Land Rights Acquisition Lead, Rail & Transit

Job Description

The Opportunity :

WSP is seeking a Land Rights Acquisition Lead to join our Rail & Transit team, located at our Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or Montreal office.

Reporting to the Project Director, you will be responsible for leading a team that is supporting a client in the acquisition of property for a large rail capital infrastructure project.

As a member of the Rail & Transit team, you will be given opportunities to use your transferrable skills to define processes, create execution plans, mentor the junior team members, and be the technical lead for multiple projects.

You will be supported by management to develop work plans and professional skills to become a strong leader in the consulting environment.

Why choose WSP?

• We value and are committed to upholding a culture of inclusion and belonging
• Our Flexible Work Policy - we recognize the importance of balance in our lives and encourage you to prioritize the balance in yours.

We will support you on and off the job so you can be fully present in both your work and home lives.

• A Canadian success story - we're proud to wear the red and white of this beautiful country and show the world what Canada has to offer.
• Enhance the world around you - from the environment to the highways, to the buildings and the terrain, WSP is the fabric of Canada.
• Outstanding career opportunities - we're growing and pushing ourselves every day to be greater than yesterday - we're open to your ideas and trying new things.
• A phenomenal collaborative culture and a workforce filled with genuinely good people who are doing humbly important work.

Come find out for yourself what it's like to be a part of our journey.

We offer attractive pay, flexible work options, a great corporate culture, comprehensive and employee-focused benefits including virtual healthcare and a wellness platform as well as great savings programs, and a clear vision for the future.

WeAreWSP

What you can expect do here :

• Lead a team responsible for supporting a client with the acquisition of property for a large rail capital infrastructure project.
• Prepare and implement a Lands Management Plan for the project, which sets the approach to identify and acquire the lands required for the project starting from identifying property acquisition requirements, acquiring Permissions to Enter, to handover all while reducing financial, environmental, and reputational risk to a minimum.
• Support the client with the negotiation of Land Agreements with Indigenous communities, provinces, municipalities and other public agencies, private companies, and private landowners.
• Lead property valuations exercises and prepare documents required to support project cost estimation.
• Work with other disciplines within the project team to understand the effects on surrounding properties within the project boundaries and offer solutions on how to minimize disruption.
• Work with other disciplines to capture property acquisition timelines and create a schedule for property acquisitions.
• Identify risks associated with property acquisition and develop, implement, and monitor risk mitigation strategies.
• Be responsible for the preparation of presentations, drawings, internal work flows as necessary to complete the works associated with the scope of land rights acquisition.
• Manage sub-consultants supporting the land rights acquisition process.

What you'll bring to WSP :

• A university or college degree with appropriate commensurate experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading the land acquisition process of at least 3 high value ($1 Billion plus) capital infrastructure projects (rail and transit preferred) within the last 10 years.
• Knowledge of the project management process, including an understanding of the need to meet cost and schedule requirements is essential.
• Experience with real estate acquisition and negotiation skills.
• Requires sound judgement; excellent organizational, analytical, problem solving, interpersonal, verbal communication and technical report writing skills.
• Bilingual in both of Canada's official languages.
• International Right of Way Association designation preferred but not required.
• Familiarity with Geographic Information System (GIS) and Geo Warehouse is an asset.
• Project Management Professional Certification (PMP) would be considered an asset.
• Knowledge and / or experience with property expropriation processes would be considered an asset.
• Proven leadership and management skills.
• Ability to work successfully in multi-disciplinary teams and across different business units in a matrix organization with little to no supervision.
• Ability to adapt well to changes in direction and priorities in a project and deadline-oriented environment.
• Experience in a Consulting Engineering environment is an asset.
• Property acquisition experience on transit or transportation projects with CN Rail, CP Rail and / or the MTO (Ministry of Transportation Ontario), Metrolinx, TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) or their Quebec equivalents is an asset.

About Us

WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms. Our purpose is to future proof our cities and environments.

We have over 65,000 team members across the globe. In Canada, our 12,000+ people are involved in everything from environmental remediation to urban planning, from engineering iconic buildings to designing sustainable transportation networks, from finding new ways to extract essential resources to developing renewable power sources for the future.

At WSP :

• We value our people and our reputation
• We are locally dedicated with international scale
• We are future focused and challenge the status quo
• We foster collaboration in everything we do
• We have an empowering culture and hold ourselves accountable

Please Note :

Health and Safety is a core paramount value of WSP. Given the importance of keeping one another safe it is expected that you comply with our Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) policy at all times as well as client HSE policies when working at client locations.

Offers of employment for safety-sensitive positions involving fieldwork are contingent upon candidates being able to perform key physical tasks of the job as described in the job posting and interview.

This may include the ability to work in a variety of environmental conditions, such as remote or isolated areas, working alone, and in inclement weather (within safe and reasonable limits).

WSP welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

WSP is committed to the principles of employment equity. Only the candidates selected will be contacted.

WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies. For more information please READ THE FULL POLICY.