The OpportunityUlteig is seeking an Associate Director to provide strategic and operational leadership within our Surface Transportation organization. This role is responsible for leading technical managers and multidisciplinary teams delivering bridge & structures projects for state DOTs, counties, municipalities, and tribal entities.
The Associate Director plays a critical role in driving performance, strengthening technical execution, and advancing market growth. This leader will translate strategy into disciplined execution across delivery, business development, and people leadership-ensuring the right work is pursued, delivered with excellence, and aligned to our Annual Operating Plan.
This is a leadership role grounded in transportation infrastructure. It requires strong engineering credibility, operational rigor, client engagement capability, and the ability to develop high-performing managers and teams.
What You'll DoStrategic and Business Performance Leadership (40%)- Partner with the Director of Surface Transportation and Market Directors to execute the Annual Operating Plan, including revenue, margin, utilization, and backlog targets.
- Provide leadership-level oversight of engineering and technical services during proposal, design, quality control, and construction phases.
- Drive disciplined pursuit, selection, and delivery performance aligned to defined strategic markets and capabilities.
- Maintain accountability for team-level financial performance, including revenue, profitability, indirect spend, and workforce planning.
- Evaluate team capacity and skillsets to align staffing with backlog forecasts and strategic growth.
- Strengthen operational execution by implementing consistent tools, processes, and accountability mechanisms in partnership with Finance and the Project Management Center of Excellence.
- Anticipate emerging transportation trends and position the organization to capitalize on market shifts.
Project and Technical Leadership (20%)- Provide executive-level project oversight on bridge and structure projects, ensuring scope control, schedule adherence, quality standards, and risk management.
- Guide managers and technical leads in resolving complex engineering, constructability, and client challenges.
- Direct and coordinate multidisciplinary teams across geographies and disciplines.
- Ensure independent quality control processes and disciplined technical review practices are consistently applied.
- Promote technical rigor and continuous improvement in design and delivery practices.
Business Development and Market Growth (20%)- Partner with Market Directors, Client Team Leaders, and Sales to execute strategic growth initiatives.
- Participate in high-value pursuits by shaping strategy, reviewing technical approaches, supporting go/no-go decisions, and pre-positioning with clients.
- Strengthen relationships with key DOTs, agencies, and strategic partners.
- Support expansion of services within existing clients and entry into new markets aligned with defined priorities.
- Contribute to pursuit debriefs and lessons learned to improve win rates and decision discipline.
People and Organizational Leadership (20%)- Lead and develop Technical Managers and team leaders to ensure consistent leadership standards across the organization.
- Conduct regular management meetings, one-on-ones, talent assessments, succession planning, and performance reviews.
- Support hiring decisions, workforce growth planning, and strategic resourcing alignment.
- Foster a safe, inclusive, high-performance culture grounded in accountability and clarity.
- Reinforce leadership norms, including ownership, communication, collaboration, and disciplined prioritization.
What We Expect from You- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from an ABET-accredited program.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license required.
- 12+ years of experience in transportation engineering and project delivery.
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing managers and multidisciplinary teams.
- Proven ability to oversee complex transportation projects and align delivery with financial performance.
- Strong client-facing presence and ability to influence strategic pursuits.
- Experience managing operating budgets, workforce planning, and performance metrics.
- High business acumen with the ability to balance technical excellence with operational outcomes.
- Ability to travel up to 25%.
- Authorization to work permanently in the U.S.
Leadership Attributes- Strategic thinker who converts direction into measurable outcomes.
- Disciplined operator who focuses on results, not activity.
- Decisive and accountable in prioritization and tradeoffs.
- Strong communicator who builds alignment across teams and geographies.
- Committed to developing leadership capability and strengthening bench depth.
- Comfortable navigating complexity while maintaining clarity and momentum.
- Demonstrates openness to innovation by embracing and applying evolving technology and AI tools to enhance workflows, solve problems, and drive continuous improvement.
Additional Opportunity Details:
Target Base Compensation Range for this role is $155,500- $210,300* Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary include your job-specific skills, education, training, job location, number of years of experience related to this role, and comparison to other employees already in this role.
This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 days and will continue to be posted for an average of 60 days until a qualified applicant is selected or the position has been cancelled.
Notice to Recruiters and Staffing Agencies: to protect the interests of all parties, Ulteig Engineers, Inc., will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate or an approved vendor that has a written and signed agreement in place with Ulteig. Please do not contact or forward resumes to our company employees or locations. Any unsolicited resumes will be considered Ulteig property. Ulteig is not responsible for any charges or fees related to unsolicited resumes.
