Planning Director – Statewide and Regional Planning

Accountabilities

• Develop and execute a national strategy for statewide and regional planning, including priority markets, service offerings, client engagement approaches, pursuit strategies, delivery models, and growth objectives.

• Build and expand executive-level relationships with state DOTs, MPOs, transit agencies, regional authorities, and other public-sector transportation organizations.

• Serve as a trusted advisor on transportation planning, policy, funding, capital investment, performance, technology, and implementation challenges.

• Identify, qualify, position, and lead major statewide and regional planning opportunities, including capture strategies, teaming decisions, proposals, interviews, pricing, and contracting.

• Develop strategic account plans and strengthen relationships with established and prospective clients in priority markets.

• Coordinate multidisciplinary professionals across planning, engineering, economics, grants, resilience, sustainability, digital technology, energy, and program management.

• Establish and lead a professional network supporting business development, project delivery, innovation, knowledge sharing, and market development.

• Assess capability gaps and recommend strategic hiring, partnerships, investments, and internal development initiatives.

• Mentor and develop planning professionals while fostering collaboration, accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and career growth.

• Provide senior technical and strategic oversight for complex statewide, regional, multimodal, long-range, and capital planning engagements.

• Guide innovative approaches incorporating data analytics, scenario planning, technology, performance measures, policy analysis, and implementation strategies.

• Support commercially sound project planning, financial performance, risk management, quality delivery, and adherence to client commitments.

• Develop differentiated service offerings and strengthen industry visibility through conferences, professional associations, research, publications, policy discussions, and thought leadership.

• Identify and share lessons learned, best practices, technical innovations, and reusable approaches to strengthen future pursuits and project delivery.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in urban planning, transportation planning, civil engineering, public policy, public administration, geography, economics, or a related field.

• At least 15 years of progressively responsible experience in transportation planning, consulting, public-sector planning, or a related discipline.

• Extensive experience leading statewide, regional, metropolitan, multimodal, or long-range transportation planning programs.

• Demonstrated experience working with state DOTs, MPOs, transit agencies, regional transportation authorities, or comparable public-sector clients.

• Proven ability to develop and expand executive-level client relationships and successfully shape and secure significant transportation planning or advisory engagements.

• Experience directing capture strategies, proposals, interviews, teaming arrangements, scopes of work, staffing plans, and fee development.

• Strong knowledge of long-range transportation planning, modal and multimodal planning, capital investment planning, performance-based planning, strategic planning, and implementation strategies.

• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams across offices, regions, technical disciplines, or business units.

• Demonstrated ability to translate complex transportation, policy, funding, technical, and organizational challenges into practical solutions.

• Experience managing financial and commercial aspects of consulting engagements, including budgets, risk, profitability, and performance.

• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and executive communication skills.

• Ability to travel as needed for client engagements, pursuits, projects, industry events, and internal collaboration.

• A master’s degree in a relevant discipline is preferred.

• AICP certification or another relevant professional certification is preferred; PE licensure is advantageous where applicable.

• Experience developing a national or multiregional transportation planning practice, service line, or center of excellence is preferred.

• Experience with strategic business planning, market development, revenue forecasting, and practice-performance monitoring is beneficial.

• Familiarity with federal transportation planning requirements, funding programs, performance-management frameworks, and public-sector decision-making processes is preferred.

Benefits

• Annual compensation range of $179,925.15–$205,628.74, with final compensation influenced by factors such as geography, education, experience, and certifications.

• Health insurance, including an option with a Health Savings Account.

• Dental and vision insurance.

• Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare, dependent care, and applicable transit and parking expenses.

• Disability insurance and life insurance, including Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage.

• 401(k) retirement plan and retirement counseling.

• Employee Assistance Program.

• Paid time off and paid holidays.

• Back-up dependent care and parental leave.

• Continuing education opportunities.

• Support for professional licensure and professional society memberships.

• Opportunity to lead a nationally focused transportation planning practice and work on complex public-sector initiatives.

• Exposure to multidisciplinary teams spanning transportation, engineering, economics, technology, sustainability, resilience, and program management.