Transportation Planner

This Opportunity

As a world-wide leader of transportation consulting and planning services, we invite you to be a part of this future. Our Transportation and Environmental Planning Team in Portland, Oregon is looking for a full-time Transportation Planner to join our team and support and grow our diverse range of transportation planning services. Our current projects include congestion pricing, multi-modal transportation and high-capacity transit planning, new mobility, and major infrastructure modernization. We offer a hybrid work model with three days in our office and up to two days working from home or another location of your choice each week. 

The Transportation Planner will provide a broad skillset to support complex, politically charged, and highly technical projects. Tasks may include writing reports and memorandums, analyzing nuanced data, developing work plans and facilitating delivery of materials, supporting deliberations of technical or public committees, and creating visuals. Depending on the skillset, this position may provide support for multimodal planning projects, alternatives analysis, environmental analysis, modeling analysis, statewide, regional and local plans, public involvement and communications, and/or government relations. The ideal candidate will contribute towards strategy to deliver projects that are high-quality, cutting edge, equity- and climate-focused, multi-faceted, and regionally supported. They will support tasks in a highly collaborative, sometimes fast paced environment to produce high quality deliverables that meet or exceed acceptable client and industry standards. The opportunities at WSP are endless and the Transportation Planner will navigate and grow into a role that leverages and enhances their skills while allowing for immense professional growth. 

It is widely stated—and supported by studies—that candidates, especially women, are less likely to apply for a job unless they believe they meet 100% of the hiring criteria. WSP's talent acquisition goals include hiring the candidate who is best able to meet the performance objectives of the role. We therefore encourage persons with non-traditional skill sets and experiences to apply, even if you believe you do not meet 100% of the qualifications and hiring criteria described. 

Your Impact

• Assist with collecting, 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, site impact, and associated physical, urban, population, economic, and political sensitivities.
• Under general supervision, assist with preparing general plans, specific/master plans, zoning codes, permitting policies and/or development standards for assigned projects, with a particular emphasis on transportation and multimodal accommodation.
• Maintain quality control standards and procedures for accurate and precise measurements, demographics, patterns and trends, statistical analysis, and reporting.
• Perform basic professional transportation planning work to gain further information on a particular problem or issue, verify site characteristics, and/or to assist with planning for future needs affecting equitable development, construction, transportation demand management, mobility planning, and multimodal access.
• Assist with preparing data and visualizations such as tables, charts, accurate reports, models, infographics, and 3D illustrations for the interpretation or presentation of data, findings, or analyses.
• Contribute to the preparation of technical reports summarizing research with findings and conclusions, generating complete, accurate, and concise documentation of technical memos, meeting minutes, transmittals, presentations, and other written materials.
• Assist technical staff and project managers with the analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of facts and data obtained during field and site investigations, offering input with developing action plans to minimize impacts to the community, population, local economy, and environment.
• Work with cross-functional teams in executing project work.
• Assist with work plan preparation and coordination of field work.
• Complete training on assigned tasks.
• 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

• Bachelor’s Degree in Transportation Planning, Public Policy, Urban Planning, Environmental Planning, or a related field or equivalent experience.
• Familiarity with the transportation project development cycle, from planning to funding to implementation.
• Analytical skills and experience with research techniques on transportation networks, systems, and modes.
• Competent interpersonal and communication skills when interacting with others, expressing ideas effectively and professionally to a technical and non-technical audience.
• Competent self-leadership with attention to detail, multi-tasking, and prioritization of responsibilities in a dynamic work environment.
• Strong writing skills to produce, e.g., meeting summaries and technical memorandums.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team to meet project objectives. A successful candidate would be able to: manage multiple projects or tasks, meet deadlines and deliverables, plan for upcoming tasks, and maintain responsive communication with the project team. 
• 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 occasionally extend beyond the typical work week.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A member of and/or active participation in professional practice organizations such as APA, AICP, WTS, NAEP, APTA, ABPB, IBTTA or other related organizations.
• Experience working for or with public agencies involved in transportation and mobility.
• Post Graduate Education (Graduate Level courses, professional certification courses, Masters, PhD) or comparable work experience in transportation or land use planning. 

Additional (non-essential) skills/qualifications - the following items may not be required as part of this job, but please highlight if you have experience any of the following experiences:

• Environmental policy technical expertise: Experience and knowledge in a broad range of technical and regulatory requirements, specifically with an understanding of the National Environmental
• Policy Act (NEPA), writing NEPA environmental documents (i.e., Categorical Exclusion, Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement), or other aspects of NEPA compliance, and/or:
• Active transportation interest: Experience working on active transportation (bicycle, pedestrian) projects, and/or
• Local knowledge: Knowledge of and experience with living and working in Oregon and/or an understanding of Portland metropolitan area, region, and Oregon transportation leaders in the public sector, nonprofit, and/or private fields, and/or:
• Business development: Knowledge and experience of business development, proposal creation, budget management, and quality control.

#LI-AC1

See Job Description