This Opportunity

WSP is initiating a search for a full-time Senior Transportation Planner to join our Chicago, IL office. We have an immediate opening for a motivated and highly skilled environmental planner with experience on transit and rail projects. The Senior Transportation Planner is expected to serve as a task lead, deputy project manager, staff mentor, and trusted client advisor on multimodal projects and programs involving roadways and transit /rail, with an immediate need for support in transit and rail planning. This position will work closely with planning, environmental, civil, and transit/rail engineering staff across WSP’s Midwest region to research, analyze, document and present information related to various types of transportation and transit projects.

The successful candidate must be a motivated team player, able to provide high-level technical planning assistance and excited to help clients grow new processes, projects and programs. The candidate will ideally have experience with one or more of the following agencies in response to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The candidate should have a demonstrated working knowledge of land use and transportation planning issues in Illinois, as they relate to rail and transit, with skills to provide analysis, communication, collaboration, GIS to support transit/rail projects and ensure regulatory compliance for a variety of client projects related to equitable transportation development, mobility planning, multimodal access, and funding.

Your Impact

• Provide guidance with data collection efforts for identifying and compiling observational, spatial, operations, and environmental data from multiple matrices for projects, research, and surveys.
• Use topographic maps, aerial photographs, GPS data, and other visualization tools to determine exact locations of project areas, associated physical/urban/population/economic/political sensitivities, and to uncover primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts.
• Prepare and complete general plans, specific/master plans, community plans, zoning codes, comprehensive plans, permitting policies and/or development standards for assigned projects, with a particular emphasis on transportation and multimodal accommodation. 
• Ensure regulatory requirement compliance pertaining to the data integrity, documentation, procedures, training, monitoring systems, reporting, and record compliance and retention.
• Perform professional transportation planning work and conduct investigations, inspections, studies, and surveys to gain further information on a particular problem or issue, verify site characteristics, and/or to plan for future needs affecting equitable development, construction, transportation demand management, mobility planning, and multimodal access. 
• Prepare data and visualizations such as tables, charts, reports, models, infographics, cross-sections, and 3D illustrations for the interpretation or presentation of more complex data, findings, or analyses.
• Prepare applications and represent clients in the approval process with local and regional jurisdictions.
• Prepare, coordinate, and facilitate public involvement and consensus-building meetings in support of client project work, answering public questions on behalf of the client, and assisting with long-range planning efforts on medium- to large-sized projects.
• Prepare drafts of technical memos, meeting minutes, transmittals, presentations, and other written materials summarizing research with findings and conclusions.
• Read, interpret, compose, and review Planning Reports, Categorical Exclusions, EA’s, EIRs, and other technical documents.
• Oversee and monitor cross-functional teams in executing project work, approval or permitting strategy, impact assessments, and regulatory compliance, including project budgets, tracking hours and expenses, and task completion.
• Provide high level oversight for desk-based research and site work, including measurements, data interpretation, demographics, patterns and trends, and computer modeling.
• Provide analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of facts and data obtained during field and site investigations, offering input with developing action plans for moderate- to high-level challenges and development activities to minimize impacts to the community, population, local economy, and environment.
• Coordinate with clients, resource/regulatory agencies, subcontractors, and technical staff in a confident and professional manner.
• Collaborate with professionals from a variety of disciplines to provide future ready solutions for clients.
• Actively engage in business development and proposal writing.
• Remain current in latest transportation planning subject matter, practices, regulations, and techniques.
• 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.

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 7 to 10 years of progressively responsible experience in transportation and environmental planning and policy work, specifically transit planning
• Bachelor’s Degree in Transportation Planning, Urban Planning, Environmental Planning, Public Policy, Engineering, or a related field
• Deep knowledge of, and experience with, federal, state and local transportation planning processes, including the NEPA process
• Experience working on a variety of public agency environmental analysis and documentation types, with prior FTA and FRA experience preferred
• Knowledge and experience with federal, state and local transit and rail funding programs, including discretionary grant programs
• Ability to effectively present and communicate ideas orally and in written form
• Critical, strategic and creative thinking skills
• Computer skills (i.e. MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, GIS)
• Ability to gather and analyze data critically and develop supporting information and reports
• Understanding of project administration and management
• Possess strong communication skills, a high level of energy, enthusiasm, and positive attitude
• Proficiency with the transportation project development cycle, including from planning to implementation.
• Proficient with reviewing surface transportation projects and program cost estimates and assessing project readiness for inclusion in the strategic local/regional Transportation Plan.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
• Ability to work schedules conducive to project-specific requirements that may extend beyond the typical workweek.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Metra, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Pace, or other comparable urban/suburban transit service agency
• Capital program planning experience
• Active involvement in planning/transportation/environmental-related organizations or societies

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