All Things Urban

NACTO is an association of 63 major North American cities and ten transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues.

NACTO’s mission is to build cities as places for people, with safe, sustainable, accessible and equitable transportation choices that support a strong economy and vibrant quality of life.

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is seeking a knowledgeable street designer, engaging presenter, and skilled educator to join our team as a full-time Program Manager or Senior Program Manager of Design Education. This role will work to expand NACTO’s capacity to train on our street design guidance by building a proactive suite of street design workshops and trainings for city transportation professionals. The ideal candidate has a knack for structuring and delivering engaging presentations, has detailed knowledge of street design principles and practices, and has an understanding of best practices in adult education and workshop design. This position is based in New York City with regular travel to workshops in NACTO member cities and other training sites as needed.

Your job will be to enhance NACTO’s capacity to train city transportation practitioners on NACTO’s street design guidance. You will do this by structuring a comprehensive training curriculum, expanding NACTO’s Certified Trainer network, designing thoughtful workshops, and infusing NACTO materials into graduate programs in planning and engineering. You will work with a strong, progressive group of city transportation officials and a NACTO team that aims to turn big ideas into real projects on the ground, resulting in more just and sustainable communities throughout our network. More specifically, you will do things like:

Curate and maintain the NACTO Street Design Curriculum:

• Refine NACTO’s comprehensive street design curriculum, packaging educational modules and materials for use during training, workshops, presentations, etc
• Test the materials with a variety of audiences, iterating and polishing to ensure our messages and methods resonate; refresh training modules and curriculum as needed

Own the NACTO street design training program:

• Partner with member cities and agencies who request training to understand their core needs, design appropriate training or workshops, and execute the event(s), with logistical support from other NACTO staff
• Conceptualize and launch a re-booted Certified Trainers program, identifying a diverse and qualified group of prospective trainers, designing a certification workshop, facilitating the program on an ongoing basis to support design trainings in a broad range of cities, and developing marketing materials to boost demand, in collaboration with other teams
• Develop a sustainable funding model for the training program; manage budgets for each individual training event
• Continuously evaluate NACTO’s success and impact in training city practitioners across the country

Deliver NACTO’s street design trainings, ensuring that all material is presented in an engaging, compelling, and accessible style:

• Give presentations when appropriate; identify and coach supplemental trainers, including other NACTO staff, member city staff, and certified consultant trainers
• Lead or facilitate training events and support other NACTO staff and consultant trainers.

Program the ongoing Digital Design Charrette series:

• Own the overall Digital Design Charrette series, ensuring a consistent level of quality and structure for all events and serving as the main staff person responsible for the program’s overall success
• Create a comprehensive suite of materials to describe the Digital Design Charrette tool and a consistent process for documenting results and change after the charrette
• Partner with other NACTO staff on each individual charrette to identify an appropriate street design project and peer city experts to serve as critics

Conduct outreach to graduate programs in transportation policy, planning and engineering:

• Work to embed NACTO design guidance and materials into the curricula of graduate and undergraduate planning, engineering, and transportation policy programs to ensure the next generation of city transportation professionals is well-versed in the NACTO principles and practices; build links with relevant faculty and schools
• Partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, public engineering schools, and other educational institutions to support a diverse pipeline of planners, engineers, and city transportation officials

To be successful in this job, you will excel in the top two areas with strong competency in the remaining
skills:

• Expertise in street design: Deep knowledge of street design principles, techniques, and strategies, including an understanding of engineering considerations
• Compelling, engaging presentation: Excellent public speaking skills, and a knack for distilling information into visually compelling, concise, punchy slides that keep people engaged
• Passion for education: An understanding of professional and continuing education, workshop design, curriculum design, and/or effective training techniques
• Connecting with people: Ability to connect with a wide range of individuals in one-on-one or group settings; ability to “read the room” and gauge an audience’s comprehension, and modify presentation approach based on need
• Strategic thinking and proactive opportunity seeking: An inclination to proactively build partnerships and find solutions to challenges, seeking opportunities to influence the field of street design through education
• Comfort engaging on race and equity: NACTO staff work in a wide variety of cities and contexts across North America, and a strong understanding of and ability to engage on the issues and power dynamics around race, equity, and transportation policy are essential to this work.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.