Director, Strategic Initiatives

Work Location: 2 Broadway, New York, NY 10004

This position is eligible for telework, which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

About the role

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

This position leads teams that support the development, coordination, and execution of strategic initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, effectiveness, and service quality across both operating agencies and headquarters functions. These initiatives are essential to achieve MTA's targets for recurring savings critical to the MTA's Financial Plan, as well as other enterprise-wide efficiencies. The role addresses key operational, strategic, and policy issues through the identification and implementation of best practices and cost-saving opportunities in cooperation with agency experts.

Responsibilities

• Drive enterprise-wide opportunities to enhance operational performance, financial efficiency, and service delivery.
• Partner closely with MTA operating units and executive leadership to execute on priorities and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Manage the day-to-day execution of complex, high-impact initiatives through advanced data analytics, cross-functional collaboration, and executive-level engagement.
• Coordinate interdepartmental and interagency working groups to accelerate modernization efforts, ensuring rigorous performance monitoring, outcomes measurement, and transparent reporting to senior leadership.
• Serve as a strategic advisor and subject-matter expert across multiple operational and administrative disciplines—including hiring and workforce processes, performance and availability management, operational workflows, project delivery, productivity optimization, and broader cost-management domains.
• Provide support to inform executive decision-making and long-term strategy.
• Foster a culture of excellence, accountability, and innovation by enabling cross-team knowledge sharing, memorializing and sharing best practices, and cultivating strong partnerships across the organization.
• Provide leadership, mentorship, and development guidance to junior team members to advance team capability and performance.
• Lead additional strategic initiatives and organizational priorities as assigned, demonstrating adaptability, executive-level judgment, and strong stewardship of MTA resources and long-term objectives.
• Select, develop, and motivate personnel within the department. Provide career development for subordinates. Provide prompt and effective coaching and counseling. Responsible for discipline/termination of employees when necessary. Review the performance of staff.
• Create a professional environment that respects individual differences and enables all employees to develop and contribute to their full potential.

Requirements

• Strong interpersonal skills with an established record of successfully completing projects by obtaining group consensus and cooperation among people with no direct reporting relationship to the position.
• Excellent quantitative, analytical, and problem-solving skills, together with demonstrated proficiency in business case development and implementation planning.
• Ability to follow through with implementation in a complex organization and assess the need for adjustments to achieve success.
• Capability of building a strong and successful network, developing new relationships, and influencing decision makers.
• Demonstrated leadership skills in team and/or group settings, including team process and staff development skills.
• Ability to prioritize among competing needs and opportunities and manage multiple projects at the same time.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) or an equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Minimum 7 to 10 years of progressively responsible experience in consulting, finance, public administration, or public transportation agency.
• Minimum 2 to 5 years of managerial experience in a large corporate or government organization with responsibility for identifying, analyzing, and implementing new business practices and strategies.

The following is preferred: Master’s degree in Arts/Sciences (MA/MS) in a related field.

Schedule

Hours of work: 9:00 am - 5:30 pm (7.5 hours/day) or as required. Full-time position. May need to work outside of normal work hours (i.e., evenings and weekends). Travel may be required to other MTA locations or other external sites.

Pay

Salary Range: $140,732 - $156,369