Senior Manager Design and Engineering

Verra Mobility•Mesa, AZ

About The Position

The Senior Manager Design and Engineering leads Verra Mobility’s Design and Engineering function, overseeing the quality assurance program and the consistency and integrity of site plans. The role owns vendor strategy and performance for external design, engineering and permitting partners across multiple states, and provides senior technical and organizational leadership to the in-house team. It establishes scalable standards, processes, capacity plans and performance measures to support business growth and successful project delivery. The position sets the function’s strategy and priorities in alignment with Construction Operations and broader business objectives. It oversees design, planning, permitting, traffic studies, reporting, artifact management, infrastructure and utility plan reviews, and quality assurance before submittals, updated redlines and as-built finalization. The role also manages workforce capacity, budgets, forecasts, metrics and continuous improvement, while identifying and addressing technical, regulatory, permitting and delivery risks. The Senior Manager acts as a senior technical advisor and escalation point, partnering with project managers and stakeholders across Construction, Project Management, Operations, Sales, Legal, Procurement and other functions. It builds relationships with consultants, municipalities, development communities, regulators and industry groups, and communicates engineering performance, risks, resource needs and strategic recommendations to leadership. The role leads and develops managers and individual contributors, strengthens organizational capability, and evaluates tools and practices that can improve scalability, quality, automation and productivity. Travel may be required up to 25% of the time.

Requirements

B.S. in Civil Engineering, transportation planning or a similar discipline.
10+ years of progressive professional engineering experience, including traffic operations and engineering management, with significant experience leading teams and complex multi-market programs.
New York Professional Engineer (PE) license required, or ability to obtain it.
5+ years of people leadership experience, including developing technical talent, managing performance and leading through organizational growth or change.
Experience establishing and scaling engineering standards, QA/QC programs, vendor governance and operating processes across multiple jurisdictions.
Demonstrated success managing multiple concurrent priorities, complex stakeholder relationships and engineering programs with material schedule, cost, quality and compliance implications.
Experience with budgeting, resource planning, forecasting and performance metrics in an engineering, construction or project-delivery environment.
Knowledge of federal and key state laws and regulations governing engineering practices and techniques in the states where the company operates.
Ability to interpret, understand and apply engineering standards and procedures, applicable federal and state rules and regulations, and company policies and procedures.
Ability to consult with municipal, county, state and federal agency officials about plans and priorities for existing and future programs.
Demonstrated ability to lead through influence across functions, geographies and organizational levels.
Strong business and financial acumen, connecting engineering decisions to cost, schedule, risk, customer and operational outcomes.
Ability to develop organizational strategy, translate it into measurable execution plans and communicate priorities to technical and non-technical audiences.
Proven ability to build, coach and retain high-performing teams and develop future leaders.
Advanced vendor and consultant management skills, including performance governance, commercial awareness and accountability for service delivery.
Ability to communicate complex technical issues and recommendations clearly to senior leadership, customers, agencies and other stakeholders.
Ability to travel up to 25% of the time.
Ability to obtain licensure in key states where the company operates within a reasonable amount of time.
Proven success in state and local government market sectors.

Nice To Haves

Additional state PE registration is highly desired in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, or credentials to achieve comity licensure in those states through Model Law Engineer eligibility.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop and manage the in-house Design and Engineering team, setting priorities, performance expectations, technical standards and accountability for quality assurance.
Provide senior oversight for engineering matters, including design, planning, permitting, traffic studies, reporting and artifact management, and act as an escalation point for complex technical issues.
Build and maintain relationships with consultants, municipalities, development communities, regulators and industry groups; represent the organization on complex or high-impact engineering matters.
Partner with project managers and cross-functional leaders to set delivery strategies and execute projects from design through completion, addressing risks, dependencies and resource constraints.
Establish and govern engineering techniques, procedures, criteria and design standards, applying advanced analysis and judgment to complex or non-routine challenges.
Align Design and Engineering priorities with operational and business objectives and lead the engineering and project-execution initiatives across functional areas.
Oversee reviews of infrastructure and utility plans for compliance with Design Guidelines, Specifications, applicable codes and regulatory requirements.
Develop and execute the Design and Engineering functional strategy, annual priorities and roadmap in alignment with Construction Operations and broader business objectives.
Own workforce and capacity planning, including resource allocation, consultant utilization, workload balancing and recommendations for future staffing needs.
Establish and use performance indicators and operating metrics for quality, cycle time, permitting, vendor performance and engineering delivery to identify trends and drive improvement.
Lead vendor strategy, selection, onboarding, performance management and governance for external design, engineering and permitting partners, ensuring accountability for quality, responsiveness, cost and service levels.
Partner with leadership on budgets, forecasts and cost management, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and optimize internal and external spending.
Standardize and continuously improve design, engineering, permitting, document-control and QA/QC processes across markets while accommodating state and local requirements.
Identify and mitigate technical, regulatory, permitting and delivery risks; establish escalation paths and lead resolution of high-impact issues affecting schedule, cost, quality or compliance.
Advise Construction Operations and cross-functional partners, balancing engineering requirements, operational needs, customer commitments and business objectives.
Lead, coach and develop managers and individual contributors; build technical depth, establish development plans, support succession planning and strengthen organizational capability.
Influence planning and decision-making with Construction, Project Management, Operations, Sales, Legal, Procurement and other stakeholders to improve end-to-end project execution.
Evaluate emerging engineering practices, tools and technologies and sponsor improvements to scalability, quality, automation and productivity.
Provide executive-ready updates on engineering performance, major risks, resource needs, strategic initiatives and recommended actions.
Perform other duties as assigned.