Transportation Engineer Senior

Location: Ames

Shift: 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Monday–Friday; some travel required.

About the role

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Construction and Materials Bureau is seeking a motivated Transportation Engineer Senior to serve as the Bureau’s Contract Administration Engineer. In this role, you will assist the Bureau Director in managing engineering and administrative staff responsible for administering construction contracts to accomplish the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. You will provide direction, consultation, and specialized services regarding specifications, methods, techniques, and policies for construction and inspection to field construction staff to ensure uniform compliance with specifications, procedures, and instructions.

At the Iowa DOT, our mission is Making Lives Better Through Transportation. The person selected for this position will model actions and behaviors guided by our five CORE values: Safety First, People Matter, Customer Focused, Servant Leadership, and Integrity Without Exception.

Responsibilities

• Provides guidance, specification interpretation, and technical assistance to District Construction Engineers and Resident Construction Engineers to ensure statewide compliance.
• Analyzes and grants final approval for substantial contract change orders, Value Engineering proposals, and the release of retained contractor funds.
• Manages compliance with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements on Federal-Aid contracts.
• Originates or recommends Staff Action forms for major project changes requiring upper-management approval in accordance with department policy.
• Reviews upcoming projects weekly and assigns future letting projects to the appropriate Resident Construction Engineers.
• Coordinates between field staff and central offices, providing construction reviews for proposed plans and serving as a liaison to the Location and Environment Bureau.
• Provides urgent construction engineering assistance to field teams in the absence of the Construction Field Engineer.
• Provides technical assistance to other Bureaus within the Central Office Complex regarding construction issues, including review and assessment of proposed plans and specifications, effects on field construction staff by actions of other offices, and serving as a liaison with field construction staff when requested.
• Reviews and provides final approval for the disbursement of contract funds retained to contractors.

Requirements

• The Contract Administration Engineer must be a professional engineer licensed by the Iowa Engineering and Land Surveying Examining Board.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements to qualify for this position:

• All of the following (a and b):
  • Licensure as a professional engineer; and
  • Four years of full-time professional work experience in transportation engineering or civil engineering.
• All of the following (a, b, and c):
  • Licensure as a professional engineer; and
  • Three years of full-time professional work experience in transportation engineering or civil engineering; and
  • Graduation from an accredited college or university with a master’s degree in chemical, civil, construction, environmental, materials, structural, or transportation engineering; engineering management; or a field closely related to transportation engineering.
• Current, continuous experience in the state executive branch that includes 18 months of full-time work as a Transportation Engineer Specialist or Transportation Engineer Manager.

Prior to appointment, applicants must possess active licensure as a professional engineer by the Iowa Engineering & Land Surveying Examining Board.

Benefits

• Competitive pay and benefits package including health, dental, flexible spending, and life insurance (benefits start the first month following 30 days of employment).
• Paid time off effective immediately: biweekly vacation, separate sick leave, accruals rollover yearly, and 9 paid holidays per year.
• Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS) Retirement Package with employer match.
• Optional 401A plan with employer contributions.
• Employee Discount Programs from a variety of vendors (vision, cellular, fitness, recreation, season passes, travel, counseling, legal, financial).
• Membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at a discounted price, including discounts for conferences and continuing education.