Lead Professional, Climate Change
Job Description
What if you could do the kind of work the world needs?
At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.
As the Lead Professional for Climate Change, you will be at the forefront of WSP Australia's Climate Change and Decarb department. Your primary responsibility is to lead and develop the NSW team, ensuring they are equipped to deliver complex advisory projects and contribute to WSP's national decarbonization initiatives. You will play a pivotal role in winning new business, shaping client strategies, and leveraging WSP's diverse expertise to address climate challenges. Your impact will be felt across Australia as you guide the energy transition and foster a sustainable future.
Join our close-knit community of talented individuals who share your passion for making a positive impact. Our global team includes more than 73,000 employees, working together to make a difference in communities both close to home and around the world.
An employee Share Purchase Plan is available to all our permanent employees who wish to become owners and vested partners in WSP’s collective success. To find out more about our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our people, and the programs we’ve designed to help you thrive, go to our Employee Benefits page.
With us, you can. Apply today.
Responsibilities
What if you could do the kind of work the world needs?
At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.
As the Lead Professional for Climate Change, you will be at the forefront of WSP Australia's Climate Change and Decarb department. Your primary responsibility is to lead and develop the NSW team, ensuring they are equipped to deliver complex advisory projects and contribute to WSP's national decarbonization initiatives. You will play a pivotal role in winning new business, shaping client strategies, and leveraging WSP's diverse expertise to address climate challenges. Your impact will be felt across Australia as you guide the energy transition and foster a sustainable future.
Join our close-knit community of talented individuals who share your passion for making a positive impact. Our global team includes more than 73,000 employees, working together to make a difference in communities both close to home and around the world.
An employee Share Purchase Plan is available to all our permanent employees who wish to become owners and vested partners in WSP’s collective success. To find out more about our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our people, and the programs we’ve designed to help you thrive, go to our Employee Benefits page.
With us, you can. Apply today.
Responsibilities
- Project Leadership & Delivery: Lead and manage the end-to-end delivery of advisory engagements, ensuring technical excellence, quality, and adherence to budget and schedule.
- Decarbonisation and/or Energy Transition Advice: Develop and implement robust decarbonisation roadmaps, strategies, pathways, and action plans for diverse clients, including governments, corporations, and asset owners.
- Regulatory & Policy Guidance: Interpret and apply relevant climate change legislation, strategies and plans (e.g., state government or corporate Net Zero goals), standards (e.g., PAS 2080), and guidelines, ensuring client compliance and strategic positioning.
- Client Relationship Management & Business Development: Build and nurture strong, long-term relationships across NSW and nationally with existing and prospective clients. Identify new business opportunities and pursuits, prepare compelling proposals, and contribute to market action plans.
- Regional Lead, People Leadership & Line Management: Act as the senior point of contact for WSP in NSW, providing leadership and representing the Climate & Decarbonisation Advisory team locally while working as part of a nationally integrated team. Lead line management responsibilities, including coaching, workload coordination, career development, and ongoing support, while fostering a collaborative, and high‑performing team culture.
- Thought Leadership: Contribute to WSP's intellectual capital through expertise sharing, participation in industry panels, and development of thought leadership materials.
- Quality & Safety Assurance: Uphold WSP's commitment to safety and quality, ensuring all activities adhere to our standards.
- Expertise: Conduct emissions assessments (Scope 1, 2, 3), identify emissions reduction opportunities, prepare decarbonisation strategies, transition plans or guidance material, and advise on energy-efficient technologies, fleet decarbonisation, energy transition, sustainable supply chain practices or carbon management approaches.
- A relevant tertiary qualification: you may have a commerce, economics, engineering or science degree with exposure to environmental science, environmental engineering, climate science, sustainability, or a related discipline.
- Postgraduate qualifications in a business discipline will be highly regarded.
- Active participant in industry bodies (e.g., Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, IPFA, CEDA, Clean Energy Council) and professional institutions (e.g. , , Engineers Australia, Australian Water Association, AITPM).
- Substantial experience (typically 8-20+ years) in a similar role, with a proven track record of leading projects and contributing to business growth. This is likely to be within an infrastructure advisory, capital advisory or strategy advisory environment.
- Proven experience with Australian built infrastructure market; this may include economic infrastructure sectors such as energy (electricity networks, generation and storage, or climate risk assessment. The Australian-built, the storage; hydrogen), transport (public transport, rail, ports/intermodal, aviation, road), data centres and water; or social infrastructure including health, education and other facilities; or mining/resources.
- Understanding of the Australian energy market transition, climate policy landscape (e.g., strategies and goals towards ‘Net Zero’), and relevant regulatory frameworks.
- Ability to work autonomously within guardrails, taking a client brief or statement of work and formulate a methodology and proposal drawing in other contributions as required, from within our team, elsewhere in WSP or from partner organisations.
- Experience developing business cases or funding submissions within public or private sector.
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and technical report writing skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely (quality over quantity).
- Proven project management capabilities, including financial management, scheduling, and resource allocation.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong client relationships and contribute to successful business development outcomes.
- Experience in guiding and mentoring junior team members.
- Emissions reduction methodologies, carbon accounting or climate risk assessment
- Renewable energy, energy storage (battery or hydropower), or hydrogen.
- Electricity networks.
- Fleet decarbonisation strategies and planning.
- Decarbonisation strategies, plans or guidance material.