Senior Project Manager – Transit Permitting Strategy

Senior Project Manager

Cordoba Corporation is seeking a Senior Project Manager to support major transit clients in improving capital project delivery through permitting process improvement, regulatory strategy, lifecycle cost assessment, and owner/agency governance analysis. This role will also manage all project staff, scope, schedule, budget, and subconsultants. The role includes client communications and management, including identifying opportunities for new business. The ideal candidate will possess skills and experience with a variety of transportation projects, including roadway, civil, transit, utilities, and active transportation with local stakeholders, municipalities, federal, county, state, and transit clients.

Permit and Regulatory Process Leadership This position will play a key role in improving transportation project delivery by strengthening permitting, regulatory coordination, and agency approval processes. The Senior Transportation Project Manager will develop permitting strategies, manage agency coordination, track approval milestones, identify regulatory and stakeholder risks, and work across engineering, environmental, utility, right-of-way, construction, and client teams to resolve issues that could affect scope, schedule, budget, or quality.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience improving approval workflows, reducing permitting-related delays, and helping public-sector transportation clients move complex infrastructure projects through required reviews and approvals.

• Leads permitting and regulatory coordination strategies for transportation projects involving federal, local, county, state, transit, utility, environmental, and right-of-way stakeholders.
• Identifies permitting, regulatory, utility, right-of-way, environmental, and stakeholder approval risks early in the project lifecycle and develops mitigation strategies with project teams and clients.
• Develops and manages permit matrices, agency coordination plans, approval schedules, responsibility assignments, and escalation strategies to support timely project delivery.
• Facilitates coordination with agencies such as state agencies, local municipalities, counties, transit agencies, utility owners, environmental/resource agencies, and other authorities having jurisdiction.
• Reviews project delivery workflows and recommends improvements to permitting, submittal, review, comment resolution, and approval processes.
• Leads cross-functional coordination among engineering, planning, environmental, utilities, right-of-way, construction management, and client teams to resolve approval barriers.
• Establishes metrics, dashboards, or tracking tools to monitor permit status, agency review cycles, comment resolution, commitments, and critical-path approvals.
• Supports proposal strategy by identifying regulatory, permitting, stakeholder, and approval-process risks and developing delivery approaches that improve client confidence.
• Provides project delivery oversight and accountability for assigned projects with a high degree of proficiency.
• Effectively communicates project and technical approach to solving challenges.
• Participates in proposals and interviews as a technical leader.
• Provides ongoing mentoring, training, and support of internal technical team members.
• Maintains client and industry contacts and engages in professional industry organizations.
• Engages in recruiting and retention activities.
• Maintains a positive working relationship with all levels of the organization.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, planning, architecture, environmental science, public administration, construction management, law, urban planning, or a related field.
• 10+ years' experience in transportation, transit, public infrastructure, permitting, regulatory strategy, capital delivery, program management, building department operations, or related consulting services.
• PE, AICP, PMP, JD, or similar credential preferred, but not required.
• Knowledge of overall public sector capital programs
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams through complex project approval processes responsible for permitting, environmental compliance, utility coordination, or regulatory approvals
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint, and project management/reporting tools
• Prior experience with Sound Transit, WA transit agencies, Puget Sound jurisdictions, or high-capacity transit projects is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated knowledge and history of project management, including project metrics
• Principles of supervision, training, and performance evaluation
• Excellent verbal, graphical, and written communication skills with a variety of people and personalities

Desired Experience

• Experience with transit, rail, bus rapid transit, transportation facilities, stations, operations and maintenance facilities, or other major public infrastructure programs.
• Experience working with or for a public owner, transit agency, city/county permitting…