Transportation Engineering Practice Lead

About Lochner

Founded in 1944, Lochner is a trusted infrastructure services provider for aviation, surface transportation, and water clients who need high-quality, forward-looking solutions to complex challenges. Our vision is to become a Top 100 leader in the A/E industry, centered on an agile, engaged, and empowered workforce coming together to embrace the art of the possible and make a lasting difference in our world.

Are you ready to join us on this journey?

As a people-centric company, Lochner’s purpose is to empower our team to put their knowledge to work, enhancing communities across the US. To achieve this, we hire candidates of all experiences and skill sets because amazing things happen when people with diverse backgrounds come together to solve problems. We believe collaboration is more than a buzzword — it is a guiding principle in which every point of view is valued and heard and is the driving force in delivering our best work. At all levels of the organization, we foster an entrepreneurial spirit and culture of autonomy to advance our strategic vision and continually seek our next success story.  Lochner – learn more about us

Your Impact

Under the direction of the Operations Manager, you will lead the continued expansion and performance of the Orange and San Diego offices.

You will be responsible for building and leading the team, ensuring that communication and guidelines are aligned with the broader objectives, and incorporating corporate policies into the office operations and culture.  You will also work to implement changes locally, including strategies, programs, and other initiatives.

Responsible for business development and pursuing new opportunities, within the context of an ambitious growth plan, you will position and differentiate the team to win more projects and increase the company’s market share, working with transportation clients and acting as a SME in the delivery and oversight of these projects.

Marketing and Business Development

• Develop the civil transportation vision and supporting business plans to drive the region's growth, leveraging a strong understanding of the local marketplace, competitive landscape, and opportunities.
• Work closely with Marketing Manager on development and implementation of local marketing and growth strategies. Enforce application of marketing best practices and ensure the office is actively working toward meeting business plan goals and objectives. Stay apprised of key / strategic opportunities for the office and ensure pursuit team compliance with client management, pre-positioning, go/no-go, and pursuit strategy best practices and company guidelines.
• Represent the firm at client meetings, industry events, and other business functions. Develop relationships with local leaders from key teaming partner firms and take active leadership roles in professional organizations at local level. Support office in developing strategic teaming partnerships and subsequent agreements.
• Schedule periodic meetings with key client personnel in coordination with PMs, staff and other members of leadership as appropriate.

Business Strategy and Implementation

• Support the development of office-level action plans to support the regional business plan and encourage strong debate and analysis for growth in an area or discipline.
• Ensure compliance with company expectations for staff utilization and enforce corrective action plans when/where needed. Resolve high level operational concerns or problems as soon as practicable and take actionable steps to remediate impacts and enhance performance.
• Assess and anticipate the organization’s talent needs to best understand current and future leadership gaps and bench strength, and then design and implement a comprehensive leadership development strategy to meet future needs.

Finance and Operations

• Ensure the profitability of the regional office and its projects.
• Measure and monitor budget and operational performance and communicate key metrics and information regularly to the leadership team.

Operational Responsibility

• Where possible and in agreement with regional leadership, maintain a defined level of chargeability.  Without a chargeability expectation will be required to assume a greater level of responsibility as approved by leadership.
• Work closely with other Office Managers (OMs) and support teaming within their regions.
• Maintain client communication in coordination with other offices and assure satisfactory client experience, project production, and Quality Assurance / Quality Control procedures.
• Oversee succession plans and where appropriate, support development of defined successor(s) across the team. Perform honest and candid performance evaluations of direct reports. Recommend salary increases for subordinate staff for approval by leadership.
• Ensure office complies with applicable laws, regulations, and corporate policies / procedures.
• Ensure the flow of communication within the region, through regular meetings, written communications, and informal communication, to ensure the effective sharing or critical information, efficient decision-making, team engagement and collaboration.

Results

• Drive the growth of the business regionally to support attainment of KOA-Lochner’s nationwide growth strategies and plans.
• Leverage an entrepreneurial approach to refresh the local strategy and position the business for success.  Contribute to long-term growth in the region by building the technical and civil transportation capabilities required to secure current business and penetrate new markets.
• Stabilize the business and reinvigorate the culture. Engage and inspire the team, with a focus on sustainable growth through recruitment, retention, and professional development.

Demonstrated Leadership Capabilities

• Strategic thinking
• Driving results
• Leading change
• Leading people
• Collaborating and influencing
• Building people capability

Ideal Experience

• Minimum of 15 years of diversified experience in civil engineering, with specific expertise in transportation infrastructure
• Has led and delivered significant projects of scale through effective team and budget management.
• Experienced in relevant facets of planning, design and construction services for roads, highways and bridges.
• Strategic and growth minded leadership
• Demonstrated track record of positioning and scaling a business and team for growth. Ensures effective governance, at the project and business level.
• Demonstrated track record of building strong relationships.
• Ability to develop effective and trustworthy long-term relationships with clients, colleagues, and other stakeholders in the transportation industry. Ideally brings an established network locally, with relevant partners: DOT District offices, etc.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills
• Adept at leveraging communications skills both externally (business development, writing proposals, community engagements, stakeholder and partnership development, leading client presentations/meetings) and internally, to drive the development and engagement of strong teams.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required, with technical education in civil engineering or planning preferred but not required.
• Professional registration desired, with registration as Professional Engineer preferred.

The range for this position is between $175k - $200k per annum, based on experience and qualifications.

Joining Lochner means gaining access to a comprehensive suite of benefits designed to support your health and financial well-being throughout your career.

Lochner provides a comprehensive total rewards package that includes:

• Competitive Premiums for Medical, Dental, and Vision
• Paid Time Off and Flexible Holiday Program
• Company Paid Disability (includes paid Maternity Leave), and Life Insurance
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) with Employer Contribution
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Medical Expenses and/or Dependent Care
• Paid Family Leave
• Retirement Plan with Employer Match 
• Flexible Work Schedules (Hybrid or Remote, when possible)
• Wellness Program for Physical and Mental Health
• Lochner Cares Non-Profit 501c3
• Education and Training Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employee Discounts
• Paid Time Off for Charitable Acts of Service

What we offer – Learn more

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually loud. 

Physical Requirements

The physical requirements must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Intermittent sitting, walking, standing, bending, squatting, climbing, kneeling, twisting, stoop, crawl, and lifting. The employee must frequently lift and/or move light equipment up to 20 pounds. Must be alert to equipment in the field, occasional need to work near hazardous equipment and machinery, occasional need to walk on uneven ground, exposure to dust, gas or fumes, exposure to noise, extremes in temperature or humidity, and potential work at heights. 

Equal Employer

Lochner is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.  Lochner provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

All positions at Lochner require an applicant who has accepted an employment offer to undergo pre-employment screening. Background checks include SSN/SIN validation, motor vehicle verification, education verification, employment verification, a criminal check, search against global sanctions and government watch lists, and drug test. All employment offers are contingent upon successful results of the pre-employment screening.

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