The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG or simply COG) is an independent, nonprofit association that brings area leaders together to address major regional issues in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia.
Job ID/Number: DTP-252023
Posted Date: 1/4/2024
Job Location: Washington, DC
Position Type: Full-time
Division: Department of Transportation Planning
Description:
The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (NCRTPB or simply TPB) is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The TPB is also one of three policy boards that operate at COG. COG is the administrative agent for the TPB, and the TPB is staffed by COG’s Department of Transportation Planning (DTP). COG has a staff of about 120 employees, half of whom work in the DTP. COG was founded in 1957. The TPB was created in 1965 and became associated with COG in 1966.
Context:
COG’s DTP is divided into five teams. The largest of these teams is the Travel Forecasting and Emissions Analysis Team, which currently has 16 people and whose mission is to provide technical services to both TPB and COG in the areas of 1) regional travel demand forecasting and 2) the estimation of and planning for air pollution from motor vehicles, known as mobile emissions, including both criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The team is divided into two groups: the Model Development Group (MDG) and the Model Application Group (MAG). The mission of the MDG is to develop, maintain, and improve the TPB’s regional travel demand forecasting models. The MAG applies the production-use travel model to regional and corridor studies, including the development of the region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and the assessment of air quality impacts of the LRTP, using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) model. The MAG also plays an important role in conducting air quality planning and climate change planning activities.
Specifications:
COG/TPB seeks to hire a transportation engineer to work in its Model Application Group (MAG), to be filled at one of two levels, Transportation Engineer II (Grade 7) or Transportation Engineer III (Grade 8), depending on qualifications. The Transportation Engineer position will serve under the direction of a Senior Engineer or Principal Engineer and will focus on a variety of challenging technical tasks.
Examples of work tasks include:
- Supporting the federal air quality conformity process.
- Providing assistance with other air quality planning activities, including state implementation plans (SIPs).
- Participating in climate change planning activities for the onroad transportation sector.
- Keeping up to date with federal regulations and guidance pertaining to air quality and climate change planning.
- Conducting reasonableness reviews of various technical data related to air quality and climate planning.
- Writing technical memoranda and reports.
This is a technical position requiring strong quantitative skills and an ability to analyze and interpret technical data, thus also requiring some familiarity with transportation planning, air quality planning, and travel demand forecasting. This person should be passionate about learning, improving technical skills, public service, and making significant contributions that will improve the agency and the region. Work is performed under the general supervision of a higher-level transportation engineer/program manager, but the candidate should exhibit a certain degree of independence and self-direction. COG/TPB offers a friendly, collegial work environment, challenging technical work, with competitive pay and benefits in the Nation’s Capital.
COG staff work in a hybrid format. COG staff are currently expected to work in the COG offices three days per week and work two days per week from home. COG provides a transit subsidy benefit and many other benefits that make up one’s total compensation package.
Minimum Qualifications (Education and Experience):
- Transportation Engineer 2: Either 1) Master’s degree in transportation engineering, civil engineering, transportation planning, urban planning, computer science, or a related field. OR 2) Bachelor's degree in a related or non-related field and two years of applicable work experience.
- Transportation Engineer 3: Either 1) Master’s degree in transportation engineering, civil engineering, transportation planning, urban planning, computer science, or a related field and two years of applicable work experience. OR 2) Bachelor's degree in a related or non-related field and three years of applicable work experience.
Other Minimum Qualifications:
- Ability to work cooperatively in a team environment.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Solid verbal and written communications skills.
- Strong familiarity with standard business software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
- Experience with air quality and climate change planning.
- Familiarity with emissions modeling and travel demand forecasting.
Ideal Candidate (one or more of these):
- Passionate about learning and public service.
- Ability to be a change agent regarding air quality and climate change planning.
- Experience with interpreting federal regulations pertaining to air quality conformity.
- Experience with project/task management.
- Experience with climate change planning in the surface transportation sector.
- Experience with scenario planning and greenhouse gas estimation tools.
- Ability to communicate about complex technical topics to non-technical audiences.
- Experience with geographic information system (GIS) software.
Examples of Work:
- Collaboration with staff from other DTP teams to develop project schedules and scopes of work for air quality conformity analysis.
- Drafting comment letters to the EPA in response to proposed changes in emissions standards.
- Writing technical memoranda and reports, including the Air Quality Conformity Analysis Report.
Starting Salary Ranges (FY 24):
- Transportation Engineer II (Grade 7): $73,728.89 to $86,000
- Transportation Engineer III (Grade 8): $84,037.53 to $113,000
Application Instructions:
To apply for this position, please prepare the following items:
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