Director Rail Mobility

Port Houston•Houston, TX

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Port Houston offers competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and a diverse, inclusive work environment. Joining our team means embarking on a fulfilling career path with opportunities for growth and impact. This role leads short and long-term strategic objectives for freight rail operations for the Houston Shipping Channel and Port Houston public terminals. It partners with class 1 railroads, PTRA, industry, and Port Houston customers and users to identify, fund, and execute projects to optimize connection to market, reducing costs, and expanding capacity. It also identifies and supports freight transportation projects that improve access to Port Houston facilities (public and private) to enable and support growth for freight in the region.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Transportation, Supply Chain Management, or related major in a public or accredited private academic institution required.
10 plus years of progressively responsible experience in freight rail, transportation planning, port operations, logistics, infrastructure development or a related field required.
Knowledge of the Houston Ship Channel and the Houston-region freight transportation network.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in transportation, engineering, planning, logistics, business, or public administration preferred.
Previous supervisory experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Partner with industry stakeholders to identify current and future rail freight transportation needs and priorities and how these solutions complement other methods of transportation.
Maintain and grow operational and business development partnerships and interaction with senior railroad officers with the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, CPKC, PTRA, and local short line railroads.
Collaborate with other agencies in studies that identify and prioritize maritime related rail freight transportation improvement projects.
Identify funding opportunities and policies that support maritime related freight road, rail, and barge projects; create an optimized strategy for project advocacy and execution.
Support Port Houston involvement with key partners including but not limited to Harris County, Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), TxDOT, and regional transportation advocacy groups to promote freight mobility projects.
Develop rail project priorities and align them with regional transportation plans.
Advocate for rail funding opportunities which support regional freight priorities.
Manage departmental budget.
Develop and foster relationships with all users of rail infrastructure along the HSC to identify and resolve service disruptions and develop long term investment strategies to drive increased tonnage through the region.
Partner with other Port Houston departments to align project priorities and advocacy initiatives.
Collaborate across the organization as the SME for all rail related service and development issues.
Perform the necessary functions to assist in providing rail service and access to Port Houston facilities.
Evaluate new and existing technical systems and processes and develop and execute project plans to improve rail products for Port Houston and HSC.
Support Port Houston leadership in negotiations and planning efforts relating to rail operations or business development.
Serve as Port Houston representative on the PTRA Board in absence of the Chief Executive Officer; optimize contract terms with PTRA.
Represent Port Houston on various committees such as Greater Houston Partnership’s Transportation and Infrastructure Advisory Committee and Freight Rail Committee.
Submit a written report to the Chief Port Infrastructure Officer on a quarterly basis, detailing all Port Houston activities performed in the previous quarter.
Act in accordance with Port Houston core values (respect, excellence, accountability, diligence, and you).
Perform other duties, as required.