Senior Program Director

About the role

This Opportunity WSP is seeking a Senior Program Director for our Power & Energy Program Management Office in Tulsa, OK.  The following locations will also be considered: Oklahoma City, OK; Dallas, TX; Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Corpus Christi, TX; Bentonville, AR; Shreveport, LA. The successful candidate is preferred to be located within, or have ready access to, the south-central United States and must be able to travel regularly to WSP, client, and project locations across a multi-state utility service territory. This position provides leadership, definition, and oversight for the consistent delivery of large-scale, highly complex programs within the Extra High Voltage (EHV) Transmission and Distribution sector, with a strong emphasis on embedded client support, regional coordination, and reliable execution across a geographically dispersed portfolio.  Your Impact Lead the most complex and largest scale projects within the organization, ensuring contributors know what they are required to do and by when, preparing and overseeing relevant project budgets, forecasts, margins and KPIs, monitoring external events and risk contingencies, tracking hours and expenses, ensuring QA/QC and satisfactory performance, and managing the contractual obligations to deliver the project or assigned portfolio of assigned project(s) as defined in the contract. Foster effective and proactive strategies to engage client and project stakeholders at all levels, maintain trusted relationships, and provide clear, timely reporting on project and portfolio progress. Participate in the technical aspects of contract negotiation, presentations, and meetings. Serve as a senior day-to-day client interface, working within established client governance, project controls, safety, quality, reporting, and decision-making processes to support successful delivery of the assigned program or portfolio. Coordinate closely with client representatives, internal delivery teams, functional leads, subcontractors, and external stakeholders to align priorities, clarify responsibilities, resolve issues, and support consistent execution across the assigned regional footprint. Accountable for the profitable performance and successful completion of all individual projects within the specified area or portfolio.  Provide leadership to multidisciplinary project teams distributed across multiple offices and project locations, and deliver high-level strategic advice aligned with client priorities, operating practices, and capital program objectives. Provide performance guidance and proactive leadership to assigned managers and staff, promoting consistent delivery practices and an integrated team approach across WSP and client-facing resources. Develop, maintain, and update Project Initiation and governance documentation, including Risk Registers (REF/RMP), Project Management Plans (PMP), Project Quality Plans (QP), Project Safety Plans (PSP), and Communications Plans, in accordance with WSP and client requirements.  Lead project management discipline meetings, addressing root cause issues and potential solutions, leveraging opportunities for improvement in area of responsibility, and providing updates and recommendations to staff that ensure all appropriate measures are taken to foster innovation, development, and quality project delivery.   Lead the development of project recovery plans, including team input for developing strategy for correcting project budget and overrun issues with the client. Lead and support integrated project controls and portfolio governance activities, including schedule and cost performance tracking, forecast updates, variance analysis, change control, risk and issue management, action tracking, decision documentation, escalation, and executive-level reporting. Ensure regular project and portfolio reporting and updates are provided to client representatives, technical areas, and business unit managers, identifying emerging issues involving scope, schedule, cost, risk, resources, quality, safety, and stakeholder commitments. Ensure the completion of all formal project closeout activities, along with the facilitation and documentation of a lessons-learned meeting with key project staff. Collaborate with professionals and leadership from a variety of disciplines to provide trusted-advisor service, strengthen client confidence, and develop future-ready solutions responsive to regional utility needs. Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures. Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.   Who You Are Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, or a related major, or equivalent experience in a technical or engineering firm. 15+ years of relevant post-education experience in a project or program management role within the power, energy, utility, or large capital infrastructure industry. Advanced-level understanding of project delivery within the A/E/C industry and extensive experience managing large-scale utility or capital infrastructure projects and programs. Experience working across a variety of delivery models (DBB, EPC, PDB) and within a client-led governance and controls environment.  Advanced knowledge and proficiency with analytical and organizational skills, with business acumen to bridge business and project management. Strong working knowledge of corporate project management principles, practices, process, delivery, execution, and the business impact upon the organization. Demonstrated exceptional ability with establishing, implementing, and managing multiple larger scale/complex projects, programs, documents, systems, and practices. Excellent self-leadership and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to manage staff, and effectively, persuasively, and tactfully interact with employees at all levels of the organization. Strategic lateral thinking and strong analytical skills with attention to detail and prioritization of responsibilities in a pressure work environment. Ability to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources, including senior management, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers, clients, and company-wide staff, including those with whom no formal hierarchical relationship exists. Demonstrated experience working in an embedded or highly integrated client-service environment, with the ability to navigate matrixed organizations, regional operating groups, multiple functional interfaces, and geographically dispersed stakeholders. Advanced knowledge and proficiency with technical writing, office automation, relevant software, MS Office suite products (e.g., Word, Excel, Visio, Project, SharePoint), technology, spreadsheets, and PM tools. Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies. Strong ability to quickly adapt to changing client priorities and demonstrate flexibility in schedules, hours, and work locations to meet program and regional business needs. Regular travel is expected to client offices, WSP offices, and project sites across the assigned south-central U.S. service territory, with frequency varying based on program and project requirements.   Preferred Qualifications Master’s Degree Essential project management certification (e.g., PMP, CAP-M)   WSP Benefits: WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.  Compensation: Expected Salary (all locations): $168,900 - $323,900 WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law. Expected Salary (Colorado only): $168,900 - $303,400 WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and/or offer for this position within the state of Colorado, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.   #LI-PR1 About WSP WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,000 employees in over 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper. WSP provides a flexible and agile workplace model while meeting client needs. Employees are also afforded a comprehensive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and retirement savings focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. At WSP, we want to give our employees the challenges they seek to grow their careers and knowledge base. Your daily contributions to your team will be essential in meeting client objectives, goals and challenges. Are you ready to get started? WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status. The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States. NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES: WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand.  Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.