California Water Market Leader, Vice President

California Water Market Leader, Vice President This Vice President Water Market Leader position is responsible for leading the strategic direction, growth, sales of Harris’ water and wastewater infrastructure in the California market. This role ensures alignment of business development, client engagement, and service delivery to achieve long-term business objectives and key client relationships while partnering with Business Unit leaders to deliver Harris services. The initial focus of the Water Market Leader is growing Harris’ program management and engineering design services market shares. As a senior leader, the Vice President serves as a primary external representative of Harris in the California water sector, strengthening client relationships, expanding market presence, and positioning the firm for sustained growth. While technical delivery would primarily be led by Business Unit Leaders, the Water Market Leader serves as the client-facing champion who opens doors, builds long-term relationships, and positions Harris to win new work, retain valued clients, and continuously expand our footprint in the California Water Market. The ideal candidate will bring a strong understanding of the planning, design, and construction of Water System capital projects delivered by public sector clients, along with significant experience partnering with cities, counties, special districts, municipal-owned utilities, public agencies, and regulatory stakeholders. The Water Market Leader will be responsible for driving market expansion, managing the Water Market pipeline and backlog, and leading pre-positioning and capture planning for opportunities across the California Water Market. This includes leading to the development of compelling technical proposals to secure new work and continuously building and strengthening long-term client relationships. The Water Market Leader will selectively engage in the delivery of large-scale Water System infrastructure programs, involving the design of pump stations, pipelines, reservoirs and other Water System elements, ensuring Harris’ service meets client expectations, comply with regulatory requirements, while achieving operational excellence and target profitability. This position will also carry primary responsibility for achieving Water Market sales goals and continuously expanding Harris’ presence and reputation across the Water Market. Job Responsibilities

• Own and direct the Water Market strategic plans aligned with corporate growth objectives and sales efforts within the California Water Market, including strategic opportunity identification, client engagement, pre-positioning, and capture planning and go/no go decisions to ensure Harris' pursuit resources are focused on the highest-value, highest-probability opportunities.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with cities, counties, Special Districts, municipal-owned utilities, public agencies, and key industry stakeholders to position Harris for long-term partnership opportunities within the Water Market.
• Own and execute market growth strategies aligned with Business Units and corporate priorities to expand Harris’ presence in the California Water Market and initially position the firm for expansion of program management and engineering design services.
• Provide strategic leadership for Water System program management and engineering design services, including planning, design, and project delivery in collaboration with other Harris leaders.
• Lead and inspire multidisciplinary pursuit and delivery teams across multiple offices fostering a culture of high-quality project execution, collaboration, accountability and staff development.
• Provide project oversight on select Water System programs and capital projects, in collaboration with other Harris leaders.
• Accountable for Harris’ California Water Market sales, backlog growth, , and resource planning, and collaboration with other Harris leaders.
• Lead the development of compelling technical proposals, and client presentations that clearly articulate Harris’ approach, qualifications and value proposition that support marketing initiatives to secure new business and strengthen brand presence in the Water Market.
• Represent Harris as an industry leader and market spokesperson at industry conferences, professional organizations, and client forums to elevate the firm’s visibility and influence within the California Water Market.
• In collaboration with other Harris leaders, provide leadership development, succession planning, mentorship and training of project managers and technical leaders, building a strong leadership pipeline and high-performing teams.
• Collaborate with corporate support teams including Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, and Information Technology to support business development and organizational growth.
• Monitor market trends, capital program planning activity, and competitor positioning to inform pursuit strategy and identify emerging opportunities before they reach formal solicitation.
• Identify and cultivate teaming relationships with subconsultants and strategic partners to strengthen Harris' position on major Water Market pursuits.
• Partner with ELT (Executive Leadership Team) and senior leadership to influence firmwide strategy and investment decisions.
• Track KPIs for Water Market sales and BD efforts in alignment with firmwide Water Market goals.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Licensed California Professional Engineer (PE) required.
• Minimum of 20 years of progressively advanced experience in the delivery of program management and engineering design services of water systems delivered by cities, counties, Special Districts, or separate municipal-owned utilities.
• Strong executive presence and experience influencing enterprise-level decisions
• Demonstrated experience leading business development efforts, including pre-positioning and capture planning, development of technical proposals, and securing new contracts for Water System programs and capital projects delivered by the public sector.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategic client engagement plans to develop new and maintain key client relationships with public agencies within the Water Market.
• Demonstrated successful track record managing large Water System programs and engineering design projects, and leading multidisciplinary program management and/or engineering design project teams.
• Experience managing financial performance, including an understanding of financial key performance indicators, revenue growth, backlog development, budgeting, and profitability.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to mentor staff, build teams, and foster a collaborative culture.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and client management skills.
• Active participation in professional organizations such as ASCE, AWWA, ACEC, or WEF preferred. Compensation and Benefits Salary Rate for this role is $250,000 to $325,000. Title and compensation will be commensurate with a candidate’s professional background, experience, and location. We offer competitive salaries and benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. Harris & Associates is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability) and provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. Harris expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability or veteran status.