Overhead Line Technical Director

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

The Overhead Line Technical Director provides senior professional and technical leadership for Overhead Line engineering within the electrical Transmission and Distribution market. The role owns and develops OHL capability, sets technical direction and strengthens Arcadis’ reputation with clients and across the industry.

You will lead the technical delivery and assurance of major, complex or high-risk OHL projects and specialised OHL elements of multidisciplinary programmes. You will establish trusted senior client relationships, support strategic pursuits and develop people and capability across UK and global delivery teams.

Where appointed and appropriately competent, you may also undertake Project Manager responsibilities in accordance with Arcadis governance requirements.

Role accountabilities:

• Safety, health and wellbeing
  • Lead by example and promote continual improvement in SHE performance, including Safe by Design.
  • Ensure OHL engineering decisions consider relevant legislation, hazards, constructability, operation, maintenance, dismantling and safe systems of work.
  • Promote a culture in which SHE concerns and lessons are raised, addressed and shared.
• Technical leadership and assurance
  • Establish OHL standards, methods and good practice and provide recognised technical leadership.
  • Lead the development and evaluation of solutions for complex OHL problems, selecting appropriate techniques, procedures, tools and design approaches.
  • Provide specialised input to major studies and designs, guide client decisions and develop alternatives when project parameters change.
  • Act as controlling technical authority, Technical Reviewer or independent reviewer on major, complex or high-risk projects.
  • Lead interdisciplinary reviews and resolve significant differences of technical opinion across designers, checkers, reviewers, contractors and stakeholders.
  • Enable advancing technologies, digital methods and continuous-improvement systems while maintaining robust technical governance and quality management.
• Project and commercial delivery
  • Lead technical delivery of major and complex OHL projects across Arcadis teams, global resources and third parties.
  • Plan, direct and control technical tasks, people and resources to meet scope, programme, quality and budget requirements.
  • Evaluate team competence, define technical roles and identify training, mentoring or specialist support.
  • Oversee project reviews, controls and forecasts, taking timely action on delivery, technical, commercial and resource risks.
  • Where appointed as Project Manager, manage scope, change, invoicing, debt, suppliers, subconsultants, contractors and contractual matters.
  • Ensure teams understand the strategy, brief, client requirements, interfaces, acceptance criteria and management systems.
• People and capability leadership
  • Lead, coach and mentor OHL professionals, supporting career development, professional registration and succession.
  • Take technical line-management responsibility for assigned team members, including objectives, performance development and capability planning.
  • Support workforce planning and recruitment, including selection of senior engineers and technical leaders.
  • Build an inclusive, collaborative culture and champion effective use of global design and delivery resources.
• Clients, markets and reputation
  • Build trusted senior client relationships and lead resolution of significant issues and risks.

Qualifications & Experience:

• BSc/BEng, MSc/MEng or equivalent in Electrical, Civil, Structural or another relevant engineering discipline.
• Chartered Engineer status, or an internationally recognised equivalent.
• Extensive, recognised OHL expertise within electrical Transmission and Distribution, supported by an established industry network.
• Extensive consulting and technical-leadership experience on large-scale, highly complex or high-risk engineering projects.
• Strong knowledge of OHL interfaces with substations, underground cables, civil and structural engineering, geotechnics, environmental and consenting, construction, operations and asset management.
• Sound knowledge of statutory, regulatory, contractual and commercial frameworks, with the ability to exercise independent judgement and accountability.
• Strong consulting, project-management and senior client-relationship skills, including influencing at executive or senior-management level.
• Ability to plan tasks, people, resources, budgets and schedules, manage quality and integrate Arcadis service lines into coherent solutions.
• Sound sustainable-development knowledge, clear communication, ethical practice, inclusive leadership and commitment to continuing professional development.
• Relevant project-management experience and competence to undertake a Project Manager role where required.

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.