Client Service Manager - Water/Wastewater

Kennedy Jenks is seeking an experienced Client Service Manager in Northern California to strengthen client relationships, support growth, and guide high-quality service delivery. 

In this client-facing leadership role, you’ll work across client strategy, business development, team leadership, and project delivery. 

What You’ll Do 

As a Client Service Manager, you will help grow client relationships, guide project delivery, and align teams around client and business goals. 

• Drive market growth: Build client strategies that expand market presence, introduce services, identify opportunities, and support sales targets. 

• Own project delivery: Oversee projects to meet quality, profitability, client satisfaction, scope, schedule, and budget goals while identifying follow-on work. 

• Lead and align teams: Coordinate client service teams, strengthen capabilities, and connect people to projects that support strong outcomes. 

• Develop key relationships: Serve as a trusted advisor while leading presentations, proposals, and pursuit strategy with internal and external partners. 

What Makes This Role Different 

• Established foundation: Build on existing relationships, market traction, and KJ’s strong reputation. 

• Entrepreneurial opportunity: Shape strategy, pursue opportunities, introduce services, and grow client service capabilities. 

• Visible impact: Influence client growth, team development, and long-term business success. 

What You Bring 

• Client and market insight: Ability to grow client relationships, lead accounts, recognize opportunities, and translate client needs into business development strategies. 

• Consulting and technical judgment: Sound engineering judgment with the ability to balance client expectations, technical input, team capacity, and business priorities. 

• Communication and collaboration: Strong writing, presentation, relationship-building, and collaboration skills with clients and internal teams. 

• Problem-solving and execution: Ability to manage priorities, address project challenges, and support financial and operational goals. 

• Tools, systems, or methods: Proficiency with Microsoft Office products and familiarity with Client Relationship Management (CRM) tools. 

• Leadership approach: Collaborative, proactive, client-focused, and comfortable leading through competing priorities. 

Qualifications 

• Education: Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in Engineering, Science, or related field; civil or environmental engineering preferred. 

• Experience: 10+ years in water/wastewater infrastructure consulting, including business development, client service, and client account leadership. 

• Knowledge: Project delivery, financial performance, proposal development, and water/wastewater consulting practices. 

• Certifications or licenses: Professional Engineer (PE) license in California required.

• Travel: Ability to travel to project sites, client meetings, and Kennedy Jenks offices as needed. 

Kennedy Jenks supports a healthy work-life balance and utilizes a hybrid model of home and office work, with a minimum of two days per week in the office. This approach empowers our people to thrive, collaborate, and achieve their full potential.

Salary Range for this position is anticipated to be between $165,000 and $250,000, depending on education, experience, qualifications, licensure/certifications, and geographic location.

Benefits summary: Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; a health savings account; a 401(k); bonus programs; tuition reimbursement; employee ownership opportunity; professional registration support; business travel assistance; competitive paid time off and holidays; an employee assistance program; and additional programs that support your wellbeing and professional growth.

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