Public Works Manager

Role overview

Key responsibilities

• Develop public works strategies, policies, standards, procedures, and annual operating plans.
• Lead operations and maintenance programs for roads, sidewalks, drainage, streets, public spaces, and related infrastructure.
• Manage projects from planning and design through construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Set project schedules, budgets, resources, milestones, technical specifications, and performance standards.
• Manage contractors, consultants, suppliers, construction teams, field providers, service levels, quality, safety, costs, and compliance.
• Conduct inspections and verify construction and maintenance work against approved requirements.
• Maintain asset registers, inspection records, work orders, project documentation, and maintenance histories.
• Develop capital improvement plans and prioritize investments using condition, risk, service impact, and lifecycle cost.
• Prepare estimates, budgets, forecasts, business cases, funding requirements, and expenditure reports.
• Coordinate procurement, permits, utility interfaces, traffic arrangements, environmental requirements, and regulatory clearances.
• Respond to public complaints, urgent maintenance issues, infrastructure failures, flooding, severe weather, and other incidents.
• Manage personnel, training, equipment, fleet, operational data, audits, performance reviews, and continuous-improvement initiatives.

Ideal candidate

• Strong experience in public works, municipal infrastructure, civil engineering, construction management, infrastructure maintenance, facilities, transportation, or related government-service environments.
• Strong understanding of infrastructure planning, construction, maintenance, asset management, and preventive maintenance.
• Experience managing roads, drainage, public spaces, municipal infrastructure, contractors, consultants, field crews, and technical teams.
• Knowledge of civil engineering principles, construction practices, maintenance standards, quality control, safety, environmental requirements, and compliance.
• Experience developing capital improvement programs, operating budgets, procurement processes, contract administration, and contractor performance management.
• Strong emergency-response, incident-management, analytical, problem-solving, organizational, communication, leadership, and team-development capabilities.
• Familiarity with GIS, asset-management systems, CMMS, work-order platforms, or related technologies.

Leadership expectations

• Ability to manage multiple projects, operational priorities, contractors, and deadlines.
• High standards of accountability, safety, service quality, public responsibility, sustainability, and community outcomes.

Performance measures

• Measures include service availability, preventive and corrective maintenance performance, work-order completion, infrastructure condition, project completion, schedule adherence, budget variance, and capital expenditure performance.
• Additional measures include construction quality, contractor performance, complaint resolution, emergency response, asset-register accuracy, equipment availability, safety, environmental compliance, procurement, claims, closeout, stakeholder satisfaction, and lifecycle cost efficiency.

Work arrangement

• The description states that the role is fully remote and based in the United Arab Emirates.

Operating environment