Principal- Water Environment Leader

Job Description

Job Description

Principal - Water Environment Chesterfield, MO

Build Your Future with GBA

You have built the technical expertise, earned the trust of clients, and learned what it takes to lead complex Water Environment work. Now you are ready to help shape what comes next.

GBA is seeking a Principal - Water Environment to provide strategic, client, business, and technical leadership for our Water Environment practice in St. Louis. This Principal-level opportunity is about more than leading projects. You will help grow the market, deepen key client relationships, develop future leaders, strengthen our service offerings, and influence the long-term direction and performance of the practice.

The right leader will bring strong Water Environment experience together with business insight, client credibility, and a passion for building teams and opportunities. You will operate with broad autonomy to establish priorities and make strategic and operational decisions within GBA's overall strategy and governance.

How You'll Make an Impact Drive Business Development & Market Growth

• Take an active leadership role in business development, developing and executing strategies to grow GBA's Water Environment presence across St. Louis and the broader Missouri market.
• Identify new opportunities, build prospective client relationships, lead strategic pursuits, and expand service offerings that position GBA for long-term growth.
• Use market insight, client needs, and industry trends to influence business priorities and investment decisions.
• Partner across GBA to bring the right disciplines, expertise, scope, fee, and resources together for complex pursuits and client needs.

Build Relationships That Last

• Own and strengthen client strategy for key Water Environment relationships and accounts.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to municipalities, utility organizations, regulatory agencies, and industry partners, helping clients navigate infrastructure, regulatory, growth, and investment decisions.
• Build executive-level relationships, resolve significant client concerns, and turn strong project delivery into long-term partnerships and future opportunities.
• Use client insight to help improve how GBA delivers work and where we expand our services.

Lead with Business and Technical Insight

• Provide strategic and technical leadership for complex Water Environment projects and programs from planning and design through implementation.
• Translate complex technical, project, and business issues into practical decisions that balance client needs, risk, quality, schedule, and long-term value.
• Maintain appropriate governance, quality, risk management, and project controls while empowering project and technical leaders to own successful delivery.
• Influence operational performance, resource decisions, profitability, and priorities across the practice.

Lead, Supervise & Develop Future Leaders

• Provide direct supervision and leadership for team members, setting clear expectations, managing performance, and supporting individual and team success.
• Attract, coach, and develop talented professionals and future leaders, creating opportunities for growth while building a high-performing team.
• Support succession planning and intentionally develop people who can take on greater responsibility for clients, teams, and projects.
• Build a culture rooted in teamwork, integrity, honesty, learning, service, and innovation, where people feel supported, challenged, and empowered to grow.

Strengthen GBA's Industry Presence

• Represent GBA in professional organizations, industry events, client forums, and other opportunities that strengthen our reputation and relationships.
• Turn client and project challenges into opportunities for better approaches, new services, and responsible innovation.
• Help teams test, learn, and improve while maintaining sound professional judgment and oversight.

What You'll Bring

We are looking for a leader who has already built credibility in the A/E and Water Environment industry and is ready to use that experience to grow clients, people, and the business.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, or a related field from an accredited program, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 12+ years of combined A/E industry experience, including leadership experience.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license appropriate to the role; Texas licensure or ability to obtain Texas licensure where required.
• Deep Water Environment experience, including municipal treatment, utility infrastructure, planning, conveyance, and related services.
• Experience leading complex projects from concept and planning through design and implementation, with an understanding of scope, schedule, budget, quality, and risk.
• Demonstrated business development success, including building client relationships, leading pursuits, winning new work, and contributing to market or practice growth.
• Strong understanding of contracts, proposals, fee structures, project profitability, and resource decisions.
• Ability to translate client needs into practical project and business solutions while maintaining strong, trusted relationships.
• Supervisory and people leadership experience, including managing team performance, developing talent, mentoring future leaders, and building high-performing teams.
• Successful completion of ACEC Principals Bootcamp or equivalent program leadership certification/coursework, or willingness to complete as part of leadership development.

What Will Help You Thrive

You enjoy the intersection of clients, people, strategy, and technical excellence. You can move comfortably from an executive client conversation to a market strategy discussion, a complex project decision, or a coaching conversation with a developing leader.

You think beyond the next project. You look for ways to strengthen key accounts, build new capabilities, connect disciplines, improve performance, and create opportunities for others. You are willing to make decisions, manage ambiguity, take balanced risks, and put the company and client relationship ahead of individual interests.

Most importantly, you build trust. You communicate clearly, follow through, take accountability when challenges arise, seek feedback, and continue learning as the market and industry evolve.

Travel

• Ability to travel to client sites, project locations, industry events, and other regional offices as business needs require.
• Must maintain a valid driver's license and an insurable driving record under the company's insurance carrier requirements to operate or rent vehicles for business purposes.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work on a computer for extended periods of time.
• Ability to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time.

GBA is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We promote diversity in our workforce by including all individuals regardless of age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, veteran status, pregnancy status, or any other status protected by law.