Design Program Manager, Design and Construction
About the role
Transportation Planning and Management (TPM) is responsible for the safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible movement of people and goods on the City's streets, supporting the larger goals of economic and social vitality for people living, working, and doing business in New York City. The Division’s responsibilities include roadway project planning, roadway design, technical analysis, maintenance of street signs, transit development, freight mobility, and roadway markings.
TPM’s Design & Construction (D&C) unit has professional engineering oversight for geometric design elements of NYC roadways. We draw on expertise and talent of Civil Engineers, Urban Designers, Planners, Asset Managers, Inspectors, Administrators, Analysts, and others to evolve and maintain the curb geometry and street plans for all NYC’s 6,300+ miles of roads, create and maintain official pavement marking and concrete island plans, and oversee the application and refurbishment of NYC’s 250+ million linear feet of pavement markings (stripes, messages, colored surface treatments for bus/bike/plaza, etc.).
D&C is seeking a Design Program Manager to support the management of a large and complex portfolio of design work that includes in-house Street Improvement Projects (SIPs), the Markings After Resurfacing (MAR) program, and NYCDOT’s Capital program. The successful candidate will oversee and maintain a management system that provides D&C leadership with visibility into project status, workload, and resource allocation to support informed decision-making.
Responsibilities
- Review existing agency in-house project management procedures and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, accountability, and project delivery outcomes.
- Develop and implement best practices, manage project schedules, track performance metrics, and maintain reporting tools to support program oversight and continuous improvement.
- Facilitate coordination among internal stakeholders, monitor program risks and dependencies, prepare executive-level reports and presentations, and provide strategic recommendations to enhance project delivery processes across the agency.
- Serve as a key liaison among design, planning, operations, and capital program staff, ensuring alignment of priorities, schedules, and resources.
- In close coordination with D&C’s Data Quality team, develop and maintain program management tools to support day-to-day management activities.
- Use D&C’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system—the unit’s intake portal, which logs all design requests.
- Focus on time-sensitive SIPs; over time, build on established processes to support a broader range of design portfolio projects.
- Responsible for growing and developing the team to support growth and expansion as needed.
Qualifications
- One year of full-time satisfactory experience in supervising employees performing project management work, such as planning, administering, managing, coordinating, or expediting, on engineering and/or architectural and/or landscape architectural projects, or supervising a construction project with a value of $1,000,000 or more.
- Either:
- A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in engineering, engineering technology, architecture, landscape architecture, architectural technology, construction, construction management, construction technology, sustainable design, urban planning, urban studies, city planning, transportation planning, business administration, or public administration, and one year of full-time satisfactory experience in project management work, such as planning, administering, managing, coordinating, or expediting, for engineering and/or architectural and/or landscape architectural projects; or
- A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and five years of experience as described above; or
- A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent plus any combination of college or university education and/or experience described above to make up the equivalent of five years of education and experience.
- One year of experience credit will be given for:
- each 30 semester credits of college or university education leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in one of the listed disciplines;
- a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in one of the disciplines described above;
- a Juris Doctor degree; or
- a valid New York State license as a Professional Engineer, Registered Architect or Registered Landscape Architect.
- Where experience which is primarily of a design nature is not acceptable towards meeting the qualification requirements.
- In addition to meeting the qualification requirements for Assignment Level I, candidates must have at least one additional year of experience as described above in a supervisory capacity or have served for at least one year as a project manager for a large and/or complex construction project.
- In addition to meeting the qualification requirements for Assignment Level I, candidates must have at least two additional years of experience as described above in a supervisory capacity or have served for at least two additional years as a project manager for a large and/or complex construction project.
Preferred Skills
- Proactive and collaborative work style
- Strong organizational, communication, analytical thinking, critical thinking, administrative, problem-solving, writing, and presentation skills
- Strong time management skills with the ability to prioritize responsibilities effectively in a fast-paced environment
- Easily adaptable to changing technologies
To be considered for this position, the candidate must be serving permanently in the title of Associate Project Manager, be reachable on the civil service list for Exam or be eligible under the 55a program.
This position may be eligible for remote work up to 2 days per week, pursuant to the Remote Work Pilot Program agreed to between the City and DC37.
New hires must reside in NYC for the first two years of employment.