Traffic Engineer

Somerville is a city that upholds progressive principles for both employees and residents. The City of Somerville embraces and encourages an innovative, empowering, and collaborative workplace culture in a fast-paced, challenging environment. The City also offers a generous benefits package that embodies a strong work-life balance. Not only is Somerville a “Model City,” as termed by The Boston Globe, but it is also a model employer.

Statement of Duties

The Traffic Engineer provides traffic management services for City improvements and permitted activities to ensure conformance with City policies, permit conditions, applicable technical standards; and reviews plans and specifications to assure that private development, utility upgrades, and streetscape improvements are being properly executed to manage the urban environment and minimize constituent impacts. This position also manages installation of pavement markings and prepares or reviews signal timing and coordination plans. The work includes field work, technical analysis, street design, public interaction, and interdepartmental coordination around multimodal mobility planning, engineering and urban design in New England’s most densely-populated city.  Candidates for this position should be highly motivated to ensure that public and private investment advance the Somervision goals to increase active and alternative transportation options and to minimize public disruption during a historic high of construction volume in the City of Somerville.

Essential Functions:

• Review and approve complex traffic management plans for construction projects. Approve field adjustments after traffic control plans have been implemented.
• Visit development or work sites to determine project effect on traffic and the adequacy of traffic control and safety plans or to suggest traffic control measures.
• Collaborates with the City’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development and the Police Department, around capital projects, construction management, operations & maintenance activities (including preparation, implementation and evaluation of Standard Operating Procedures), traffic calming interventions, bike/pedestrian facilities and signal operations.

• Interact with the general public and other organizations to investigate and resolve various traffic issues; respond to citizen requests and complaints; prepare, review and make recommendations on various traffic issues taken to the City's Traffic Commission
• Prepare or review signal timing and coordination plans; prepare or review striping and signing, traffic control, and traffic detour plans; and review transportation analysis and reports, including traffic studies; and conduct investigations relating to public inquiries regarding traffic controls.
• Oversee traffic control planning for the installation, improvement, and maintenance of signs, parking, pavement markings and other traffic control devices; supervise pavement marking contractors.
• Maintain a comprehensive, current knowledge of applicable policies, procedures, codes, and regulations; conduct research and maintains an awareness of new issues, methods, equipment, trends and advances in the profession; and attend meetings, workshops, and training sessions as appropriate.
• Support the development of City regulations, policies, design guidelines, and standard operating procedures to improve multi-modal transportation safety; support the Somerville Climate Forward Plan; and enhance the redevelopment of the urban environment.
• Review and approve the design and construction of any streets, sidewalks, or bicycle facilities, constructed by a private entity prior to acceptance by the City.  
• Direct engineering surveys, including records research and field investigations, to acquire data required for design, layout and/or construction of streets and traffic management.
• Provide engineering and technical input to City-managed or reviewed Transit Oriented Development projects as part of SomerVision (Somerville’s Comprehensive Plan) in locations including, but not limited to, those adjacent to Green Line Extension (GLX) stations.
• Coordinate with other municipalities, state and federal agencies when joint engineering projects or state or federally funded engineering projects affect the City.

This is a safety sensitive position.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications                                                                

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering or Management with five to seven (5-7) years of related work 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.

Special Requirements

Professional Engineer’s (PE’s) License in Commonwealth of Massachusetts OR the ability to obtain PE’s License within 6 months of starting the position. (Must possess PE’s License within 6 months of starting the position.)

Valid Class D driver’s license

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Knowledge of the principles and practices of engineering, research methods and report presentation; knowledge of the  principles and practices of project management, work breakdown structures, communications planning, team management, scheduling, budgeting, accounting and finance methods; knowledge of environmental laws and regulations as they pertain to municipal water and sewer system design, construction and operation; knowledge of applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations related to engineering, environment, ADA compliance, infrastructure and procurement; knowledge and expertise with various local, state and federal funding mechanisms for infrastructure.

Abilities: Ability to produce written documents with clearly organized thoughts using proper sentence construction, punctuation and grammar; use and interpret graphical information such as construction plans, schematic drawings, flow charts, layouts and other visual aids, and electronic project management applications; interpret information accurately and make decisions according to existing laws, regulations and policies; ability to manage multiple projects of various complexities with competing interest and multiple funding sources.

Skill: Proficient communication skills, both verbal and written as well as the ability to deal with the public in tense situations; proficiency with computers in all office software along with various engineering software applications like GIS or Arc View.

Work Environment                                                                                                  

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices; field work will require exposure to outside elements.  Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.  Work may require some agility and physical strength, such as moving in or about construction sites or over rough terrain, or standing or walking most of the work period.  Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

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

Employee will spend time in the office and in the field during construction projects.  Work effort involves an equal mix of sitting, standing and walking to perform work tasks. 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 books, office equipment, and computer paper (up to 30 lbs).  While performing field work, employee may be standing for periods longer than two to three (2-3) hours at a time and may encounter inclement weather.

Motor Skills

Duties may involve assignments requiring application of hand and eye coordination with finger dexterity and motor coordination. Examples include operating a motor vehicle, using a personal computer, or climbing a ladder.

Visual Skills

Visual demands include constantly reading documents for general understanding and for analytical purposes, making detailed visual observations, and routinely reviewing non-written materials such as maps and blueprints for analytical purposes; the employee is required to determine color differences.                                                                                                                                              

This position will remain open until filled. Send your resume and cover letter 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.