Strategic Growth Director – Business Development and Client Engagement – Sustainability, Earth and Environment

What if you could do the kind of work the world needs?

At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.

A little more about your role…

Responsible for shaping, coordinating and delivering structured business development, client engagement and market profile activity across the Earth, Environment and Sustainability portfolio of Business Units. The role will help translate portfolio strategy into practical growth activity by strengthening relationships with existing corporate clients, opening access to new decision-makers, identifying adjacent market opportunities and supporting coordinated work winning across priority sectors. It will focus on understanding client needs, market drivers and decision-making processes, then mobilising the right technical, sector and commercial expertise to position the business effectively.

The role works across the Earth, Environment and Sustainability Business Units, operating as a connector between client need, sector strategy, technical capability and work winning activity. It will support both established and emerging markets where environmental risk, sustainability outcomes, planning and consenting, climate resilience, nature, digital solutions and multidisciplinary delivery intersect.

The postholder will work in close collaboration with Strategic Growth Leads, Managing Directors, Heads of Discipline, Sector Leads, Key Account Managers, marketing and communications colleagues, bid and proposal teams, technical leaders and wider growth professionals across the firm.

The primary emphasis of the role is client engagement and business development, with a strong focus on senior relationship building, cross-selling, market positioning, strategic account development, client feedback and coordinated pursuit support.

A core part of the role will be to design and deliver a programme of strategic engagement with key clients across priority sectors. This will include improving relationship depth, increasing access to senior and C-suite stakeholders, identifying new buying centres, developing cross-selling opportunities and ensuring that client engagement is purposeful, well-planned and followed through.

The role will support the identification of target clients in existing, adjacent and emerging markets, helping to turn market intelligence, client insight and technical capability into qualified opportunities and a stronger forward pipeline.

The postholder will coordinate and manage the client feedback process across the portfolio, ensuring that feedback is gathered consistently, analysed constructively and translated into clear actions that improve client experience, delivery confidence and future positioning.

The role will also lead and coordinate market profile activity, working with marketing and communications colleagues to raise visibility of the portfolio’s strongest propositions, technical leadership, campaigns, case studies and thought leadership.

The postholder will support work winning efforts by contributing to early positioning, capture planning, client intelligence, value proposition development, bid strategy and senior review of strategically important opportunities.

The role will act as the portfolio lead for client feedback, helping to embed a disciplined approach to listening to clients, learning from delivery and using insight to strengthen relationships and improve future performance.
We are a complex organisation, and this role requires collaboration and coordination with other growth professionals. 

What we will be looking for you to demonstrate?
 

• Client engagement strategy: Develop and maintain a structured client engagement programme for priority clients and sectors, aligned to portfolio strategy, account plans and growth priorities.
• Senior relationship development: Build and support senior-level client relationships, including access to executive decision-makers, influencers, procurement leads and technical sponsors.
• Business development: Identify, qualify and progress new business opportunities across existing, adjacent and emerging markets, with a focus on opportunities where the portfolio can bring integrated environmental, sustainability, planning, digital and advisory capability.
• Cross-selling and integration: Connect clients to the wider breadth of the firm’s capability, helping teams identify opportunities to bring together multiple disciplines and business units around common client challenges.
• Market insight and horizon scanning: Share intelligence with with sector and technical leaders to interpret client drivers, policy change, regulatory developments, investment cycles and competitor activity, translating insight into practical growth actions.
• Profile and marketing: Shape and coordinate market-facing activity, including campaigns, events, client briefings, thought leadership, and proposition materials that increase visibility and credibility in priority markets.
• Client feedback and improvement: Lead a consistent client feedback process across the portfolio, ensuring feedback is captured, shared, acted on and used to improve client experience, delivery quality and future positioning.
• Collaboration in a matrix organisation: Work effectively across Business Units, sectors, disciplines, accounts, marketing, bids, commercial teams and delivery teams to ensure growth activity is coordinated and not duplicated.
• Proposition development: Support the development of clear, client-focused propositions that explain the value of the portfolio’s technical expertise in ways that are relevant to client priorities and buying decisions.
•  Governance and discipline: Help embed consistent approaches to opportunity qualification, account planning, client engagement, marketing prioritisation and feedback follow-up.

Key Interfaces

• Strategic Growth Leads (Richard Clayton, Elena Amirkhanova) and portfolio leadership (Mark Hurley, Barry Cowell).
• Business Unit Managing Directors (Charles Humphries and Chris Warner) and Heads of Discipline.
• Sector Leads and Key Account Managers.
• Discipline Growth Leads (where present).
• Technical leaders and proposition owners across Earth, Environment and Sustainability Advisory capabilities.
• Marketing and communications teams responsible for campaigns, profile raising, events and thought leadership.
• (Bid, proposal, capture and commercial teams supporting strategic pursuits to provide client insight and intel).
• Project directors and delivery teams responsible for major commissions and client satisfaction.
• External clients, partners, industry bodies and selected market influencers

What Success Looks Like

• A clear and active programme of engagement with priority clients across the portfolio.
• Improved access to senior client stakeholders and better visibility of client priorities, investment plans and buying decisions.
• Stronger cross-selling between Sustainability and Environment capabilities and the wider firm.
• (Better-qualified pipeline with clearer ownership, earlier positioning and stronger capture plans for priority opportunities).
• More consistent client feedback, with evidence that feedback is being used to improve delivery, relationships and future positioning.
• Increased market profile for the portfolio’s key propositions, technical leaders and differentiators.
• Improved coordination between growth, sector, account, marketing, bid and delivery teams.
• A more disciplined and evidence-led approach to business development activity, reporting and prioritisation.

Measurable Goals

• Client engagement: Establish and maintain active engagement plans for the portfolio’s priority clients, with agreed relationship owners, senior stakeholder maps, planned client touchpoints and follow-up actions reviewed at least quarterly. (High Priority)
• Senior access: Increase senior-level client engagement by securing regular meetings with executive sponsors, procurement leads, technical decision-makers and other key influencers across agreed priority accounts. (High Priority)
• Pipeline growth and quality: Contribute to measurable improvement in qualified pipeline value, pipeline confidence and data quality, with priority opportunities reviewed monthly and aligned to agreed sector, client and portfolio growth plans. (Associated Outcome)
• Strategic pursuits: Maintain a visible portfolio of priority pursuits, with capture plans, win themes, client intelligence, competitor insight and clear ownership in place for each strategic opportunity. (Associated Outcome)
• Cross-selling: Identify and progress cross-business opportunities where Earth, Environment and Sustainability capabilities can be combined with wider firm services, with a focus on measurable growth from existing corporate clients and frameworks. (Medium Priority)
• Client feedback: Implement a consistent feedback programme for priority clients and major projects, with feedback captured, themes reported, actions assigned and progress reviewed with relevant account and delivery teams. (Medium Priority)
• Market profile: Deliver a planned programme of profile-raising activity, including campaigns, client briefings, events, case studies, thought leadership and targeted communications linked to priority propositions and sectors. (Medium Priority)
• Reporting and evidence: Provide concise reporting on client engagement, pipeline health, pursuit progress, client feedback, profile activity and priority actions, using available CRM, pipeline, financial and client feedback data wherever possible.

Don’t quite meet all the criteria? Apply, and we can see how your experience aligns to this role and other opportunities within the team.

Imagine a better future for you and a better future for us all.

Join our close-knit community of talented individuals who share your passion for making a positive impact. Our global team includes more than 84,000 employees, working together to make a difference in communities both close to home and around the world.
 

With us, you can. Apply today.
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We are one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Our passionate people are united by the common purpose of creating positive, long-lasting impacts on the communities we serve through a culture of innovation, integrity, and inclusion. With over 11,000 professionals across the UK and Ireland, we are dedicated to our local communities and propelled by international brainpower.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

Work-life balance

At WSP, we understand that work is just one aspect of your life. It’s important to make time for you, your family, friends, interests and your community.

Our hybrid working policy offers the flexibility to work from home two days a week, while also providing opportunities to collaborate in our modern offices across the UK.

Inclusivity & Belonging

We welcome applicants with varied backgrounds and experiences. We enable rewarding careers by encouraging people to bring their whole and authentic selves to work so that our work represents the fullest spectrum of society. We celebrate integrity and treat people with respect, supporting each other and embracing a culture of inclusion and belonging at WSP. We have our employee resource groups bring together employees and allies with different backgrounds to promote a culture of inclusivity.

Health & Wellbeing

We are committed to supporting our people, giving you the tools to make improvements to your health and wellbeing through our Thrive programme.

Our Virtual GP service gives you access to an NHS or Irish Medical Council GP at a time and place that suits you – giving you peace of mind and quick access to medical advice when you need it most. We also provide reasonable workplace adjustments for those in need. Additionally, you can benefit from the Gymflex scheme, which offers up to 40% off annual gym memberships through our WSP flexible benefits program, as well as a comprehensive menopause support package.

Flex your time

To enhance work-life balance, WSP offers the “WSP My Hour,” allowing you to take one hour each day for personal activities, with the flexibility to make up the time earlier or later that day.

We also provide part-time and flexible working arrangements, the option to purchase additional leave, and the ability to use your bank holiday entitlement to suit you.

Your development

We understand the importance of development and training to you. That’s why we foster a supportive environment that invests in your growth, whether through training, mentoring, or Chartership.

#WeAreWSP

Here at WSP we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy or maternity/paternity. As a Disability Confident leader, we will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria, please let us know if you require any workplace adjustments in support of your application.