WSP

Senior Vice President, Commercial and Risk

WSP$208K *
Real Estate & Construction
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 15+ years of experience in commercial and risk management in engineering and construction sectors.
  • Professional designation in Law, Engineering, or Finance, or equivalent certification.
  • Bi-lingual proficiency in French and English for national operations and engagement.
  • Expertise in various project delivery models and strong understanding of engineering operations.
  • Advanced skills in negotiation, stakeholder management, conflict resolution, and presenting ideas to executive leadership.

Responsibilities

  • Advise the President and Executive Team on complex commercial and risk issues.
  • Lead the Canadian Review and Approval Panel for material opportunities and proposals.
  • Align WSP Canada's risk and commercial strategy with broader company goals.
  • Manage commercial and risk teams and resources, ensuring consistent governance application.
  • Monitor performance metrics and risks on major projects, facilitating change management.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to impact major decisions and drive sustainable growth at a national level.
  • Collaboration with top executives, providing visibility and influence in strategic initiatives.
  • Access to a national network for sharing best practices and resources among leaders.
  • Opportunity to train and develop teams in commercial and risk governance principles.
Full Job Description
Job Description

The Opportunity
Shape What Comes Next

Reporting directly into WSP Canada's President and as a member of the Canadian Executive Team, in this senior executive Canadian leadership role you will shape the commercial and risk strategy for WSP Canada. Based in Montreal, you'll lead initiatives supporting sustainable and profitable growth through opportunity selection, teamings and partnerings, major proposals, negotiations, major project delivery and material variations, claims management, governance, opportunities identification and risk mitigation, and commercial and risk knowledge, awareness and excellence across WSP Canada. Your experience and expertise will influence decisions that drive success for WSP Canada. While working in alignment with Global guidelines and DOA requirements, you will establish, deploy and lead WSP Canada's commercial & risk strategy, governance, positions and direction consistently across its Sectors and regions, scaled to WSP Canada's diversified project size, complexity and risk You will determine WSP Canada's commercial & risk objectives, priorities, positions and key actions within the Region, and develop commercial & risk resources and teams across Canada.

Your Impact
  • Act as a key advisor to the President, and also to Executive Leadership team on material, complex, unforeseen or new commercial and risk issues or project situations.
  • Chair the Canadian Review and Approval Panel (RAP) for material opportunities and teaming agreements while proactively monitoring major projects health during execution. Lead bid reviews for major projects and support escalated approvals, ensuring compliance, identification of opportunities and risk mitigation.
  • Align risk & commercial strategy, governance and team to broader WSP Canada goals for the Region and globally.
  • Lead commercial and risk teams, resources and budget, ensuring governance and strategy are applied consistently across WSP Canada through all project opportunity and project phases.
  • Manage key commercial and risk resources of the WSP Canada team (direct reports includes VP Risk and Commercial Director) and indirect reporting of the Sector's Commercial & Risk Leads.
  • Lead WSP Canada's Commercial and Risk Network (a national group for the sharing of best practices and lessons learned, primarily with the Commercial and Risk resources.
  • Guide and support senior business leaders and project teams through complex or material commercial & risk issues that may impact WSP Canada, its business performance or its reputation. Support teams with major teamings, partnerings, bids preparation, negotiations, major projects, to secure favorable project outcomes.
  • Direct high-impact initiatives that improve how the organization identifies opportunities and risks, positions, manages, negotiates, improves and maintains profitability, protects results, and delivers value across WSP Canada.
  • Represent WSP Canada's Commercial & Risk team, driving alignment and strategic priorities.
  • Ensure alignment and consistency within WSP Canada's commercial and risk team, governance, positions and strategy.
  • Together with WSP Canada's VP Risk, provide executive leadership for the region's Enterprise Risk Management cycled reviews, updates and reporting.
  • Establish and track KPIs to support project teams and the Commercial & Risk teams in achieving WSP Canada's objectives.
  • Monitor commercial and risk performance on major bids and projects, identifying and risks, addressing scope, schedule, and budget changes and impacts, and involvement in interactions with client, partner, and supply chain relationships.
  • Provide data, analytics and reporting on bids and projects performance metrics (including project risks data and profile) to inform strategic decisions.
  • Be actively involved in the Canadian infrastructure industry community by fostering relationships with key clients, contractors and partners.
  • Collaborate with other Sector, Regional and Support Functions to ensure integrated solutions.
  • Develop and deliver training on commercial and risk principles, governance, and best practices.

The Skills That Set You Apart
  • Executive leadership and ability to advise top leadership on cross-functional and enterprise-wide issues with minimal precedent and significant reputational or financial consequence.
  • Strategic thinking, problem-solving and solutions oriented, strong negotiations skills.
  • Deep knowledge and experience of the engineering and construction industry.
  • Experience leading senior management teams across multiple high-impact initiatives and aligning complex priorities to company strategy.
  • Strong executive presence, negotiation capability, strategic thinking, and judgement required to guide the organization through ambiguity, material exposure, and critical decision points.
  • Strong business acumen and ability to navigate complex organizational structures and issues to build and maintain strategic partnerships.
  • Proven track record of experience with opportunity selection, partnerings, proposals, contracts, negotiation, project change management, documentation, claims and risk management.
  • Deep understanding of engineering operations and projects, RFPs, RFQs, proposals and of project delivery, delivery models, performance, financials, governance, and risk allocation, from underlying business to mega projects.
  • Commercial and risk experience and expertise, including in various major projects delivery models (Design-Build, PPP, Collaborative model, Alliance, Progressive Design-Build, IPD, EPCM, EPC, etc.) and partnering strategies and agreements.
  • Advanced conflict resolution, negotiation and stakeholder management skills, with experience mediating issues and achieving consensus.
  • Professional designation in Law, Engineering or Finance or equivalent, combined with 15+ years of industry experience in commercial and risk management for major engineering and construction firms.
  • Bilingual (French/English) required to support national teams, operations, collaboration, and partner and client engagement.
  • Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills for executive-level communication.

Compensation

Base compensation starting at $208 229

Disclosure:

The final salary awarded for this role may vary from the above range based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs. The wage range provided in this job posting may be subject to change for business purposes.
Ready to Shape the Future?

Bring your commercial and risk leadership to a role where your judgement will help shape strategic decisions, strengthen major project outcomes, and support sustainable growth across WSP Canada. Apply today and make your mark with WSP.

About WSP

WSP is a Canadian engineering consulting firm that provides services to transform the built environment and restore the natural environment. The firm's expertise ranges from environmental remediation and urban planning, to engineering iconic buildings and designing sustainable transport networks, to developing the energy sources of the future and enabling new ways of extracting essential resources. It has approximately 54,000 employees, including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, program and construction management professionals, and various environmental experts. WSP has offices in more than 40 countries and territories around the world.
Learn more about WSP
Size
54,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1959

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at WSP

More Real Estate & Construction Jobs

Find similar Senior Vice President, Commercial and Risk jobs: