Transportation Analyst - Planning

This position is intended to support the development of NEC-wide service and infrastructure plans, including the Commission’s long-term planning process (CONNECT NEC) and 5-Yr. Capital Investment Plan provided annually to Congress and the Secretary of Transportation.

The position will also support the Commission’s government affairs efforts such as conducting research on federal, state, and local transportation policy priorities and monitoring surface transportation reauthorizations, appropriations bills, and other relevant legislation.

Specific responsibilities will include individual and collaborative tasks that support Commission project teams in all aspects of their data collection, data analysis and presentation, stakeholder engagement, and meeting planning/preparation.

This role requires a high degree of technical competency; skills and experience in data processing and analytics; and communicating complicated technical information to lay audiences. Experience working in transportation, particularly public transportation, is beneficial.

This position is intended to be located in Washington, D.C. However, there may be flexibility to locate the position in New York, NY or Philadelphia, PA.

Responsibilities:

1. Support development of NEC-wide service and infrastructure plans, including the Commission’s long-term planning process (CONNECT NEC) and 5-Yr. Capital Investment Plan provided annually to Congress and the Secretary of Transportation.
2. Support the Commission’s government affairs efforts such as conducting research on federal, state, and local transportation policy priorities; monitoring surface transportation reauthorizations, appropriations bills, and other relevant legislation; maintaining a list of key government contacts; and monitoring important news and updates from federal agencies and offices.
3. Support other projects and Commission workstreams, such as external communications, as needed.
4. Support the collection of capital project data from transportation agencies, including preparing templates, coordinating with external contacts at member agencies, and normalizing data for use by NEC Commission staff.
5. Support analysis of capital project data, including through the creation of accessible database dashboards for internal staff and external stakeholders.
6. Support the execution of key analytical tasks, quality assurance and quality control checks, and the preparation of documents and reports, both public and internal. Report preparation includes development of text, graphics, and maps that communicate technical information to a general audience.
7. Support the development of responses to ongoing questions from external stakeholders, including organizing the collection of all formal questions related to Commission products; performing ad hoc analyses; and facilitating the resolution of any identified issues among stakeholders.
8. Support planning for and execution of regular and ad-hoc meetings of the Commission, its committees, and its working groups, including helping with PowerPoint presentation development.

Minimum Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree in transportation planning, public policy/administration, engineering, business, or a related field.
2. 2+ years professional experience, especially direct experience in passenger rail or transit.
3. Experience collecting, managing, evaluating, and interpreting data.
4. Excellent computer skills in data processing and analysis, particularly in Microsoft Excel and Access, and an interest in expanding working knowledge of these and other data processing and management tools as needed to meet evolving project needs.
5. Knowledge of programming languages such as SQL, R, or Python.
6. Experience with, or ability to learn, data visualization and business intelligence tools (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau), geographic information systems (e.g., ArcGIS), or Adobe Creative Cloud (particularly Illustrator and InDesign).
7. Strong skills in written, verbal, and graphic communication of quantitative and qualitative information, including the ability to clearly express technical concepts to wide audiences.
8. Ability to solve problems independently, identify potential process improvements, and work in a highly collaborative team environment.
9. Demonstrated interest in passenger rail transportation and/or the ability to learn the details of the Northeast Corridor rail infrastructure and its commuter, intercity, and freight rail operations.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Master’s degree in transportation planning, public policy/administration, engineering, business, or a related field.