Assistant State Materials Engineer - Materials Quality (WMS3)

State of Washington•Thurston County – Tumwater, WA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is seeking an experienced and strategic leader to serve as the Assistant State Materials Engineer – Materials Quality. This position will provide statewide leadership, oversight, and professional engineering expertise for materials quality assurance, fabrication inspection, quality systems, and materials quality oversight programs that support the State Highway Construction Program. Reporting to the State Materials Engineer, this role establishes and implements statewide policies, procedures, specifications, and quality assurance requirements governing materials acceptance, testing, documentation, and compliance. The Assistant State Materials Engineer leads continuous improvement efforts, oversees critical materials quality systems and programs, and makes engineering decisions regarding the acceptability of construction materials and fabrication processes that directly impact the safety, quality, and performance of Washington’s transportation infrastructure.

Requirements

Demonstrated professional engineering experience in transportation construction, contract administration, change order management, contract dispute resolution, and application of materials quality assurance requirements across design-bid-build, design-build, and other alternative delivery methods.
Demonstrated ability to apply principles of leadership and management, including long-range strategic planning, budgeting practices, personnel rules, supervision principles, negotiation strategies, and safety and health policies in a complex organizational environment.
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and collaborate across internal agency divisions, external agencies, technical committees, industry organizations, and contractors to achieve program and project objectives.
Demonstrated ability to schedule and coordinate office operations, develop and deliver presentations, and make and implement decisions that support organizational goals and operational effectiveness.
Demonstrated ability to conduct research, develop, interpret, and implement statewide policies and procedures related to quality assurance programs for transportation construction projects.
Demonstrated ability to read, interpret, and apply contract plans, specifications, standard plans, special provisions, and other technical engineering documents in construction and materials quality contexts.
Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach, mentor, train, and evaluate staff performance while fostering professional development and accountability within technical teams.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate and understand the short- and long-term implications of policy development and implementation within transportation construction and materials quality programs.
Demonstrated understanding of the roles and interests of public and private organizations involved in Washington’s transportation system, including materials testing and quality assurance stakeholders.
Experience in highway construction project administration, supervision of highway materials testing laboratories, or other closely related transportation construction or materials quality assurance functions.
A Washington State Professional Civil Engineering License or licensed as a PE in another state with the ability to obtain licensure in Washington State within six (6) months of hire.
A valid driver’s license and the ability to operate state-owned vehicles.
Ability to travel in and out-of-state.
Ability to conduct field work at project sites, fabrication facilities, and uneven terrain or industrial environments.

Nice To Haves

Growth Mindset: Actively demonstrates a commitment to learning and growth.
Service-Oriented: Takes action to meet the needs of others.

Responsibilities

Resolving materials quality issues with design standards, and contract specifications on construction projects.
Providing leadership and supervision for up to 35 employees.
Directing the development, operation, strategic planning and continued improvement of procedures and policies for the Materials Quality Assurance Section, Fabrication Inspection Section, Materials Quality Oversight position and the Quality Systems Section.
Providing professional engineering expertise, guidance and direction on fabricated materials, such as structural welding and bolting, paint coating systems, steel bridges, prestressed concrete girders, precast concrete items, metal castings, luminaire and signal standards and treated timber.
Monitoring and evaluating changes to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Quality Assurance Procedures for Construction in 23 CFR 637, Western Alliance for Quality Construction Testers (WAQTC), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
Directing the Materials Quality Assurance Audits performed on construction contracts administered by Region project engineer offices.
Directing the qualified products program that lists over 2,500 preapproved materials, the aggregate source approval program that has over 350 preapproved aggregate sources that are used on all WSDOT construction projects for materials acceptance.
Developing, modifying, updating and implementing changes to the Construction Manual for guidance used to approve, accept and tests materials.
Managing the development, revisions and updates to materials management computer programs that include the Materials Testing System (MATS), Qualified Products List (QPL), Aggregate Source Approval program (ASA), Record of Materials program (ROM), and the Qualified Tester Database.
Providing professional engineering expertise to assist Region Project Engineer Offices with materials approval and acceptance issues on WSDOT contracts.
Representing WSDOT at meetings with Washington State professional organizations and national organizations.