Job Overview
The Principal, Energy and Carbon Solutions plays a critical leadership role in advancing technical excellence, client delivery, and sustainable growth within our ECS (Energy and Carbon Solutions) team. The role provides senior technical and practice leadership for ECS work, with accountability for the quality, consistency, and commercial performance of an assigned portfolio of projects and clients. In partnership with ECS and Buildings leadership, you will strengthen ECS as a distinct service offering within the broader Buildings practice by supporting market positioning, identifying growth opportunities, and converting studies, audits, feasibility work, and advisory assignments into longer-term implementation projects. You will mentor and develop your team, foster a culture of continuous learning and accountability, and ensure energy, carbon, sustainability, technical, regulatory, operational, and client requirements are integrated for holistic project success.
What You Will Do:
Client Delivery
- Lead client delivery across an assigned portfolio of Energy and Carbon Solutions projects, ensuring client expectations, project objectives, scope, schedule, budget, quality, technical requirements and professional obligations are clearly understood and met.
- Build and maintain trusted, long-term client relationships and serve as a senior point of contact for the assigned client portfolio, including critical client conversations and external engagements.
- Understand client business drivers, define expectations and scope, maintain clear communication throughout the project lifecycle, and proactively resolve issues that may affect client satisfaction or project success.
- Lead or materially contribute to opportunity identification, capture planning, win strategy, proposal leadership, pricing posture, fee review, contract review, contract negotiation, closing strategy and client presentations for ECS opportunities.
- Help convert studies, audits, conceptual energy analyses, funding application support, zero carbon building services, geothermal design, commissioning, energy modelling and advisory work into executed capital projects delivered through Buildings and other business units.
- Provide senior project leadership on complex or high-risk work, including oversight of delivery approach, interdisciplinary coordination, project performance, change management, claims exposure and client commitments.
Leadership and Culture
- Lead and guide a discipline-based team of up to 30 people across a range of concurrent projects.
- Set clear priorities, accountabilities and performance expectations, and align team capacity and capability with the work pipeline.
- Coach, mentor and develop team members through regular feedback, career conversations, technical guidance and meaningful stretch opportunities.
- Create a collaborative, inclusive and accountable team environment that supports engagement, continuous learning and high performance.
- Assess resource needs, support recruitment and onboarding, and contribute to succession and workforce planning.
- Coordinate with other Principals and leaders to level resources across the business and enable integrated project delivery.
Business Process and Technical Oversight
- Serve as a senior technical authority for Energy and Carbon Solutions, providing direction on energy modelling, geothermal design, building optimization, decarbonization pathways, commissioning, energy analytics and related energy and carbon disciplines.
- Confirm that appropriate ECS standards, templates, review protocols, technical criteria, quality controls and project management requirements are established and followed to support consistent, scalable delivery.
- Review or direct the review of complex technical documentation, designs, specifications, reports, estimates and other deliverables within the discipline.
- Guide the resolution of complex technical issues and make or escalate decisions in accordance with professional obligations and the firm’s governance processes.
- Ensure work complies with applicable legislation, regulations, codes, standards of professional practice, client requirements and firm procedures.
- Promote innovation, continuous improvement and practical adoption of new methods and technology while protecting quality, safety, schedule and budget outcomes.
Financial Delivery
- Own the financial performance of the assigned portfolio of projects and take timely action to address emerging risks or variances.
- Oversee project budgets, fees, schedules, resourcing, forecasting, revenue recognition, work in progress, invoicing, accounts receivable and project financial reporting.
- Where applicable, ensure project managers maintain accurate project plans, financial data and forecasts, including customer relationship management information where applicable.
- Review project performance and risk regularly, including scope, changes, contracts, claims exposure, quality, schedule and client commitments.
- Balance client value, technical quality, team capacity and commercial performance when making portfolio decisions.
- Contribute to business unit planning and execution of strategies that support the division and the firm.
Competencies
- Client Leadership & Relationship Management - Builds trusted client relationships that result in repeat work, long-term partnerships, and strong client advocacy.
- Business Development & Market Growth - Identifies, pursues, and secures opportunities that contribute to sustainable growth and team utilization.
- Coaching, Mentoring & Talent Development - Develops the capability and performance of team members through coaching, feedback, and career development.
- Team Leadership & Resource Management - Leads teams to achieve business objectives while ensuring effective allocation of people and resources.
- Technical Leadership & Professional Practice - Provides technical direction and ensures projects meet the firm's quality, compliance, and professional standards.
- Quality & Risk Management - Ensures that project delivery meets quality standards while effectively identifying and mitigating risks.
- Financial & Commercial Acumen - Understands the financial drivers of the business and actively manages portfolio performance.
- Strategic Thinking & Enterprise Leadership - Thinks beyond individual projects and contributes to the long-term success of the business.
- Communication & Influence - Influences stakeholders and communicates effectively across technical, operational, and executive audiences.
- Change Leadership & Continuous Improvement - Leads people through change while driving innovation and improved ways of working.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field; a master’s degree is an asset.
- Registered Professional Engineer with a valid license to practice in the applicable jurisdiction(s); additional ECS-relevant credentials such as P.Geo., QPESA/QPRA, PMP or equivalent designations are considered an asset.
- Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in energy, carbon or sustainability engineering, including demonstrated leadership of technical teams, complex projects, client relationships and ECS service offerings.
- Proven record of business development and sales leadership, including originating work, shaping and closing pursuits, and converting study or advisory work into delivered projects.
- Experience leading teams and overseeing a portfolio of projects, including financial, contractual, resource, schedule, quality and risk accountabilities.
- Depth in one or more ECS core disciplines, such as energy audits and modelling, deep energy retrofits, geothermal design, building optimization, decarbonization and net zero planning, zero carbon building services, commissioning, measurement and verification, funding application support, or energy analytics.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, negotiation, decision-making and relationship-management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to support contract negotiation and administration, resolve complex project issues and apply strong analytical, problem-solving and professional judgement in an energy and carbon consulting environment.
Skills Required
• Client leadership and business development: Builds trust, understands client needs, manages expectations and converts relationships and market insight into sustainable work for the firm.
• Coaching, mentoring and team development: Builds capability through clear expectations, practical guidance, timely feedback, development planning and succession focus.
• Technical leadership and professional judgement: Applies deep discipline knowledge, identifies technical risk and provides sound oversight and decisions on complex work.
• Quality and risk management: Establishes effective controls, reinforces professional standards and intervenes early when quality, scope or risk concerns emerge.
• Commercial and financial acumen: Understands the financial drivers of professional services work and actively manages portfolio performance, forecasting and cash flow.
• Project and resource leadership: Prioritizes across competing demands, aligns resources to commitments and enables consistent delivery across multiple projects.
• Collaboration and enterprise mindset: Works across disciplines and business units, shares resources and makes decisions in the best interests of the firm.
• Communication and influence: Communicates clearly with clients, team members and senior leaders and builds alignment on complex or sensitive matters.
Life at WalterFedy
As a national, innovative, multi-discipline design and construction collective, our ambition goes beyond great design – we are here to enhance the world around us. We need a team of agile, ambitious, and big-picture thinkers who share our drive to harness our collective talents to do something bigger.
Our team is made up of the industry's best. We share a common commitment to questioning the ordinary, infusing everything we do with creativity, and challenging our industry to redefine what’s possible.
How to Apply
Please apply with your resume and use the link at the top of this page. You will be redirected to our internal application platform.
WalterFedy strives to create a culture of inclusivity and diversity. We strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals, including those from groups traditionally underrepresented in the workforce. We are committed to equal opportunity hiring practice and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, creed, national origin, citizenship, status, age, sex, gender identity/expression, marital or domestic partnership status, or disability.
Should you require an accommodation to participate in the application process, please contact hr@walterfedy.com or call 519-576-2150.
Thank you for your interest in WalterFedy!
Please note that we utilize AI-powered tools to enhance our recruitment process. These tools assist us in managing applications efficiently and ensuring a fair evaluation of all candidates. Rest assured, every application is reviewed by our recruitment team, and AI is used to support, not replace, our human decision-making.
