Head of Combined Authorities & Devolved Government Relations

Job Description

AECOM is seeking a senior, externally facing leader to establish and grow strategic relationships with the UK's Combined Authorities, Mayoral Authorities and devolved regional bodies. This is a market-shaping role focused on helping AECOM understand and respond to the rapidly changing devolved governance landscape, where funding, decision-making and investment responsibility are increasingly moving from central government to regional authorities.

The successful candidate will be a recognised industry figure with deep experience working with Combined Authorities and a strong understanding of how these organisations operate, collaborate and compete. They will act as the bridge between authority priorities and AECOM's capabilities, translating regional ambitions into programmes, partnerships and opportunities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and lead AECOM's engagement strategy across UK Combined Authorities and Mayoral Combined Authorities.
• Build trusted relationships with Mayors, Chief Executives, Directors, programme leaders and key influencers across devolved government.
• Provide insight into authority priorities, funding mechanisms, political drivers and investment plans.
• Identify opportunities where AECOM can support economic development, transport, energy, housing, skills, regeneration and infrastructure objectives.
• Facilitate collaboration across authorities while recognising their individual ambitions and competition for funding.
• Influence AECOM's strategy by bringing client insight, market intelligence and future policy direction into the business.
• Champion a "voice of the authority" approach, ensuring AECOM solutions are aligned with client needs and outcomes.

Strategic Leadership

• Lead AECOM’s wider engagement with strategic authorities across England.
• Responsible for growing revenues and pipeline across different authorities and services.
• Collaborate with regional leaders to develop and execute growth plans in the strategic authority market
• Provide leadership to local teams as they develop relationships with the devolved authorities in their region.

Business Development

• Build and maintain a diversified pipeline of qualified opportunities in the devolved authority market; leveraging both your own insights and those of the wider AECOM team.  
• Contribute to capture and pursuit activities to convert pipeline into revenue.

Team Collaboration & Mentorship

• Lead, support, and mentor AECOM’s strategic authority leads across England to combine national and industry best practice with deep local knowledge and relationships. To ensure revenue growth across a diverse client portfolio.

Operational Excellence

• Responsible for growing AECOM’s revenues in the strategic authority market
• Maximise the value from growth enabler functions (e.g. Pursuit Teams, Client Listening, AI4Engineering, Strategic Marcomms) by influencing their activity focus as appropriate to the devolved authority market.  

Qualifications

• Extensive experience working within, or alongside, UK Combined Authorities, local government or devolved public sector organisations.
• Well-networked and credible at executive and operating levels.
• Recognised and trusted by authority leadership teams.
• Strong understanding of regional funding, governance and investment decision-making.
• Commercially astute, politically aware and highly collaborative.
• Able to translate complex client challenges into practical opportunities for AECOM and its clients
• Experience in working with, developing relationships, and building delivery portfolios with local government and devolved authorities in the UK.
• Strong existing relationships with devolved authorities and their constituent organisations.
• Excellent network with key stakeholders and decision makers within the Mayoral authorities and Combined authorities
• Demonstrable experience of growing revenues and pipeline in the devolved authority market

Success Measure: Become AECOM's most trusted adviser and connector within the UK's devolved authority landscape, positioning the business as a partner of choice for regional growth and transformation.

Additional Information

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree level relevant qualification (preferable)
• Sector experience in Transportation would be highly advantageous
• Member of recognised professional body and/or professional qualifications relative to core markets

What We Offer

At AECOM, we provide the flexibility to work in hybrid environments, competitive pay, and comprehensive benefits tailored to support you and your family. We champion career growth through award-winning training programs and diverse opportunities. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in your potential and are committed to helping you achieve your career ambitions.

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.