Stakeholder Manager

Role Overview

WSP in the Middle East is seeking an experienced Stakeholder Manager to support the successful delivery of major transport and infrastructure projects across Dubai and the UAE. The successful candidate will lead stakeholder engagement activities, authority coordination, and approvals management throughout the design lifecycle of complex projects.

Role Purpose

Act as the primary interface between project teams, government authorities, utility providers, developers, operators, and other key stakeholders to facilitate design development and project approvals.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder Engagement Strategy

• Develop and implement comprehensive stakeholder engagement and communications strategies for Dubai projects.
• Identify, analyse, and manage project stakeholders throughout all phases of design delivery.

Stakeholder Coordination & Interface

• Act as the key point of contact for government authorities, utility providers, transportation agencies, and other external stakeholders.
• Lead stakeholder meetings, workshops, technical reviews, and coordination sessions.
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with project stakeholders to facilitate timely reviews and approvals.

Authority & Approvals Management

• Coordinate authority submissions, reviews, comments, and approvals.
• Ensure stakeholder requirements are effectively communicated and incorporated into project designs.
• Ensure compliance with relevant authority requirements, standards, and regulatory processes.

Collaboration & Issue Resolution

• Collaborate closely with project managers, design managers, discipline leads, and clients to resolve stakeholder issues and constraints.
• Manage and resolve stakeholder issues and conflicts while minimizing project impacts.

Monitoring & Documentation

• Monitor stakeholder commitments, action items, risks, and dependencies.
• Maintain stakeholder registers, approvals trackers, communication records, and engagement reports.

Reporting & Risk Management

• Provide regular progress updates to project leadership and clients regarding approvals and stakeholder engagement activities.
• Support project risk management by identifying stakeholder-related risks and implementing mitigation measures.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Urban Planning, Infrastructure Engineering, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 12 years of professional experience in stakeholder management.
• Proven experience on major transport and infrastructure projects.
• Strong experience supporting the design and engineering phases of projects.
• Demonstrated experience working on projects involving the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
• Experience managing authority approvals and stakeholder coordination across multidisciplinary design teams.
• Dubai project experience is required.
• Previous experience within an international engineering consultancy environment is highly desirable.
• Experience on roads, highways, public realm, transit, metro, rail, or multimodal transport projects is preferred.
• Experience of working on infrastructure master plan design projects is advantageous.
• Relevant professional certifications in project management or stakeholder management are advantageous.

Skills & Competencies

• Fluent English (written and spoken) is essential.
• Fluent Arabic and English bilingual capability is strongly preferred.