Midwest Surface Water Practice Lead

Job-ID: 98307Category: LeadershipLocation: Chicago, IL, United States; Cincinnati, OH, United States; Cleveland, IL, United States; Kansas City, MO, United States; Kansas City, KS, United States; Saint Louis, MO, United States; Columbus, OH, United States; Lincoln, NE, United States; Detroit, MI, United StatesPosted: 2026-11-03WSP has an exciting career opportunity for a Midwest Surface Water Practice Lead to help lead, grow, and strengthen our Surface Water practice across the Midwest Region.This is a leadership position for an individual who combines strong technical expertise in surface water and water resources with a passion for developing people, building client relationships, and growing a high-performing regional practice. The Practice Lead will work closely with the Midwest Water leadership team, other Regional Practice Leads, technical leaders, project managers, and national experts to connect our people and capabilities across offices and markets. The successful candidate will play a key role in advancing WSP's Surface Water practice by developing staff, strengthening technical capabilities, supporting utilization and work sharing, and driving strategic business development within the practice.Our Midwest Surface Water practice supports a diverse portfolio of work including municipal stormwater, flood risk management, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, FEMA programs, transportation drainage, open channel hydraulics, and related water resources planning and design. The broader Midwest Water organization also maintains capabilities in dams and levees and alternative delivery, creating opportunities to bring multidisciplinary teams together for complex client needs.We are looking for a collaborative leader who can build on our existing strengths while helping shape the next generation of our Surface Water practice across the Midwest.Your ImpactLead and grow the Midwest Surface Water practice, working with regional and national Water leadership to establish priorities, strengthen capabilities, and position the practice for sustainable growth.Develop and mentor our people, including supporting career development, technical growth, mentoring, succession planning, recruitment, and retention of surface water professionals.Drive technical excellence across the practice by connecting technical experts, advancing consistent approaches and quality, mentoring developing professionals, and supporting complex or high-profile projects.Promote work sharing and collaboration across Midwest offices, other WSP regions, and national Communities of Practice to connect available talent with project needs and provide meaningful development opportunities for staff.Support utilization and staffing across the practice, proactively balancing workloads, identifying upcoming needs and available capacity, and coordinating staffing with project and operational leadership.Support strategic business development within Surface Water, working with Midwest Water leadership and client account teams to develop growth strategies, strengthen client relationships, identify pursuits, and increase WSP's position in priority markets.Build and expand client relationships with municipal, state, federal, transportation, and other public-sector clients, while identifying opportunities to broaden WSP's services with existing clients.Support growth across key Surface Water capabilities including municipal stormwater, flood risk management, open channel hydraulics, FEMA programs, transportation drainage, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, and related water resources planning and design.Serve as a senior technical leader, project manager, program manager, or strategic advisor on select projects involving flood risk management, stormwater and drainage, hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, and related surface water infrastructure.Lead and support technical planning, modeling, analysis, design, and construction support for projects involving stormwater systems, culverts, channels, detention and retention facilities, erosion control, and hydraulic structures.Provide senior-level oversight and technical review to help ensure quality, consistency, and successful delivery of Surface Water projects.Recruit and help build the Surface Water team, identifying strategic hiring needs and participating in recruitment of professionals who strengthen priority capabilities and markets.Collaborate with Midwest Water leadership on practice performance, staffing, backlog, utilization, project needs, and business development priorities.Actively participate in WSP's regional and national technical networks and Communities of Practice, bringing national expertise and resources to Midwest clients and creating opportunities for Midwest staff to contribute to projects across WSP.Represent WSP with clients, professional organizations, industry partners, and at conferences and technical events to strengthen the firm's visibility and position in the Surface Water market.Who You AreRequired QualificationsBachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or a closely related field. Master's degree preferred.Professional Engineer (PE) licensure required, with the ability to obtain licensure through reciprocity in applicable Midwest states.20+ years of progressive experience in surface water, hydrology and hydraulics, stormwater management, flood risk management, drainage design, or related water resources disciplines.Demonstrated experience leading and developing technical professionals and multidisciplinary project teams.Strong technical knowledge of hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and the ability to provide senior-level technical review, mentoring, and guidance.Experience with industry-standard hydrologic and hydraulic modeling platforms such as HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS/HEC-RAS 2D, FLO-2D, SWMM or comparable tools, as applicable to the candidate's area of expertise.Experience with GIS and its application to water resources planning, modeling, analysis, and project delivery.Proven ability to develop client relationships, identify business opportunities, support pursuits, and contribute to the growth of a water resources or surface water practice.Demonstrated project and/or program management experience on complex water resources projects.Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to collaborate across offices, disciplines, business lines, and geographic boundaries.Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to clients, stakeholders, and multidisciplinary teams.Familiarity with relevant federal, state, and local stormwater, floodplain, and water resources programs and regulations. Experience with FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and Risk MAP program is beneficial.Ability and willingness to travel periodically throughout the Midwest and elsewhere in support of clients, projects, staff, and business development activities.Must pass background check and maintain a satisfactory driving record in accordance with WSP's driving policy.Preferred QualificationsEstablished relationships with municipal, state, federal, transportation, or other Surface Water clients within the Midwest.Demonstrated success growing a water resources practice, client portfolio, technical capability, or geographic market.Experience leading geographically distributed teams and sharing resources across offices or regions.Experience developing emerging technical leaders and creating career pathways for water resources professionals.Active participation and leadership in professional organizations related to stormwater, floodplain management, water resources, transportation drainage, or related disciplines.Experience supporting major programs, multidisciplinary infrastructure projects, or alternative delivery project.WSP Benefits:WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a 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): $192,000 - $313,000WSP 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.About the companyAbout WSPWSP 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.