Engineering Trainee

Engineering Trainee – Portland Bureau of Transportation

This is a temporary, casual position with a maximum of 1,400 hours in a calendar year. The expectation is for the Engineering Trainee to work 30–40 hours per week during the summer and 10–20 hours per week during the school year.

Work Location
Hybrid – Portland Building 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland OR 97204. Remote work must be performed within Oregon or Washington.

Benefits
This position is not eligible for benefits.

Engineering Trainees assist others within PBOT in designing and operating streets within Portland. This is a great opportunity for students of a Civil/Transportation Engineering or Planning program to learn how to apply transportation engineering principles to improve the safety of City of Portland’s transportation system. Trainees will apply technical engineering knowledge to the solution of design, maintenance, improvement, and construction problems pertaining to the City’s infrastructure and private development.

They will work under the supervision of professional engineers and engineering technicians who serve as resource experts and routinely review work in progress or upon completion for accuracy and quality. The Engineering Trainees work with a broad range of customers and are expected to deliver a high level of customer service and to carry out their individual responsibilities with initiative, independence and creativity while exercising sound professional problem‑solving skills.

This position will actively participate in supporting PBOT’s Strategic Plan goals.

Five positions available:

• Three (3) in the Traffic Safety Projects Section (TSP).
• One (1) within the Signals, Street Lighting, and Intelligent Transportation Systems (SSL&ITS) Division.

• Conduct field and office review of traffic safety concerns and crashes and make recommendations for potential improvements.
• Learn and apply federal and local codes and standards for evaluating traffic safety requests.
• Review and make traffic safety recommendations as part of Safe Routes to School projects.
• Participate in the evaluation and design of Vision Zero projects.
• Develop plans/work orders for implementation of signs, pavement marking, and traffic calming features.
• Represent PBOT in interactions with the community.

• Assist with upgrade of PBOT’s traffic signal controllers by converting signal timing, testing, and field deployment.
• Create traffic signal intersection diagrams for intersections configured in PBOT’s new central traffic signal system.
• Update traffic signals and ITS roadside devices on GIS Map and Microsoft Visio Diagram.
• Help evaluate accuracy of various bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle detection systems.
• Assist with evaluation of new emerging traffic sensor technologies.
• Assist with evaluation of street lighting needs with night drives.
• Use Bluebeam and Micro Station CAD and other software for design, edits, and measurement calculations.
• Assist with review of construction submittals.
• Assist with field evaluation of pole conditions on aerial fiber optic communication projects.

• Current student in a Civil/Transportation Engineering or Planning program (proof of student status required).
• Excellent communicator – strong communicator to both technical and non‑technical individuals, proficient verbally and in writing.
• Problem Solver – enjoy developing solutions to complex problems.
• Professional – effective in a professional, diverse, multi‑cultural environment. Treat customers, co‑workers and employees with respect and accountably.
• Results driven – ask good questions and finish tasks in a timely, accurate and professional manner.
• Dedicated and customer service‑focused – passion for public service and high pride in ensuring projects and tasks are effectively and efficiently completed.

$25–$26 per hour for 0–1 years of engineering work experience.

$27–$28 per hour for 1–2 years of experience or in graduate education program.