Vice President, Rail Transit Project Manager

This Opportunity

WSP is currently initiating a search for a full-time Vice President, Rail Transit Project Manager. This position will sit within the Northwest Pacific Major Projects Team. This position has been created to support some of the recent rail transit project wins and on-going pursuits in the Seattle and larger Northwest Pacific transit and transportation market. This individual will work closely with our Transportation & Infrastructure Team and contribute to a growing organization that helps clients advance complex transit initiatives and solve their most pressing mobility challenges.

Your Impact

Business Development

• Advance client goals and industry innovation through leadership in transit rail planning, design, and delivery.
• Collaborate with local offices and national transit experts to provide clients with forward-looking, integrated solutions.
• Support transit rail business development efforts, strategy development, client engagement, and pursuits across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington.
• Provide guidance and leadership with pursuit/initiation activities for projects meeting defined criteria or risk profile; including “Go / No-Go” decisions, contract reviews, risk mitigation strategies, pricing reviews, etc.
• Serve as key staff on pursuits in roles such as project manager, deputy project manager, design lead, advisor, or subject matter expert.
• Oversee and provide guidance on procurement of contracts with preferred sub-consultants and contractors for transit and multimodal transportation projects.
• Engage with clients to develop new business leads and project opportunities.
• Build strategic alliances and partnerships to secure new transit rail work.
Represent WSP in the market through participation in client and industry events, committees, and associations.

Project/Program Management

• Lead the delivery of transit rail projects and programs for agencies throughout the Northwest Pacific District (Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington), focused on transit clients in the Seattle area.
• Serve as Project Manager, Senior Lead, or in other leadership roles on key transit initiatives, which include the most complex and largest scale projects within the organization, ensuring contributors know what they are required to do and by when, preparing and overseeing relevant project budgets, forecasts, margins and KPIs, monitoring external events and risk contingencies, tracking hours and expenses, ensuring QA/QC and satisfactory performance, and managing the contractual obligations to deliver the project or assigned portfolio of assigned project(s) as defined in the contract.
• Foster effective and proactive strategies to engage project stakeholders at all levels, maintain effective relationships, and report on project progress.
• Participate in the technical aspects of contract negotiation, presentations, and meetings.
• Ensure updates occur with system and process documentation including: Risk (REF/RMP), Project Management Plan (PMP), Project Quality Plan (QP), Project Safety (PSP), and Communications Plan where applicable.
• Guide staff and support project management responsibilities, including oversight of financial performance, adherence to project management and quality control plans, and risk management.
• Ensure high-quality project deliverables, including PS&E packages, engineering reports, technical memorandums, and related documentation.
• Lead problem project and project management discipline meetings, addressing root cause issues and potential solutions, leveraging opportunities for improvement in area of responsibility, and providing updates and recommendations to staff that ensure all appropriate measures are taken to foster innovation, development, and quality project delivery.
• Lead the development of project recovery plans, including team input for developing strategy for correcting project budget and overrun issues with the client.
• Ensure regular project reporting and updates are provided to clients, technical areas, and business unit managers, identifying any emergent issues with scope, risk, and/or budget.
• Ensure the completion of all formal project closeout activities, along with the facilitation and documentation of a lessons-learned meeting with key project staff.
• Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures.
• Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.
Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific needs (less than 20%).

People & Performance Leadership

• Support the management, growth, and development of transit rail–focused work within the Transportation & Infrastructure team.
• Provide leadership in partnership with the project delivery teams, Local Business Leader, and Senior Management Team.
• Contribute to meeting Key Performance Indicators and the overall success of the West Region.
• Mentor staff to support their technical growth and professional development.

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, planning, science or a closely related discipline.
• 12+ years of relevant post-education experience in the civil engineering transportation industry, with emphasis on Business Development, Project Delivery, Program/Project Management, and/or Alternative Delivery.
  • 5+ years of experience in transit rail (passenger rail, light rail, commuter rail, or related systems). Preference for experience managing and delivering complex rail transit expansion projects.
• Ability to lead and grow the transit rail and civil engineering business.
• Strong experience as a project manager, deputy project manager, or task lead on transportation or transit rail projects. Advanced-level understanding of the project delivery process within the A/E/C industry, and an extensive background and experience in large-scale project management.
• Strong working knowledge of corporate project management principles, practices, process, delivery, execution, and the business impact upon the organization.
• Excellent leadership, management and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to manage staff, and effectively, persuasively, and tactfully interact with employees at all levels of the organization.
• Strategic lateral thinking and strong analytical skills with attention to detail and prioritization of responsibilities in a pressure work environment.
• Ability to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources, including senior management, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers, clients, and company-wide staff, including those with whom no formal hierarchical relationship exits.
• Established client relationships and industry contacts.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and projects.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including experience preparing proposals, scopes of work, and technical reports.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master of Science in Civil Engineering or related field from an accredited program.
• Experience working with Departments of Transportation or major transit agencies.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Professional Engineering (PE) license.

WSP Benefits:

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Compensation:
Expected Salary (all locations): $160,000 - $250,000

WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.

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