Metropolitan Washington is a diverse, dynamic, and growing region. Managing this growth—and enhancing the region’s quality of life—requires partnership. And that’s why the region relies on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) and our talented team of problem-solvers.
Our staff members support COG’s work as a forum where area leaders come together to address major regional issues related to transportation, the environment, community planning, and homeland security and public safety. They ensure COG remains a trusted source of data and analysis that informs decisionmakers and calls attention to important trends.
COG’s Department of Transportation Planning (DTP) supports the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for metropolitan transportation planning in the Washington region. The TPB prepares plans and programs to enable federal transportation funding to flow into the region, provides data to decisionmakers, and serves as a regional forum for coordination.
COG’s Department of Transportation Planning seeks a Program Director to lead a team of specialized technical experts to support regional transportation planning activities of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), which is the agency designated under federal law as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Washington DC-MD-VA urban area. TPB. This position will directly provide leadership support for each of these functions, with a focus on technical subject matter and policy practices for the areas of safety, transit, bicycle/pedestrians, freight, resiliency, traffic operations, technology, grants/technical assistance, and more.
The successful candidate for this position will be a strategic leader who possesses demonstrated program and project management experience, coordination capabilities, and technical expertise to manage people and programs that address key aspects of metropolitan transportation planning, as well as activities that primarily serve the TPB’s local government members, such as grant writing, grants management services, and grant support materials.
POSITION SUMMARY
The successful candidate for the Multimodal Planning Program Director position must have excellent project and program management skills, a strong knowledge of and interest in transportation planning, and the ability to lead a multi-person team of professional staff in achieving goals in these work program areas.
The successful candidate will:
- Serve on the department’s senior leadership team, providing strategic, operational, and technical advice to the DTP Director and the TPB on regional transportation planning issues.
- Make informative presentations on transportation safety, transit, bicycle/pedestrians, freight, resiliency, traffic operations, technology, grants/technical assistance, plus grants or grant opportunities supporting these aspects of the region’s transportation system, to the TPB, policy committees and technical committees, and other stakeholders involved in the region’s transportation planning process.
- Develop the annual work program/budget for the Multimodal Planning Team.
- Provide leadership to team members managing topic / mode-focused planning activities including those listed below. The work in these planning areas is generally assisted by a technical subcommittee of staffs from the TPB’s member agencies. The work activities have a focus on meeting all federal requirements as a priority but also serving as forum for learning and sharing about best practices and developing strategies and recommendation to the board as needed.
- Transportation safety planning that includes implementing the Regional Roadway Safety technical assistance grant) Program, directing the Street Smart pedestrian and bicyclist safety outreach campaign, and directing work to establish roadway and transit safety targets as part of federal Performance-Based Planning and Programming process.
- Bicycle and pedestrian planning.
- Regional public transportation planning including the publication of the annual State of the Transit report.
- Regional Freight planning.
- Transportation systems management and operations that includes coordination with Transportation Emergency Preparedness Planning undertaken by COG’s Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety; and Liaising with and providing program management services to the (external) Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) program.
- Provide leadership to staff who are managing technical assistance projects and/or grant-supported activities, from inception to completion. Staff activities include:
- Soliciting applications, selecting projects among competitive proposals, procuring consultant support, and overseeing project implementation.
- Marketing and promoting technical assistance programs to potential applicants and stakeholders.
- Sharing information about completed technical assistance projects through webinars, website, and other peer exchange opportunities and events.
- Developing and maintaining relationships among jurisdiction staff and consultants.
- Tracking and monitoring federal, state and other grant opportunities.
- Writing and tracking letters of support member jurisdictions request from TPB.
- Meet regularly with the DTP Director, other DTP program directors and managers on SPP Team needs and issues.
- Meet with federal, state, local and regional transportation agency staff on modal planning, systems performance planning, and grants management issues.
- Other duties as needed and/or assigned.
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
- Knowledge of regional planning principles and practices, including the metropolitan transportation planning process.
- Ability to develop and secure consensus of a group.
- Ability to present technical results in terms understandable to policy officials and staff.
- Demonstrated experience with effective public speaking and leading group discussions, including ability to prepare, produce, and present clear, effective, and accurate reports and presentations.
- Excellent interpersonal communications skills, including working with technical staff and elected officials.
- Excellent writing skills with the ability to summarize information in a clear and concise manner.
- Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office software tools.
- Experience in managing multiple projects, meeting deadlines, and keeping numerous projects and program cycles simultaneously on schedule.
- Knowledge of applying information technology, data, and technical methods to the analysis of transportation planning issues.
- Experience in grant management, including developing scopes of work and procurement documents, coordinating competitive bid opportunities, contract review, invoicing and accounting procedures, and performance reporting.
- Ability to troubleshoot and quickly solve problems to keep projects moving.
- Ability to evaluate program effectiveness and adjust processes and systems to improve performance and efficiency.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Multimodal Planning Practice Program Director is responsible for a team of 7 professional staff in carrying out major elements of work programs assigned to this unit. The Program Director performs daily supervisory responsibilities and performance management and will also be responsible for other similar supervisory duties including personnel, budgeting, contracts management, and other administrative duties.
This position is responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of this unit, as well as directly overseeing the work of contract and temporary personnel. The Program Director carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.
Responsibilities include interviewing; hiring, training employees, planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance of, and rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
This position requires no less than eight (8) years of personnel and project management experience working in transportation, urban planning, or a related field. Possession of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in transportation planning, engineering, public administration, or a related field is preferred. Any equivalent combination of experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities will be considered.
COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Strong skills with Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) required. Experience with or working knowledge of Microsoft Access or other database software desirable. Experience with programs to support limited updates to existing websites (e.g., photo or text changes) desirable.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, spreadsheets, and legal documents. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from board members, regulatory agencies, and leaders and members of the community. Ability to effectively present meeting related or MPO process information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute percentages, rates, and ratios and to draw and interpret numeric charts and graphs.
REASONING ABILITY
Ability to understand and operationalize mission and programmatic requirements into specific projects, tasks, and/or activities. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form, and deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization may exist.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
No requirements.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to be at a computer for much of the day and to walk to in- or out-of-office meetings. The employee is occasionally required to stand and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This is a fast-paced environment and requires the ability to handle multiple tasks at any given time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is characterized by professionally carried conversational tones with noise from office equipment negligible.
WORK LOCATION
The Multimodal Planning Program Director will be required to report to work at the COG offices in Washington, D.C. This is not a fully remote work position. COG policy currently (but subject to change) requires all employees to work at least three (3) days per week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and an additional day as approved by the position’s supervisor) in COG offices and allows up to two (2) days teleworking from a remote location.
Salary Range: $147,000 to $200,000
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