Lea +Elliott is seeking a self-sufficient, highly organized, personable and motivated person to join our senior-level staff in the Northern Virginia office. With direct accountability to the project’s FTA Coordination Manager, the Senior Planner will assist in gaining and transmitting intellectual understanding of issues and events occurring on a large and complex public rail transit construction project in order to meet FTA and agency reporting, meeting and project management requirements.

The successful candidate will be called upon to research, interview, analyze, write and edit complex technical data for use in reports, plans and procedures that record and present technical information, often in a non-technical way.  They will need to exercise initiative, judgment and decision making ability in a timely and effective manner and in full compliance with all applicable local and federal laws, rules and regulations.

Photo by Elvert Barnes

Position Responsibilities

Included in the position responsibilities are:

• Being a member of the team that develops monthly and quarterly progress reports covering the entire project effort.
• Maintaining a high level of quality control.
• Preparing for and creating documentation of monthly and quarterly meetings with the FTA for the project record.
• Staying current with federal project management requirements and aligning reports and plans to comply with all regulatory requirements.
• Assisting senior leadership and executive management with other regulatory, audit and quality review functions as needed.
• Coordinating between departments and interviewing project directors and others to avoid duplications of effort or contradictions.
• Maintaining the documentation repository of newly created or revised reports, minutes, plans, etc., to assure a complete project record.
• Obtaining needed reviews and approvals for the timely dissemination of newly created or revised documents to the appropriate audiences.
• Monitoring compliance with policies, grant terms, procedures and guidelines of the various federal and state agencies.
• Becoming familiar with multiple topics as needed by reading and using computer based products to gather and research technical information for use in complex documentation.

Requirements

• Masters or Bachelors degree in Transportation Planning or related field.
• At least four years (six years with a Bachelors degree) of specialized experience that is related to the responsibilities described.

• Excellent writing and verbal skills and full mastery of English.
• AICP Certification is preferred.
• Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite is required.

Basic Qualifications

The ideal candidate would possess:

• Creative problem-solving skills related to gathering relevant information to solve loosely-defined problems.
• Excellent proofreading and editing skills and attention to detail.
• Experience working with the transit industry’s writing style such as terminology grammar, sentence form, and structure.
• The ability to convert technical knowledge into terminology that can be easily understood by a broad and diverse audience.
• The ability to work independently and be self-motivated, as well as be part of a team.
• The ability to read and assimilate technical and financial information rapidly and from diverse sources and use it to prepare timely and accurate reports and plans.

• Good analytical thinking and problem solving skills.
• The ability to communicate effectively and efficiently by both listening and speaking carefully.
• Flexibility and the ability to adapt to the changing needs of the position.
• Superior time management, organization and prioritization skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships with project colleagues while insisting on thorough and accurate input from these colleagues at the same time.

• Knowledge and understanding of the federal government’s regulatory process ideally in the areas of public transportation, New Starts and TIFIA.

Lea+Elliott

An internationally recognized transit vehicle and systems engineering firm, Lea+Elliott is highly regarded for its depth of experience and expertise. We are a specialized group of planners, engineers and architects that work on transit systems around the world.

The position falls under the responsibility of Lea+Elliott’s Eastern Regional Director at the firm’s corporate office at Dulles International Airport, but will report to the project’s FTA Coordination Manager in the project office, located in Herndon, VA.

We are looking for someone who can begin immediately.  Salary is dependent on experience.  Lea+Elliott is an equal opportunity employer.

To apply, please respond to jobopenings@leaelliott.comwith a cover letter and resume.  No phone calls please.

Applications will be accepted through June 26.