Photo credit: Wikipedia

Summary of duties

This position will be responsible for supervising the annual allocation of operating and capital costs among the nine passenger railroads that operate on the Northeast Corridor rail line. This annual process was adopted by the Northeast Corridor Commission in September 2015 and is described in the NortheastCorridor Commuter and Intercity Rail Cost Allocation Policy.

The selected candidate will be responsible for overseeing a complex project that is repeated on annual basis and involves the ongoing participation of Amtrak and public transportation agencies from the northeast states. The role requires both technical competency and exceptional communication skills that are necessary to work through complex disputes among participating stakeholders. Specific activities include managing the collection and processing of financial data from nine operating railroads and multiple infrastructure owners; managing multiple consultant teams that serve as an extension of staff with responsibility for performing key project tasks; performing ongoing stakeholder outreach to collect necessary data; supporting resolution of multi-agency disputes; and identifying and implementing initiatives to improve the allocation process.

This position will also support the Commission’s response to an annual external review of the cost allocation process conducted by an independent auditing firm. The selected candidate may also support other Commission activities, including, but not limited to, the ongoing reporting of operating and capital costs and the continued refinement and development of the Commission’s policy.

Those applying for the position should have experience working with financial data and managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Experience working in public transportation or passenger rail is beneficial, but not essential.

This position is intended to be located in New York, NY. However, there may be flexibility to locate the position in Washington, DC.

Essential Functions

• Supervise the annual cost allocation process, with assistance and oversight from other Commission staff, including collecting data, overseeing all cost allocation procedures, performing quality assurance and control, and preparing financial reports
• Manage consultant contracts to perform key tasks related to cost allocation and other Commission activities
• Consultant management activities including the development of scopes of work, estimation of project budgets, oversight and/or participation in the consultant selection process, and day-to-day management of consultant teams to ensure that projects are delivered on-time and on-budget
• Perform frequent coordination with stakeholders, including organizing ongoing, multi-agency meetings and webinars, delivering presentations to technical staff and agency leadership, identifying, documenting, and supporting the resolution of multi-agency disputes, and performing one-on-one briefings
• Support and oversee staff participation in the external financial review of the cost allocation process, including providing data, supporting documentation of the cost allocation process, and responding to questions posed by the external review team
• Participate in the development of any modifications of the Policy desired by the Commission

Required Work Experience

• Some professional level experience with the public or private sector
• Demonstrated experience working with financial data or financial systems
• Demonstrated experience managing complex projects
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills
• Ability to solve problems independently and work collaboratively with staff at all levels
• Attention to detail
• Strong working knowledge of Access, Excel and/or other database programs

Preferred Work Experience

• Experience working with the financial data of a passenger railroad or public transportation agency
• Direct experience managing consultants in the delivery of professional service related projects
• Direct experience as the leader of a team
• Knowledge of the rail infrastructure and operations along the Northeast Corridor

Preferred Education

Masters degree in Business, Public Administration, Public Policy, or a related field

Communication and interpersonal skills

Must have excellent oral and written communication skills

How to apply

The Commission is administratively hosted by Amtrak. Please file an application at the Amtrak Jobs site, Position ID 90214009.

If you are interested in taking up a deep dive on future of mobility and get paid for it, this is definitely for you.

Details

The Urban Transport & Energy Group at UCL Energy Institute invites applications for a fully funded three-year PhD studentship. It will covering UK/EU fees plus stipend to focus on the development of the demand components of an advanced transport and energy activity based model able to simulate the multidimensional impacts of new mobility services on travel behaviour, traffic congestion, and energy consumption.

 Supervisors: Dr Maria Kamargianni, Lecturer in Energy & Transport, UCL EI; and Prof. Andreas Schäfer, Professor in Energy & Transport, UCL EI

• Title: PhD Studentship in Travel Demand Modelling, Mobility as Service & Big Data
• Stipend: approx. £16,500 & UK/EU fees & Annual research budget of £1000 and you will also be able to apply for additional funding to UCL schemes to cover extra costs of training and travel.
• Start date: September/October 2017
• Funding duration: Three years
• Eligibility please check: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/eligibility/

Person Specification

The project is well-suited to a highly-quantitative individual with strong mathematical, data handling and computing skills. Students should have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject or a closely-related discipline, awarded with first-class or upper second-class (2:1) honours, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard from a recognised higher education institute. For those applicants with a first or 2:1, possession of a master’s degree in engineering, computer science, economics, geography or related disciplines is highly desirable.

• Excellent analytical and computing skills. Passionate about data analysis, modelling, programming and conducting research.
• A MSc degree in transport engineering, big data analysis, machine learning, software development, geography, economics or other relevant transport or computer science disciplines.
• Candidates without a master’s degree may be admitted in exceptional cases where suitable research or professional experience can be demonstrated.
• Knowledge of relevant programming languages or statistical software (such as Python, C++, R, MATLab)
• Ability use own initiative, prioritise workload, and be a fair team player
• Good interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written)
• A high level of attention to detail in working methods
• Interest in the challenges of the Transport sector of the 21st century

Application Procedure

Stage 1 – Pre-application documents – (1) CV, (2) academic transcripts, and (3) one-page personal statement outlining motivation, interest and eligibility for the post – should be emailed directly to Mae Oroszlany: e.oroszlany@ucl.ac.uk.

Stage 2 – Following the interview, the successful candidate will be invited to make a formal application to the UCL Research Degree programme. Further guidance will be provided.

You will also have to meet the UCL’s English Language requirements.

Informal enquiries on the content of the research topic should be emailed to Dr Maria Kamargianni, m.kamargianni@ucl.ac.uk

Deadline for application:  05 May 2017

Interviews week starting 15 May 2017