Business Development Manager – Water Projects

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Fulltime

About Client Partner

Our client partner is a premier engineering, construction, and infrastructure enterprise in Sri Lanka. Operating extensive specialized divisions across civil engineering, building services, and utility infrastructure, the organization is a recognized leader in executing large-scale water treatment, distribution, and municipal water sector developments. They offer an executive environment for an ambitious commercial engineering leader to drive business expansion and project portfolio growth.

About the Role

We are seeking a strategic, results-driven Business Development Manager – Water Projects to lead commercial growth, client acquisition, tendering, and project management oversight for the water projects division. In this role, you will be responsible for expanding market share across public and private sectors, managing relationships with international main contractors and sub-contractors, overseeing financial metrics (targeting LKR 1.5B turnover and LKR 150M net profit), and ensuring on-time, profitable project execution.

Responsibilities

Business Development & Client Acquisition: Canvass and market engineering capabilities to prospective public, private, and international clients/contractors to win water sector infrastructure projects.
Marketing Campaigns & Expansion: Plan and execute nationwide marketing and business development campaigns to build a robust pipeline of water infrastructure opportunities.
Tendering & Estimation: Lead tendering, cost estimation, scope evaluation, and proposal development for commercial and municipal water project bids.
Project Management Oversight: Oversee project execution via sub-contractors, including schedule monitoring, progress reviews, progress bill evaluations, and payment certifications.
Financial & Working Capital Management: Drive annual revenue (approx. LKR 1.5B) and gross profit (approx. LKR 200M) while optimizing the working capital cycle (IoWC) and cash flows.
Executive Reporting: Provide regular updates to senior executive management on project progress, payment collections, Work-in-Progress (WIP) status, CapEx, and variable cost expenditures.
Sub-Contractor & Vendor Alignment: Direct sub-contractor performance, negotiate commercial terms, review progress, and coordinate with engineering principals and suppliers for technical designs and approvals.

Requirements

Educational Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering, complemented by qualifications in Business Administration, Marketing, or Finance / Management Accounting.
Years of Experience: Minimum 5 to 6 years of managerial-level experience in a construction, engineering, or project management environment, with direct exposure to water/infrastructure projects.
Functional Expertise: Proven track record in project management, tendering, cost estimation, working capital management, and sub-contractor administration.
Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication, commercial negotiation, and relationship-building capabilities with government officials, clients, consultants, and internal executive teams.
Leadership Capabilities: Strong team leadership and supervisory skills to guide direct report engineers, assistant engineers, and assistant managers.

Business Development Manager – Water Pr...