Design Manager, Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Heywood

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

The Metropolitan Council’s Metro Transit Division is one of the country's largest transit systems, employs more than 3,000 people, and provides ridership through an integrated network of buses, light rail and commuter trains, as well as a resource for those who carpool, vanpool, walk or bike in the Twin Cities.

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).

As the Design 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 lead a team responsible for design of stations, systems, and bus priority treatments on arterial BRT projects. You'll manage and coach a growing team of professional staff, oversee consultant teams, coordinate design decisions with cities, counties, and MnDOT, and provide engineering support during construction.

This recruitment will establish an eight (8) month Eligibility List for current and future vacancies. Reporting to the Senior Project Manager for Project Delivery, Arterial BRT, you'd lead a team responsible for engineering activities across design, construction, and activation for multiple high-profile transitway projects. This position is responsible for providing management and oversight for the arterial BRT engineering team; leading procurements, contract management and oversight; and developing plans, specifications, and estimates for arterial BRT construction projects valued at $20-70 million, ensuring all necessary actions meet Metro Transit's requirements for schedule, cost, quality, and safety related to project implementation.

Supervision / Management:

• In alignment with arterial BRT program goals and work plans, manage performance of design team: set clear expectations and accountability, develop work plans and goals, manage progress, remove barriers, coach for desired results, and clearly communicate feedback to develop and retain staff and achieve project goals.
• Develop positive coaching relationships, maintain ongoing communication, and meet regularly with direct report staff to provide support and oversight for project tasks, remove barriers to progress, and ensure accountability for project goals.
• Generate work plans for multiple projects/phases to define capital project staffing budgets for design staff positions.
• Meet bi-weekly with arterial BRT management team to report progress and barriers to project advancement, and define strategies to overcoming these barriers.

BRT Corridor Project Engineering:

• Develop scopes of work for engineering services, materials testing, and other engineering phase consultant contracts and direct work of consultant teams under contract to the Council, managing large and interdisciplinary work efforts valued at $10-20 million in engineering services per project.
• Lead coordination with internal stakeholders/customers and external agency staff, working to communicate BRT project goals, understand stakeholder needs and concerns, and seek consensus in design solutions while working within defined budget and schedule.
• Coordinate proactively with other arterial BRT project delivery staff including Project Managers, Agreements Lead, and Environmental Compliance Lead, to inform project decision-making related to design and construction phases.
• Develop plans, specifications, estimates, and other design documents for BRT projects, including civil, structural, traffic, and systems design disciplines, that comply with local / Council / State / Federal regulations. Manage design reviews at 0%, 30%, 60%, and 90% completion, tracking and resolving stakeholder comments to ensure internal/external buy-in and plan signoff.

Contract Management:

• Develop scope and budget for engineering/construction administration services contracts spanning preliminary design through project operations, working closely with internal BRT project management peers and Procurement, Grants, and Finance staff.
• Administer contract changes, including scope revisions, amendments, and maintain project control; manage scope, schedule, and budget of engineering contracts.
• Supervise and provide QA and QC oversight on contracts managed by supervised staff to ensure compliance with policies and procedures.

Procedures:

• Apply applicable agency procedures to BRT engineering activities and ensure procedures are followed by direct report staff.
• Where existing procedures do not exist, develop best practice documentation and project-specific procedures to standardize approaches to common BRT issues (such as design checklists for standalone BRT station construction projects, temporary, or partial implementations).
• Identify and manage updates to documentation of arterial BRT design standards, engage internal / external stakeholders in updates as needed, and disseminate information clearly to stakeholders.

Construction Engineering:

• For projects directly managed, direct consultant development of Invitation for Bid (IFB) documents and lead procurement and contract award of construction contract. Review and approve change orders, invoices, schedule revisions, and other contract actions.
• For projects directly managed, serve as contract project manager for construction phase in close coordination with Manager, Construction Services and Council's Authorized Representative (CAR). Manage interdepartmental coordination and construction-phase activities from Information Services, Facilities Maintenance, Revenue Operations, Street Operations, Asset Management, and other departments to ensure project activities are completed on time and on budget.
• Supervise and provide QA and QC to direct report staff managing engineering on other projects in the above tasks.

Support pre‑engineering project phases:

• Review corridor plan documents assembled by BRT planning staff to identify engineering/constructability risks, apply best practices in early siting, and advise on early station concepts.
• Identify future BRT-ready needs on externally-led street construction projects (by cities, counties, MnDOT, et al.) and lead negotiation of the early implementation of design needs outside of full BRT corridor advancement.
• Lead development of design document inputs on externally-led projects to coordinate placement of platforms, conduit, wiring, civil design details and other station requirements to minimize rework and maximize efficiency of public investment. Ensure project components are constructed according to Metro Transit standards.

Any of the following combinations of experience in multi-disciplinary engineering or architectural project management of capital construction projects and completed education in Engineering, Architecture, Transportation Planning, or related industry. Experience must include three (3) years of supervisory experience or project team.