Technical Director

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Job Description:

Parsons is looking for an amazingly talented Technical Director to join our team!

The Technical Director will provide strategic technical leadership and direction across the Delivery Partner organisation, ensuring the successful technical delivery of major airport and infrastructure programmes in accordance with the Client's requirements, applicable standards, design intent, programme objectives, and project governance.

The role will act as the senior technical interface between the Client, Delivery Partner, designers, contractors, consultants, and other project stakeholders. The Technical Director will provide independent technical oversight, review and challenge of design and construction proposals, manage technical risks and interfaces, and ensure that technical decisions support safe, efficient, compliant, and constructible project delivery.

The role will provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary engineering disciplines and will support the Client and Programme Leadership Team in resolving complex technical issues and making strategic technical decisions.

What You'll Be Doing:

Technical Leadership & Strategy

• Provide overall technical leadership across the programme on behalf of the Delivery Partner.
• Develop and implement the programme's technical management strategy and governance framework.
• Establish technical standards, procedures, review processes, and assurance requirements.
• Provide strategic technical advice to the Programme Director, Delivery Director, and Client leadership.
• Ensure technical solutions are aligned with the Client's requirements, programme objectives, operational needs, budget, and schedule.
• Lead technical decision-making on complex and multidisciplinary issues.
• Promote innovative, efficient, sustainable, and value-driven engineering solutions.

Client Technical Support

• Act as the senior technical interface between the Delivery Partner and Client.
• Provide independent technical advice and recommendations to support Client decision-making.
• Review and challenge technical proposals submitted by designers, consultants, and contractors.
• Support the Client in assessing technical options, risks, opportunities, and delivery strategies.
• Represent the Delivery Partner in senior technical meetings and technical governance forums.
• Ensure technical matters requiring Client decisions are clearly identified, assessed, and presented with appropriate recommendations.

Design Management & Technical Assurance

• Provide strategic oversight of multidisciplinary design activities across the programme.
• Establish design review and technical assurance processes.
• Review major design submissions, design changes, deviations, and technical proposals.
• Ensure designs are coordinated, technically compliant, constructible, maintainable, and aligned with operational requirements.
• Oversee technical review and assurance of design deliverables.
• Monitor design development and identify potential technical risks, gaps, and conflicts.
• Ensure design interfaces between disciplines and project packages are effectively managed.

Multidisciplinary Engineering Coordination

• Provide leadership across Civil, Structural, MEP, Electrical, ICT, Aviation Systems, Infrastructure, Utilities, and other relevant technical disciplines.
• Ensure effective coordination between engineering disciplines.
• Resolve complex technical interfaces and multidisciplinary conflicts.
• Establish clear technical responsibilities and escalation routes.
• Ensure technical teams operate under consistent standards and procedures.
• Provide direction to Discipline Leads and Senior Engineers on critical technical matters.

Contractor & Consultant Technical Oversight

• Provide technical oversight of contractors, consultants, designers, and specialist suppliers.
• Review contractor technical submissions, proposals, methodologies, and design solutions.
• Challenge non-compliant, inefficient, or inadequately substantiated technical solutions.
• Monitor technical performance against contract requirements and approved design.
• Support resolution of technical RFIs, technical queries, NCRs, design changes, and site technical issues.
• Ensure technical decisions are properly documented and communicated.

Technical Risk Management

• Lead the identification and management of technical risks across the programme.
• Establish and maintain the technical risk register.
• Review the technical impact of programme changes, design changes, construction issues, and interface risks.
• Develop mitigation strategies for major technical risks.
• Ensure emerging technical issues are escalated at the appropriate level.
• Assess technical risks in terms of cost, schedule, safety, quality, operations, and programme delivery.

Technical Change Management

• Provide technical leadership for design and engineering changes.
• Review technical implications of proposed changes before implementation.
• Ensure changes are properly assessed for compliance, constructability, cost, schedule, and operational impact.
• Coordinate with Commercial, Planning, Project Controls, Quality, HSE, and Construction teams on major technical changes.
• Support the Client and Programme Leadership Team in making informed technical change decisions.

Construction & Delivery Support

• Provide senior technical support during construction and implementation phases.
• Ensure construction activities remain aligned with approved designs and technical requirements.
• Support resolution of complex site technical issues.
• Review proposed technical alternatives, substitutions, and value engineering proposals.
• Provide technical direction on critical construction and engineering matters.
• Ensure lessons learned from construction are incorporated into future technical decisions.

Airport & Infrastructure Technical Requirements

• Provide technical oversight of airport and infrastructure systems and interfaces.
• Ensure technical solutions consider airport operational requirements, safety, security, maintainability, and future expansion.
• Coordinate technical interfaces between airfield, terminal, landside, utilities, infrastructure, buildings, and specialist airport systems.
• Support integration of aviation-specific systems and infrastructure where applicable.
• Ensure compliance with applicable international standards, local regulations, Client requirements, and project-specific technical criteria.

Value Engineering & Technical Optimization

• Lead technical input into value engineering and optimization initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve constructability, functionality, lifecycle performance, sustainability, and cost efficiency.
• Evaluate alternative technical solutions and assess their impact on programme objectives.
• Work closely with Commercial and Cost teams to understand the financial impact of technical decisions.
• Ensure value engineering does not compromise safety, quality, performance, or operational requirements.

Technical Governance & Reporting

• Establish and maintain technical governance across the Delivery Partner organisation.
• Chair or participate in technical review boards and technical governance meetings.
• Review and approve technical reports, recommendations, and major technical submissions within delegated authority.
• Provide executive-level reporting on technical performance, risks, interfaces, and key decisions.
• Monitor technical KPIs and performance indicators.
• Ensure technical decisions and approvals are properly documented and auditable.

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and manage the Delivery Partner's multidisciplinary technical function.
• Provide direction and mentoring to Technical Managers, Discipline Leads, Engineers, and technical specialists.
• Establish clear technical responsibilities, objectives, and performance expectations.
• Develop technical capability and succession within the team.
• Promote collaboration between Technical, Design, Construction, Commercial, Planning, Quality, HSE, and Project Controls functions.
• Foster a proactive, solutions-oriented, and technically accountable culture.

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architecture, or another relevant engineering discipline.
• Minimum 20 years of relevant professional experience.
• Significant experience in major airport, aviation, infrastructure, transportation, or complex capital programmes.
• Proven experience in a senior technical leadership role within a Delivery Partner, PMC, Programme Management Consultant, or similar client-facing organisation.
• Extensive experience managing multidisciplinary engineering and design teams.
• Proven experience providing technical oversight and assurance across major projects.
• Strong experience working with Clients, designers, consultants, contractors, and specialist suppliers.
• Experience with complex airport and infrastructure interfaces is highly desirable.
• Professional engineering registration or equivalent professional qualification is preferred.
• International project experience is highly desirable.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• Technical Leadership & Governance
• Multidisciplinary Engineering Management
• Design Management & Technical Assurance
• Airport & Infrastructure Engineering
• Technical Risk Management
• Design Review & Compliance
• Contractor & Consultant Technical Oversight
• Technical Interface Management
• Construction Technical Support
• Change & Technical Configuration Management
• Value Engineering
• Constructability Review
• Technical Reporting & Governance
• Client Advisory & Stakeholder Management
• Engineering Standards & Regulatory Compliance
• Strategic Technical Planning

• Strong senior technical leadership and strategic decision-making capability.
• Excellent client-facing and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to independently review, challenge, and provide assurance on complex technical proposals.
• Strong multidisciplinary engineering knowledge and understanding of major programme delivery.
• Ability to translate complex technical matters into clear recommendations for senior management and Client leadership.
• Strong understanding of the relationship between technical decisions, cost, programme, quality, HSE, and operational requirements.
• Excellent problem-solving and technical negotiation skills.
• Proactive approach to identifying technical risks and developing practical solutions.
• Strong communication, presentation, and leadership capabilities.
• Ability to operate effectively in a high-pressure, complex, and multi-stakeholder programme environment.

Parsons equally employs representation at all job levels no matter the race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information.

We truly invest and care about our employee’s wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest—APPLY TODAY!

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