Water Business Group Director of Owner Advisor Services

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

We believe water is more than a resource, it's a shared responsibility. As part of our Water Business Group, you’ll help shape how communities manage water for generations to come. From delivering safe drinking water and treating wastewater responsibly to developing sustainable water supplies and protecting lives and property through flood control, your work will directly support public health, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.  We bring together experts across disciplines to solve complex challenges with bold thinking and technical excellence. Whether you're modernizing aging systems or pioneering innovative approaches, your contributions will make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. This isn’t just a job, it's a chance to lead change, drive progress, and leave a lasting legacy. 

Primary Responsibilities

The Director of the Water Business Group (WBG) Owner Advisor (OA) will serve as the internal and external OA services practice lead, with the goals of: 

• Increasing HDR OA services market share

• Standardizing HDR OA services delivery across the business group,

• Comprehensive Risk Identification/Mitigation related to OA service contracts

• Elevate and Maintain the HDR OA services brand in water infrastructure industry. 

A.   Increasing OA services market share: Director of OA services will ensure local operations are searching for and pursuing OA services contracts with their clients.  Director will provide senior oversite and direction in developing OA services marketing strategy and in pursuit procurement phase across the business group.  Director will ensure the compilation and maintenance of a comprehensive list of all OA service projects and successes as well as management and technical approaches, tools and lessons learned.  Director will also compile list of all OA service Project Managers and launch/engage with an OA Practice Community.  These tools will enable improved statements of qualification/proposals and increase our overall rate of selection. 

B.   Standardizing HDR OA services delivery across the business group: Director of OA services will add to and maintain the best practices and recommended procedures/protocol tool kit and promote its use by all OA practitioners.   Lead/support client and HDR staff education regarding the pros/cons of collaborative delivery, recommending the appropriate delivery model, and effective use of Owner Advisor in all collaborative delivery models. Oversee the delivery of OA services across the business group, applying consolidated and codified OA services.  This effort to be more formulaic in our OA services delivery will ensure we are best positioning our clients/projects for success while exercising proper risk assignment measures.  Best practice protocol goes beyond the procurement phase and includes other critical topics such as performance guarantees, volatile supply chain consequences, early work package strategies, etc. 

C.   Comprehensive risk identification and mitigation related to OA service contracts: Director of OA services will identify and ensure local delivery teams are employing comprehensive risk identification/mitigation tactics.  This includes ensuring delivery teams are aware of and mitigating potential OA scope liability associated with conceptual engineering/design prepared for the collaborative delivery tender documents, the BODR, bridging documents (for fixed price DB) and beyond including design reviews at each design milestone (30/60/90), value engineering efforts and design quality control input.  Director will regularly collaborate with BG general counsel and maximize all lessons learned (contractual, procedural, commercial, and technical) aimed at advancing the general practices of the OA services domain.  Director to confirm the use of best practices whenever OA services are being delivered.

D.   Elevate/Maintain the HDR OA services brand across the water infrastructure market:

Raise and promote HDR OA services brand value as determined by our client’s experiences and perception. Director of OA will elevate HDR’s OA services reputation and status by winning more contracts and successfully delivering those contracts by ensuring a more standardized delivery of related services.  Achieve and sustain elevated OA brand equity which will allow our clients to know what to expect from HDR and position HDR across the industry as the OA firm of choice.  Identify and recruit top OA delivery candidates and integrate them into OA program.  Be the ambassador of HDR OA services and ensure our brand’s ability to maintain market position and beat competitors.