Transportation IQF Practice Lead

About Atlas

Atlas is a trusted leader in environmental and infrastructure consulting services; we provide services that enable communities to flourish and thrive. With a team of 3,500 employees and offices throughout the US, we combine local expertise and a network of relationships to deliver solutions to both public and private clients. Our services help improve the quality of life in the communities where we live and work. We always aim for smart, safe, and sustainable results. At Atlas we understand that our future is everyone’s responsibility, and we create a better experience at every stage of a project.

About the Role

The Transportation IQF Practice Lead is the firm’s senior expert on Independent Quality Firm delivery for design-build, CMAR, progressive design-build, and P3 transportation programs. The role sets the technical standard for IQF work, drives consistency in how it is delivered across every project and geography, and provides senior delivery leadership from initiation through closeout. Growth follows from that credibility and from the Lead’s established contractor relationships.

Responsibilities

• Project Delivery Leadership
  • IQF Delivery Credibility and Technical Authority
    • Serve as the firm’s recognized technical authority on IQF delivery — the reference point for contractors, owners, and internal teams on quality assurance obligations under alternative delivery contracts.
    • Interpret DOT specifications and contract quality requirements, and provide consistency in testing frequencies, verification and IAT protocols, acceptance decisions, and nonconformance dispositions.
    • Own the practice’s independence posture and manage the conflict-of-interest boundary that IQF roles require.
    • Represent the firm to owner quality and construction staff on audits, oversight reviews, and dispute support; backstop project teams on difficult quality issues.
  • IQF Consistency and Standardization of Delivery
    • Own overall IQF consistency — define and maintain the standard for how Atlas scopes, staffs, executes, documents, and reports IQF work.
    • Maintain the standard toolkit: quality management plans, sampling and testing plans, testing frequency matrices, verification and IAT protocols, nonconformance workflows, and reporting formats.
    • Keep scoping and staffing repeatable so pricing, resourcing, and deliverables hold across projects, districts, and states.
    • Maintain laboratory accreditation, technician certification, and agency qualifications (AASHTO resource, CMEC, DOT programs); lead peer reviews and audits, and roll lessons learned into standard work.
  • Delivery leadership and oversight
    • Serve on the project initiation team and lead project initiation — scope validation, budget and staffing plan, quality management plan, testing frequencies, laboratory and equipment set-up, subconsultant onboarding, and reporting set-up.
    • Prepare others to take over day-to-day project leadership and develop and implement a transition plan where your role shifts from day-to-day project leadership to more of an oversight and support role.
    • Provide continuous leadership through the life of the project, not only at start-up — regular check-ins with client and project team, staffing adjustments, schedule and budget oversight, issue escalation, and senior-level contractor and owner interface through closeout.
    • Serve as Project Executive or Quality Director on major programs, and as program-level quality lead across multi-project portfolios and IDIQ/on-call contracts.
    • Participate in internal project reviews and other project status discussions.
• Team Building and Key Hires
  • Attract, interview, and onboard IQF and QA managers, senior inspectors, laboratory managers, and certified technicians in collaboration with other Atlas leaders.
  • Address skill, certification, and geographic coverage gaps through targeted recruitment and internal development; build depth and succession behind key project roles.
  • Foster a culture of technical rigor, and mentor young professionals, including technician certification pathways.
• Growth Through Contractor Relationships
  • Leverage established contractor relationships in Texas and beyond — convert long-standing general contractor and joint-venture relationships into IQF roles and extend that network into adjacent alternative-delivery markets.
  • Position Atlas onto design-build and CMAR teams before RFQ/RFP release, and support pursuits with approach, quality management plan narratives, and staffing plans.
  • Contribute selective thought leadership that reinforces technical standing — a conference presentation, panel, or article — with targeted presence at DBIA, AGC, ACEC Texas, IBTTA and ARTBA.

Requirements

• Texas PE
• 15+ years of DB/ALD experience
• IQF experience
• Strong materials engineer background

Benefits

The A-Team Experience is our employee program focused on helping our people thrive professionally, personally and as part of a community. We trust our people to do great work and live fulfilling lives, and we provide resources that care for our people, both at work and in life:

• Health & Wellness: Medical, dental and vision coverage with multiple plan options, including no-cost employee-only medical coverage.
• Time Off & Family Support: Vacation time, paid holidays, sick & safety leave (SSL) and paid parental leave.
• Retirement: 401(k) with company match.
• Insurance: Life, AD&D (Accidental Death & Dismemberment) and Disability insurance.
• Safety Program: Approved PPE at no cost and reimbursement for prescription safety glasses and protective footwear.
• Learning & Development: Clear career paths, learning resources, development programs, internal certifications, and tuition reimbursement for external credentials.
• Belonging: Support for Employee Communities (ECs), voluntary, employee-led groups that create connections, belonging and shared purposes.
• Flexibility: Varies by project demands and regional workloads; committed to providing reasonable accommodation to help employees manage their personal and professional responsibilities.

Values

• Life: We enhance the quality of life.
• Heart: As our hallmark, we act with compassion, empathy, and respect.
• Trust: We work together as partners, doing what we say with full accountability.
• Mastery: Always striving for the highest quality, greatness inspires our work.