Senior Planning Specialist, Grade 25

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THIS IS AN INTERNAL "ONLY" JOB POSTING, AVAILABLE TO CURRENT Montgomery County GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

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This Position is ONLY Open to Montgomery County Government Employees:

1. Current Montgomery County Government employees.
2. Montgomery County employees who were affected by reduction-in-force and currently have RIF priority rights.
3. Active Montgomery County local fire and rescue department volunteers with at least 50 points under the length of service award program (LOSAP); or
4. Active Project SEARCH Interns or former Montgomery County Government Customized Employment Public Interns, or Project SEARCH Interns within 24 months of completion of internship.

WHO WE ARE

Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT)mission is to move people and connect places with seamless, equitable transportation options that are safe, environmentally responsible, and support economic growth and vibrancy in Montgomery County. MCDOT supports its residents, commuters, and visitors with transit options and infrastructure that provide seamless public transportation.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

MCDOT is seeking a Senior Planning Specialist position that will serve in the Department of Transportation; Division of Transportation Engineering (DTE);This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of multimodal travel in Montgomery County. DTE is responsible for advancing the County’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program. The County is working to advance BRT on 100 miles of streets with 100 stations.

The Senior Planning Specialist is generally responsible for planning capital projects for the BRT program, leading public outreach efforts, coordinating with stakeholders such as the Federal Transit Administration, and leading programmatic efforts to advance the BRT program. General responsibilities include project management, technical analysis expertise, website update and development, documentation development,stakeholder and public outreach lead, and quality assurance/ quality control. The Senior Planning Specialist has a thorough understanding of transportation planning concepts and principles and is able to effectively identify, develop, and deliver strategic communications with internal and external stakeholders, including consultants, other County agencies, state and federal agencies, or special purpose agencies (such as M-NCPPC and WSSC) on matters essential to expedite the planning process. The County is seeking a Senior Planning Specialist with knowledge, skills and experience in the following area to assist in the delivery of MCDOT’s Flash BRT program.

Transit Planning - The transit planning position focuses on the planning of capital transit projects. This position focuses on leading technical analysis, developing conceptual designs, and working with internal and external stakeholders. It is also responsible for leading various programmatic tasks to advance the BRT program. The ideal candidate for the transit planning position will have demonstrated experience advancing capital transit projects through the FTA Capital Improvement Grant (CIG)funding. Key to fulfilling the role will be the ability to identify, develop, and deliver strategic messages for BRT projects to varied internal and external stakeholder groups. The candidate should possess the ability to discuss complex and technical related engineering issues with any audience and effectively foster understanding and collaboration. In addition, the candidate should be comfortable leading discussions publicly and able to effectively present reports on project status, goals and objectives.

The Division of Transportation Engineering, Transportation Planning and Design Section, is seeking aSenior PlanningSpecialist position.

General responsibilities include:

• The Senior Planning Specialist exercises independent judgment, resourcefulness, and creativity while directing projects and processes.
• The scope and effect of work includes, but is not limited to, identification and resolution of significant planning problems related to concepts, analysis, outreach, budget, schedules, and quality for major capital projects.
• The project management function performed by the Senior Planning Specialist is non-supervisory; although some employees in the class may, on occasion, lead lower-grade coworkers in broad scope projects.
• Provides technical direction on planning scopes of work and is proficient in a variety of planning analyses, including but not limited to traffic analysis, transit analysis, concept development, GIS analysis, and other relevant planning analyses.
• Lead the development of and review of planning documentation prepared by consultants.
• Lead the development of agreements with peer agencies.
• Advances through complex grant funding programs, specifically the FTA CIG program.
• Perform cost/ benefit analyses and risk assessment as necessary to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of the project.
• Take a lead role in communicating project highlights and milestones both internally with MCDOT staff and leadership, as well as externally to the broader community and outside agencies. This includes creating maps, infographics, memorandum of understanding (MOU), project summaries, PowerPoint presentations, conceptual visualizations, press releases, and social media content.
• Conduct and/or participate in a variety of multi-modal planning efforts such as site plan and traffic analysis review, data collection, coordination of project plans and documents, including permits, ADA-compliant design issues, and tracking project status and coordinating consultant teams and internal project teams.
• Be responsible for maintaining all project web pages as well as coordinating many of the public engagement efforts for the Planning and Design Section.

Experience: Five (5) years of experience in planning specialization, such as transportation planning, Transit, bikeway, or Pedestrian projects, Geographic Information Systems, Urban Planning, or other related fields.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in planning specialization or related field, such as Engineering or Planning, with a concentration in transportation.

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

License: Possession of a valid Class "C" (or equivalent)driver's license from the applicant's state of residence is required.

We will use interview preference criteria:

• Experience participating in and developing public outreach efforts.
• Experience advancing projects through complex funding programs such as the FTA CIG program.
• Experience with planning and visualization software such as ArcGIS, CAD, Adobe Design Software, or similar software.
• Experience in planning of transportation, transit, bikeway, or pedestrian projects that include concept development, alternatives analysis, stakeholder engagement, and public outreach.
• Experienced in developing and presenting technical recommendations to government officials, stakeholders, and citizen groups.
• Experience with traffic and transit analysis.