Senior Project Manager - Bus Rapid Transit

We are the Metropolitan Council, the regional government for the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area. We plan 30 years ahead for the future of the metropolitan area and provide regional transportation, wastewater, and housing services. More information about us on our website.

We are committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

The Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) department is responsible for planning, design, and implementation of high-profile BRT corridor projects in the Twin Cities region, like the highly successful METRO A, B, C, D, and E lines. These projects bring fast, frequent, and high-quality transit service and customer facilities to the region's busiest bus routes in the core of the region. The current program of projects in active development includes the METRO F Line (Central), METRO G Line (Rice/Robert), and METRO H Line (Como/Maryland).

How your work would contribute to our organization and the Twin Cities region:

As a Senior Project Manager in the Arterial BRT department, you will join a passionate and skilled team of transit professionals committed to growing regional prosperity and addressing inequity through building out the Twin Cities region's bus rapid transit network. Bringing enthusiasm for transit, strong technical skills, and advanced organizational abilities, you'll provide advanced leadership and project management for large-scale, high-complexity arterial BRT projects, with a focus on projects seeking funding through the federal Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program administered by the FTA.

Reporting to the Director, Arterial BRT, your responsibilities would initially focus on advancing the METRO F Line project towards completion. You would have responsibility for all F Line project management activities, including project scope and budget management, stakeholder management and coordination, close collaboration with MnDOT on several major roadway projects within the project area, coordination with FTA and management of the CIG process, public communication, agreements, procurement, contract management and oversight during all phases of project development, and providing primary support to operations planning and revenue service launch activities.

Project delivery: Collaborate with executive leadership to determine and define project scope, requirements, goals, and deliverables. Maintain project vision, control project scope, and provide overall leadership for cross-functional project team toward successful resolution of project scoping and delivery issues; has overall responsibility for on-time project delivery.

Agreements and easements: Manage process for agreements and acquisition of real estate interests needed for project delivery, including negotiating cost participation for corridor scope with agency staff stakeholders (e.g. City / County / MnDOT) in accordance with established cost participation precedent and policies; plan for, negotiate, seek Council authorization, and execute interagency agreements governing cooperative construction, easements, licenses, joint powers, utilities, and other novel agreement needs; and coordinate with Real Estate and Office of General Counsel departments on real estate acquisition for temporary and permanent easements.

Procedures: Develop, modify, and ensure compliance with policies, procedures, and standards for Metro Transit's BRT project activities in alignment with overall Metro Transit procedures.

Any of the following combinations of experience in project management for large scale projects of which two of the years were for a government agency and completed education in a related field AND three (3) years experience supervising employees and teams.
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• High school diploma/GED with eleven (11) years of experience leading and managing projects AND (3) years of experience supervising employees and teams.
• Associate's degree with nine (9) years of experience leading and managing projects AND (3) years of experience supervising employees and teams.
• Bachelor's degree or higher with seven (7) years of experience leading and managing projects AND (3) years of experience supervising employees and teams.

• Experience in the project management, design and/or construction of public transit projects, facilities, and/or multimodal urban street projects.
• Experience with public transit projects seeking funding through the FTA CIG Small Starts or New Starts program.
• Skills in performance management and performance coaching.
• Skills in project management and coordination of multiple disciplines.
• Experience in leading and facilitating meetings with very complex and detailed materials.
• Knowledge of or aptitude to learn the geography and transit system of the Twin Cities. A thorough understanding of the current regional transit system is critical to successfully execute job duties. This can be learned, but strong experience using the current system, and attention to detail on how the system could be improved will make the difference between adequate and exceptional performance of job responsibilities.
  
  

• Knowledge of bus rapid transit and urban street planning and design / engineering principles, best practices, and technical resources and tools.

• Knowledge of bus transit and/or urban street construction practices.
• Knowledge of contract preparation, negotiation, and administration in the areas of construction, architectural/engineering, and other professional/technical services.
• Knowledge of project management tools, practices, and principles.
• Skills in budget development and management.

• Knowledge of project control methods and techniques.
• Knowledge of tools and techniques for planning and scheduling complex projects.
• Knowledge of governmental agency unit budget preparation and of policies and procedures for development and implementation of capital projects.
• Skills in Microsoft Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook to clearly communicate project needs and fulfill business practices.
• Ability to persuasively and clearly communicate in multiple forms and with different audiences to gain consensus between divergent points of view, while establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with all relevant stakeholders.
• Ability to exercise sound professional judgment and consistently and effectively apply the policy guidelines of the Council.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision, and work and communicate effectively with project teams, other unit staff, project managers, consultants, and the public.
• Ability to manage, prioritize, and deploy direct report staff resources to most urgent department priorities, efficiently delegating and addressing necessary workload to accomplish project and department objectives.
• Ability to organize and readily recall a broad array of project technical details, schedules, budgets, and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of federal transit and transportation funding guidelines, particularly FTA CIG program.

• We offer the opportunity to make a difference and positively influence the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
• We encourage our employees to develop their skills through on-site training and tuition reimbursement.
• We provide a competitive salary, excellent benefits and a good work/life balance.

More about why you should join us!

Union/Grade Non Represented/Grade K
FLSA: Exempt
Safety Sensitive: No

Work Environment
Work is performed in a standard office setting. Some positions may require travel between primary work site to other sites.

What steps the recruitment process involves:
1. We review your minimum qualifications.
2. We rate your education and experience.
3. We conduct a structured panel interview.
4. We conduct a selection interview.

If you are new to the Metropolitan Council, you must pass a background check, which verifies education and employment, covers driving record and any criminal record. If you have a criminal conviction, you do not automatically fail. The Metropolitan Council considers felony, gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor convictions on a case-by-case basis, based on whether they are related to the job and whether the candidate has demonstrated adequate rehabilitation.

If you are already an employee of the Metropolitan Council, you must pass a background check which verifies education and employment if not verified previously. If the job you're applying for is safety-sensitive, is a supervisory or management job, is in the Finance, Information Services, Audit, or Human Resources departments, or has access to financial records, files/databases, cash, vouchers or transit fare cards, you must pass a pass a criminal background check. If you have a criminal conviction, you do not automatically fail. The Metropolitan Council considers felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor convictions on a case-by-case basis, based on whether they are related to the job and whether the candidate has demonstrated adequate rehabilitation.

IMPORTANT: If you make a false statement or withhold information, you may be barred from job consideration.

The Metropolitan Council is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and veteran-friendly employer. The Council is committed to a workforce that reflects the diversity of the region and strongly encourages persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, individuals with disabilities, women, and veterans to apply.

If you have a disability that requires an accommodation during the selection process, please email HR-OCCHealth@metc.state.mn.us.