Green Line Extension (GLX) Project Liaison

Somerville is a city that upholds progressive principles for both employees and residents alike. If you are looking for a culture that embraces innovation, empowerment, and collaborative involvement, Somerville not only embraces these talents but encourages them. Creative, hands-on collaboration with passionate dedication are at the core of the City’s workplace culture. Challenging and fast-paced, Somerville also offers a generous benefits package that embodies a strong work-life balance. Not only is it a “Model City”, as termed by The Boston Globe, but it is also a model employer.

Statement of Duties

The City of Somerville seeks a GLX Project Liaison. The GLX Project Liaison performs technical work and advises senior staff on civil engineering, construction management and stakeholder engagement to ensure that the MBTA Green Line Extension’s four-year design/build construction process in Somerville proceeds consistent with the City’s goals around customer service, walkability and sustainability. Candidate will serve as the City’s site representative on the MBTA-managed construction of a 4.5 mile, seven-station light rail system through the heart of Somerville’s dense residential neighborhoods and pedestrian-oriented mixed-use business districts. Candidate will demonstrate capacity for field work, desk-based design tasks, technical quantitative analyses, public engagement and interdisciplinary coordination consistent with the City’s adopted Comprehensive Plan and adopted Open Space and Recreation Plan, as well as ongoing initiatives including the City’s “Somerville by Design” neighborhood and station area plans, Public Space and Public Life planning, Vision Zero planning, Urban Forestry planning and other related initiatives.

Essential Functions:

• Represent the City and serve as primary day-to-day contact with the MBTA’s design-build contractor for the Green Line Extension.
• Perform project management work to represent the City in one or more functional areas included in the MBTA’s GLX construction such as civil engineering, urban design, landscape architecture, storm water management and traffic engineering.
• Collect and disseminate complex technical information and fluid project scheduling information among diverse City agency representatives.
• Engage with project abutters and affected neighbors through site walks, mobile office hours, community meetings and desk-based customer service.
• Coordinate with City staff, local merchants and the MBTA contractor team regarding maintaining access to abutting businesses and residences.
• Review design submittals provided by the MBTA’s Design-Build contractor for consistency with City policies, plans and projects.
• Collaborate with City staff around design review of proposals for new private real estate development in the GLX project corridor.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the Director of Transportation & Infrastructure

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in engineering, landscape architecture, planning or a closely‐related field and three (3) years’ experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Master’s degree in Planning or related field preferred but not required.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Knowledge of basic principles and practices of planning, conservation, preservation, economic development, transportation and infrastructure is required; knowledge of applicable State and Federal public transportation regulations; strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and proficient in the full range of traditional and digital communications methods.

Abilities: Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing with state and federal agencies, architects, contractors, developers, owners, supervisors, employees, and the general public; ability to effectively read, understand and utilize technical drawings, traffic management plans, and other similar documents; ability to establish and maintain strong working relations with peers; ability to read architectural plans, interpret and apply complex regulatory code; ability to travel to multiple City locations within the workday; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; ability to coordinate and run public meetings and/or presentations.

Skill: Skill in facilitating public presentations; demonstrated organizational skills managing multiple tasks and deadlines; excellent customer service and public speaking skills. Bi-lingual or multilingual ability in Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Haitian-Creole is preferred but not required.

Work Environment
The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments. When in the field or attending meetings, the environment can be at construction sites and outdoors.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills
Minimal physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. Work requires some agility such as moving in or about construction sites or over rough terrain. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment or photocopy paper (up to 30lbs.). When in the field, more physical skill may be required to accomplish the duties required.

Motor Skills
Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills
Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Send your resume and cover letter by March 30, 2018 to:

City Hall Personnel Office
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville MA 02143
Fax: 617-666-4426
TTY: 1-866-808-4851
Email: employment_opportunities@somervillema.gov

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact the City’s ADA Coordinator, Nency Salamoun, at 617-625-6600 x2323 or NSalamoun@somervillema.gov.