Executive Advisor Water & Utilities

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking an Executive Advisor – Water and Utilities, based in our Irvine, CA office, to strengthen GHD Advisory’s market presence and deliver high-value strategic insights to clients. This role is pivotal in shaping water and utilities infrastructure investment decisions, advising on strategy, and guiding clients through complex commercial and strategic challenges.

You will work closely with our clients, senior executives and client leadership teams to provide board-level advisory consulting services, shaping strategic direction while supporting client growth and delivery outcomes. This role requires you to be market-facing and to be able to lead the development of weighted pipeline for Business Advisory led targets in Water and Utilities. 

This role is pivotal in shaping water and utilities infrastructure investment decisions, advising on strategic frameworks, and guiding clients through complex commercial and strategic challenges.

The role is highly client and market facing, requiring a strong seller–doer mindset. The Executive Advisor will be accountable for originating, winning and delivering work, leading complex advisory engagements across the Americas, and operating across GHD’s priority markets in Water and Utilities. The role combines business development, client leadership and hands-on delivery, with a clear focus on driving growth and achieving commercial outcomes.

Our Hybrid Work Model: 

Be part of the dynamic culture! Our workplace thrives on a hybrid model, combining in-office collaboration and flexibility. Join us in the office three days a week to contribute, connect and excel in our vibrant environment.

Working with an energetic and high performing team, this position offers a variety of work and will see you involved in:

• Data Collection and Analysis: Make authoritative recommendations that have a significant impact on the business over the short and long term. Recommendations could be technical or professional in nature.
• Workshop Facilitation: Facilitate complex process development workshops with subject-matter experts, drive agreement on process flows across functional areas, and document processes and activity workflows to develop clear and detailed process maps.
• Client Issue Clarification: Develop interview frameworks and protocols and conduct strategic interviews to gather information from senior managers and to clarify complex client issues.
• Client Issue Diagnosis: Conduct in-depth analysis of the strategic and operational information gathered through interviews and research to diagnose complex underlying business unit/function issues and problems and to inform the design of multiple solutions.
• Community of Practice Management: Lead a community of practice in a strategically significant area of consulting practice or expertise to provide thought leadership and to develop innovative consulting practice among colleagues.
• Consulting Project Content Development: Develop innovative approaches and write materials that are highly visible—such as slide decks for presentations on innovative solutions to top management, or bespoke and market-leading client reports—to complete the work of client team.
• Consulting Project Delivery: Deliver bespoke training, facilitate workshops with top management (C-suite), advise, and provide reports to address complex client issues. Manage the overall delivery quality of the team's work to ensure maximum client satisfaction.
• Consulting Project/Program Design: Design high-strategic-impact transformational project/program architecture, building on the initial proposal and the strategic client interviews to develop multiple solutions that meet the client's stated requirements and address complex senior management issues.
• Personal Capability Building: Act as subject matter expert in an area of technology, policy, regulation, or operational management for the function. Maintain external accreditations and in-depth understanding of current and emerging technologies, external regulation, and industry best practices through continuing professional development, attending conferences, and reading specialist media.
• Project Management: Manage the delivery of a major part of the organization's project management program. Take personal responsibility for a small number of business-critical projects.
• Business Advice: Manage corporate decision-making for business advisory within a function, ensuring alignment with broader organizational objectives.
• Client & Customer Management (External): Manage strategic client and customer relationships. Likely to involve using large account teams to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.

What you’ll bring to the team:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Environmental Engineering or similar field of study; MBA a plus
• 15+ years in the water and utilities sector (water, wastewater, stormwater), infrastructure, strategy consulting, or commercial advisory
• Experience in advising executive leadership and boards on strategic decisions
• Strong understanding of water and utilities markets, including regulatory frameworks, asset management, capital investment planning, and funding and investment drivers
• Exceptional analytical ability, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills; ability to influence at the highest levels.

As a multicultural organization, we encourage individual achievement and recognize the strength of a diverse workforce. GHD is an equal opportunity employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants without regard to race, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status or veteran status.

Salary Range: $165,000- $ 275,000 based on location and experience.

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