Associate - Highways (UK Roads)

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic UK Highways Design Leaders to lead the delivery of complex highway infrastructure projects for our UK business. This role combines strong technical expertise, project leadership, stakeholder management, and people leadership to drive successful project outcomes while contributing to the strategic growth and capability development of the Highways discipline.

Project & Technical Leadership

Lead the end-to-end delivery of UK highway design projects, ensuring compliance with programme, budget, quality, and client expectations.

Serve as a technical authority for highway engineering, applying advanced engineering principles to solve complex design challenges.

Drive technical excellence, innovation, and the adoption of industry best practices, digital delivery solutions, and emerging technologies.

Review and approve technical designs, reports, specifications, and engineering documentation.

Ensure designs comply with relevant UK standards, regulations, and client requirements.

Project Management & Delivery

Manage multiple projects and workstreams concurrently, ensuring effective planning, prioritisation, and resource allocation.

Monitor project performance, delivery milestones, financial targets, and quality metrics.

Identify and manage technical, commercial, and delivery risks, implementing mitigation strategies where required.

Ensure adherence to Quality Assurance (QA), CDM Regulations, Health, Safety & Environment (HSE), and Sustainability requirements.

Support the successful delivery of projects within agreed budgets and programme constraints.

Stakeholder & Client Engagement

Build and maintain strong relationships with UK clients, project stakeholders, and multidisciplinary teams.

Act as a trusted advisor to clients, providing technical insight and delivery solutions.

Support business development activities, including proposal preparation, resource planning, fee estimation, and client presentations.

Collaborate effectively with global teams to ensure seamless project execution and knowledge sharing.

People Leadership & Team Development

Lead, mentor, and manage a team of up to 15 engineers and designers.

Provide technical guidance, coaching, and performance support to team members.

Drive capability development and career progression for early-career professionals and emerging leaders.

Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture focused on excellence and continuous improvement.

Support recruitment, onboarding, and retention initiatives to strengthen team capability.

Operational & Strategic Contribution

Support discipline leadership with workforce planning, utilisation forecasting, and performance management.

Contribute to strategic growth initiatives and the expansion of UK Highways capabilities within the GCC.

Drive Lean and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, productivity, and operational excellence.

Support the implementation of innovative tools, processes, and delivery methodologies.

Minimum 5+ years of experience in UK Highways Design with demonstrable expertise in:

Highway Geometry Design

Pavement Design

Road Restraint Systems

Traffic Signs and Road Markings

Site Clearance and Highway Infrastructure Design

Strong working knowledge of industry-standard software, including:

Civil 3D

OpenRoads Designer

MX

PDS / Keyline

AutoCAD

ProjectWise

Proven experience in:

Leading and developing technical teams

Stakeholder and client management

Project and resource management

Delivering projects to programme and budget requirements

Technical report writing, specifications, and design documentation

Strong understanding of:

UK Highways design standards and regulations

Industry trends, innovation, and digital engineering practices

Health & Safety, Quality, and Sustainability principles

Excellent communication, leadership, organisational, and problem-solving skills.

Desirable Requirements

Experience in Design & Build highway projects.

Chartered Engineer (CEng) or Incorporated Engineer (IEng), or actively working towards professional accreditation.

Experience in project financial management, forecasting, and cost control.

Exposure to Lean methodologies and continuous improvement initiatives.

Experience working within multidisciplinary infrastructure projects and global delivery environments.

BGV:

Employment with WSP India is subject to the successful completion of a background verification (“BGV”) check conducted by a third-party agency appointed by WSP India.

Candidates are advised to ensure that all information provided during the recruitment process - including documents uploaded - is accurate and complete, both to WSP India and its BGV partner”.