Central Texas Drainage Lead (Water Resources)
Westwood Professional Services, Inc.
Westwood Professional Services, Inc. is seeking a Central Texas Drainage Lead to drive and grow our water resources practice in the San Antonio and Austin area. In this role, you will know the local market, be trusted by clients and reviewing authorities, and ready to take on a broader leadership role. You will step into a group that already has staff, active projects, and regional support. The focus is not on building something from the ground up, but on strengthening what is already in place—deepening relationships, expanding opportunities, and setting direction for continued growth. Office location is flexible to attract the right leader.
Why This Is an Opportunity
- Lead Water Resources for a large and growing Central Texas market, with direct influence over strategy, staffing, and pursuits
- Leverage existing relationships immediately while guiding and growing an established team
- Work directly with regional and executive leadership, with a clear path for leadership development and long-term ownership
- Practice Leader: You will be responsible for maintaining and growing relationships with municipalities, agencies, private clients, and reviewing authorities while setting priorities aligned with regional goals.
- Business Development: Convert existing relationships into new work and support pursuit strategy, proposals, interviews, client meetings, industry involvement, and contract negotiations
- Technical and Project Oversight: Provide senior technical oversight for drainage and floodplain projects, including studies, modeling, construction documents, and resolution of complex design and construction issues
- Team Leadership and Operations: Lead, mentor, grow and support engineers across experience levels while planning staffing, managing budgets and schedules, and monitoring backlog, utilization, and overall project health
Other Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead service-specific proposal efforts, providing technical expertise and driving innovation in our project approaches
- Stay ahead of industry trends, leveraging this insight to enhance our service offerings and project delivery methods
- Implement and uphold high standards for our work products, from design standards to project reports, ensuring quality and consistency across the board
- Represent clients and the firm in meetings with governmental agencies
- Negotiate contract terms and conditions
- Manage the design and delivery of projects in a profitable manner
- Supervise the work of engineers and/or technical support personnel assigned to the project
- Review, interpret, and act upon business metrics, including utilization, backlog, work in process, and accounts receivable
- Develop and track milestones to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery
- Implement and maintain QA/QC procedures
- Participate in contract bidding, provide limited observation during construction, review submittals and RFIs
- Resolve design conflicts and field construction issues
Required Skills
- Proven experience delivering public-sector drainage projects; private-sector drainage experience is a plus
- Strong familiarity with the San Antonio and/or Austin market, including established relationships with local clients and reviewing authorities
- Experience leading teams, managing multiple concurrent projects, and supporting business development efforts
- Ready to guide our team with strategic insight and a commitment to excellence
- Develop and implement marketing strategies, building client relationships
- Exceptional communication skills, capable of engaging effectively at all organizational levels
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office products
- Ability to travel as needed to project sites and other Westwood offices nationwide
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering
- Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Texas and Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM)
- 10+ years of civil engineering experience with a primary focus on drainage and water resources
Who This Role Fits Best
- Someone who has built a strong local reputation and wants a broader leadership platform
- Enjoys mentoring others and shaping a team
- Someone that wants influence over what work is pursued and how it is delivered
- Strong interest in long-term growth and ownership within the firm
About Westwood Professional Services, Inc. (Westwood)
At Westwood, our purpose is to create a better world for people through our work. We transform the energy grid, design resilient infrastructure, and develop communities that will flourish today and for future generations. With over 50 years of experience and a legacy of innovation, we stand at the forefront of our industry, dedicated to understanding the unique needs of the markets we serve.
Our approach revolves around people. We are committed to building a culture that attracts, retains, and develops high performers. Our team values relationships, innovation, dedication, initiative, and growth. We believe fostering a collaborative “One Team” mentality yields superior outcomes in everything we do.
We customize our technical capabilities and geographic reach to meet our clients where they are and help them realize their vision. We are partners in our clients’ success, driving to provide solutions that make a lasting difference. Safety, sustainability, and operational excellence are not just facets of our work; they are intrinsic to our identity, guiding every decision we make.
We are deeply invested in the communities we serve. Through our projects and giving-back initiatives, we enrich the lives of those we serve, engage others within our industry, and create a lasting impact on communities around the world. To us, success transcends the completion of projects; it is reflected in the lives we have positively impacted by our work.
Join us in creating a better world.
In 2025, Westwood was recognized as #77 on the ENR Top 500 Design Firms. Additionally, Westwood was ranked #5 for ENR's Top Design Firm for Solar, #6 for Battery Storage, and #3 for Wind (2025). The firm consistently ranks on the industry's top 25 lists and receives recognition for its involvement in award-winning projects nationwide.
Westwood provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We believe that diverse backgrounds strengthen our business. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.