• Positive, growth‑minded, seeing opportunities in challenges.
• Strong emotional intelligence, influencing without positional authority, and challenging constructively.
• Results‑driven, proactive, accountable, with a strong client orientation.
• Resilient, self‑motivated, calm under pressure, and meeting deadlines.
• Able to self‑evaluate, accept feedback, and adjust approaches to maintain professionalism and deliver high quality work.

Project Management

• Plan and manage multiple tasks amid uncertainty and change, delivering on time and budget.
• Operate within established systems and processes, keeping accurate project records and contributing to resources and toolkits.

Business Focus and Acumen

• Work independently while aligning with organisational and team strategic priorities.
• Balance commercial pressures and stakeholder needs in a business environment.

Travel / Mobility

• Flexible, frequent weekly travel on public transport across the U.K., including some overnight travel.
• Ready to travel to and from London and Birmingham as required.

Qualifications

• Degree in Organisation Development, Organisation Psychology, or equivalent experience.
• Experience coaching leaders and teams to successful outcomes within complex projects or programmes.
• Experience working as part of a matrix or integrated team, supporting project delivery and influencing others.

Reporting Line

This role reports to the Head of Collaborative Partnering.