Associate Director - Aviation

Job Description

Start here. Grow here.  

Are you ready to lead a team of talented engineers and shape the future of airports?  

We are looking for an Associate Director to join our Aviation Infrastructure team to be based in our AECOM Basingstoke, Croydon, Manchester, Birmingham or London offices and are passionate about creating innovative, resilient, and sustainable solutions for airports of all sizes - including major commercial hubs and greenfield airports to general aviation airfields and military installations. 

Each team member has a development plan to provide a clear pathway to personal growth and career progression. The team provides technical solutions throughout the project lifecycle from masterplanning, feasibility, preliminary and detailed stage designs and construction and handover. Our clients are many and varied from both the private and public sector and include airport investors, airport operators and major contractors. 

Here’s what you’ll do: 

• Lead: Lead the development and delivery of multi-disciplinary projects. Align team objectives with AECOM’s broader business goals, ensuring integration across disciplines.  

• Assure: Be responsible for the technical delivery of projects, offering technical knowledge and expertise to the design team to ensure technical excellence in delivery 

• Engage: Build and maintain strong relationships with key clients. Provide strategic advice to stakeholders, ensuring their goals are met with innovative and sustainable solutions. Represent AECOM at client meetings, industry events, and conferences, enhancing the company’s reputation as a leader in Aviation Infrastructure. 

• Pursue: Identify and pursue new business opportunities in the Aviation Infrastructure sector. Lead the preparation of bids and proposals, ensuring they align with client needs and AECOM’s strategic priorities. Collaborate with other business lines to secure and deliver multidisciplinary projects. 

• Develop: Recruit, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of airport planners, civil engineers and aeronautical ground lighting designers. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the team. Promote diversity and inclusion, ensuring a supportive and equitable workplace. 

If you're passionate about innovation and turning bold ideas into reality, AECOM welcomes you. Join our team, where we don't just design airports, we connect cities, regions and counties to drive economic growth, and build legacies for future generations. Why not give our AECOM Transportation page on LinkedIn a follow to stay updated on the impactful projects we're working on and see firsthand the difference we're making in the industry!  

Come grow with us. 

We develop projects from concept through operation providing engineering and construction services for multiyear, multimillion-dollar projects. Our specialists provide analytical and strategic expertise for every stage of a project. 

And let's not forget about the perks at AECOM. You'll enjoy a range of core and personalised benefits designed to support your future and well-being, customized to fit your lifestyle. Take advantage of career development opportunities, our flexible hybrid working model to ensure a work-life balance that suits your lifestyle, technical practice networks, AECOM University, and volunteering days 

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible? 

Here’s what we’re looking for: 

• Degree in Civil Engineering (or equivalent) 

• Professional qualification: Institution of Civil Engineers (or equivalent) 

• Significant experience and a strong track record in design, planning and construction support within the airport environment 

• Knowledge of Civil and Military Aviation standards and recommended practices (ICAO, EASA, CAA, FAA, MAA)  

• Exceptional communication skills with an ability to identify and influence key client stakeholders, building effective relationships to support the growth of our pipeline 

• A solution-oriented mindset, be confident to question the status quo or suggest innovative ideas 

• Experienced at leading project teams and creating a positive team culture that encourages learning, professional development and technical excellence 

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at [email protected].  

At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives.  

If you meet some of the requirements above or have transferable skills you believe would benefit us, we would be delighted to hear from you! 

Additional Information

Interested in the role or curious about life at AECOM? Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more! 

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 [email protected]  if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

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