Practice Director - Ports and Marine Engineering at AECOM · Bristol

Company Description

Work with Us. Change the World.

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations.

There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Job Description

Start here. Grow here.

AECOM is seeking a highly experienced and dynamic Practice Director – Ports & Marine Engineering to support the growth and delivery of our business.

You will lead capability development, drive project delivery excellence, and play a key role in securing and delivering work across frameworks and standalone opportunities.

This is a strategic leadership position, combining work winning, operational leadership, and people development, with a strong focus on collaboration across regions and Enterprise Capability (EC) teams.

The Practice Director will be focused on delivering our existing diverse portfolio of Ports & Marine projects as well growing to meet the demands of high growth sectors for the integration and coordination of multi-disciplinary, complex infrastructure projects.

Here’s what you’ll do:

Project & Client Leadership

• Lead and support client relationships for the Practice
• Ensure successful project delivery – meeting schedule, cost, and quality targets
• Lead continuous improvement through client feedback and delivery performance
• Implement and uphold AECOM project governance standards
• Build and lead effective supply chain and partner relationships

Leadership & People Development

• Grow capability and capacity within the practice regionally and through EC collaboration
• Drive utilisation performance and align resource planning at a national level
• Mentor, develop, and retain high-performing teams, fostering a strong and inclusive culture

Operational Excellence & Performance

• Support operational performance across the Ports & Marine Engineering, including cost, schedule, and quality
• Drive quality and innovation to differentiate AECOM from peers
• Drive performance against key business KPIs and growth targets
• Coordinate national workshare and resource planning aligned to practice objectives
• Promote and lead Safety, Health, Environment (SHE) and Wellbeing initiatives across projects and teams
• Act as a visible safety leader, embedding best practices at both project and operational levels
• Monitor and improve both leading and lagging sustainability and safety metrics

Collaboration & Strategy

• Work closely with other Business Lines, and global geographies
• Support multi-disciplinary project delivery across sectors
• Share knowledge, best practices, and technical expertise across the organisation
• Strengthen collaboration with EC teams to enhance delivery capability and efficiency

Business Development & Work Winning

• Deliver the existing Ports & Marine Engineering framework and project portfolio while helping to secure repeat business and new opportunities the end-to-end sales cycle for projects
• Provide capability, expertise, and resources to support bids led at sector level
• Support and embed the Enterprise Capability (EC) vs. home country delivery model for bids
• Develop discipline-specific EC strategies and relationships to maximise global delivery capability
• Support the Practice’s engagement in cross-sector growth opportunities

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible?

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Extensive experience in ports, coastal, or marine engineering with a track record leading large, complex programs.
• Professional registration (e.g., Chartered Engineer, PE, or equivalent) and degree in civil/coastal/marine engineering or related field.
• Demonstrable success in client development, winning strategic pursuits, and delivering major multi-disciplinary projects.
• Strong technical grounding in marine structures (quay walls, jetties, berths), coastal protection, dredging and reclamation, terminals, navigation, and resilience.
• Familiarity with relevant standards and guidance (e.g., PIANC and regional codes) and digital delivery (BIM, analytics, modeling).

• Proven team leadership, P&L accountability, and capability building across distributed teams.

• Proven experience leading in Ports & Marine Engineering or multi-disciplinary infrastructure teams
• Strong track record in supporting work winning, delivering projects, and successful client relationship management

Additional Information

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address ReasonableAccommodationsUKI@aecom.com if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.