Director of Policy and Planning

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) seeks a Director of Policy and Planning to join the leadership team of a regional agency with a roughly $10 million annual planning budget to carry out comprehensive, multimodal, transportation planning. The Director of Policy and Planning serves as a member of the agency’s leadership team and reports to the Executive Director. This division-leading role sets the vision for the teams responsible for the agency’s core required policy and programmatic work, including its long-range plan, transportation investment program, and annual work plan.

This role also provides strategic policy and planning guidance to executive leadership, staff, and the MPO board. As a member of the leadership team, the director contributes to agency-wide strategic planning, organizational priorities, policies, resource decisions, and overall management. The preferred candidate for this position will be a passionate, civic-minded leader with a deep understanding of and passion for planning that improves people’s lives.

The candidate must be enthusiastic to help shape transportation policy and investment in a complex metropolitan area.

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) seeks a Director of Policy and Planning to join the leadership team of a regional agency with a roughly $10 million annual planning budget to carry out comprehensive, multimodal, transportation planning. The Director of Policy and Planning serves as a member of the agency’s leadership team and reports to the Executive Director. This division-leading role sets the vision for the teams responsible for the agency’s core required policy and programmatic work, including its long-range plan, transportation investment programming, policy development, board and committee activities, and related federal planning requirements (MPO Activities and MPO Planning and Policy teams).

This role also provides strategic policy and planning guidance to executive leadership, staff, and the MPO board. As a member of the leadership team, the director contributes to agency-wide strategic planning, organizational priorities, policies, resource decisions, and overall management. The preferred candidate for this position will be a passionate, civic-minded leader with a deep understanding of and passion for planning that improves people’s lives.

The candidate must be enthusiastic to help shape transportation policy and investment in a complex metropolitan area.

• Lead and promote the agency's federal requirements process including alignment with federal and state statutes, rules, guidance, requirements, and policies.
• Support and mentor staff in a manner that builds cohesion across teams and strengthens the vision for agency culture.
• Lead and support the managers responsible for long-range planning, transportation investment programming, policy development, board and committee activities, and related federal planning requirements (MPO Activities and MPO Planning and Policy teams).
• Promote high-quality research, analysis, and writing with teams through efficient processes within and across teams.
• Identify and advance best practices and innovation in implementing MPO work.
• Strengthen board engagement and support informed board decision-making by fostering productive relationships among board members, leadership, managers, and staff.
• Serve as point person on civil rights matters, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Collaborate with other directors and managers to manage allocation of staff resources to prioritize work that is consistent with the agency’s vision and goals.
• Champion and serve as leadership team liaison to the Ideas Group, the agency’s internal working group focused on advancing agency cultural goals related to participation, dignity, and respect for all employee perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with federal, state, regional, municipal, and community partners to advance coordinated policy and planning.
• Lead, develop, and empower a multidisciplinary…