Senior Manager of Engineering Programs

BART•BART Headquarters, CA

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is seeking an experienced, strategic, and visionary engineering leader to serve as Senior Manager of Engineering Programs within the Office of Infrastructure Delivery (OID) or the Maintenance & Engineering (M&E) organization. This role offers a rare opportunity to shape the future of one of the nation’s most complex and heavily utilized transit systems while directly influencing regional mobility, sustainability, safety, and infrastructure resilience. The successful candidate will lead high-impact capital delivery initiatives, oversee multidisciplinary engineering teams, and drive the execution of transformative infrastructure programs that support BART’s long-term modernization and expansion goals. This position requires a collaborative leader capable of navigating complex stakeholder environments, advancing innovation and operational excellence, and ensuring projects are delivered efficiently, safely, and in alignment with the agency’s mission to provide reliable, equitable, and environmentally responsible public transportation for the Bay Area. The role is responsible for program integration, governance, prioritization, and performance management across multiple concurrent initiatives, serving as a key liaison between executive leadership and delivery teams to ensure consistent standards, system integration, and alignment with District-wide goals.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management, business administration or a closely related field from an accredited college or university.
Nine (9) years of (full-time equivalent) verifiable experience with full responsibility for managing large and complex projects through all phases, including strategic planning and policy analysis, design, construction and implementation.
Five (5) years of this experience must have included program management of engineering employees across multiple departments or programs.
Must possess sufficient physical mobility to inspect construction in progress or review other projects.
Must be willing to occasionally work off-hour shifts, weekends, and holidays.
Knowledge of Mentoring and development of technical management staff in a matrix management environment.
Knowledge of Value Engineering including integration of new technology.
Knowledge of Incorporation of state of the art technology in monitoring and operations of complex equipment and processes.
Knowledge of Principles and Practices of program/portfolio coordination and management.
Knowledge of Principles and practices across multiple engineering/technical disciplines.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of engineering design and construction.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of project/program management.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of intra agency negotiation and administration.
Knowledge of Principles and practices used in the preparation of designs, plans, specifications and cost estimates.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of strategic planning, risk analysis and measurement systems.
Knowledge of Methods and techniques of coordinating and scheduling project work.
Knowledge of Methods and techniques of research, analysis and validation.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of procurement.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of budget development and administration.
Knowledge of Principles and practices of supervision, training and performance evaluation.
Knowledge of Current office procedures, methods and equipment including computers.
Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite or equivalent and analysis software including scheduling tools/techniques.
Knowledge of Related Federal, State, local and professional technical codes, laws and regulations.
Ability to Demonstrate a constant risk-based mindset that is comfortable and productive in an uncertain environment.
Ability to Exhibit a strong and committed leadership that will motivate the operational team to perform to project expectations.
Ability to Develop systems and commissioning of new assets, processes, and programs.
Ability to Advocate for maintenance stakeholders to minimize operational and human impacts.
Ability to Prioritize issues as they develop, identifying resources, and presenting proposed solutions with alternatives analyses.
Ability to Manage, supervise and coordinate implementation of multiple complex programs simultaneously.
Ability to Inspire stakeholder performance and executing significant changes and improvements.
Ability to Develop and implement program goals, objectives and procedures.
Ability to Plan, organize, direct, and coordinate the work of professional staff and contract consultants.
Ability to Perform professional level analytical support services.
Ability to Exercise sound independent judgment within general policy and management guidelines.
Ability to Plan, organize and schedule engineering or maintenance department priorities.
Ability to Prepare and administer department and project portfolio budgets and responsible cost reduction recommendations.
Ability to Respond to requests and inquiries from the general public.
Ability to Understand the organization and function of a public agency.
Ability to Interpret and explain District policies and procedures.
Ability to Analyze problems, identifying alternative solutions and making recommendations.
Ability to Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
Ability to Communicate clearly and concisely to inspire action, both orally and in writing.

Nice To Haves

A master’s degree is preferred.
Multidisciplinary experience is preferred.
Certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) is preferred.
Registration as a Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of California is preferred.
Strategic leadership of large-scale engineering program portfolios supporting complex infrastructure systems.
Expertise in coordinating between various engineering groups, Operations, Real Estate & Property Development, Planning and external entities including but not limited to developers, contractors, permittees, public utilities, transit agencies, municipalities, and regulatory agencies for successful delivery of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) projects and permit work.
Delivery of multidisciplinary capital and operating engineering programs within public sector or transit environments.
Experience in supporting and managing implementation of (TOD) projects, permitted installations, and adjacent developments and ensuring their compliance to facilities standards, safety regulations, operational requirements, and asset management.
Executive-level decision making supported by risk analysis, performance metrics, and data-driven program management.
Oversight of engineering governance, program controls, and portfolio performance management.
Leadership of diverse technical teams within matrixed organizational structures.
Knowledge of transit agencies TOD policies in supporting regional housing needs and community development.
Ability to make decisions that balance TOD objectives and safeguarding transit infrastructure and operational safety.
Contract negotiation, stakeholder coordination, and interagency collaboration for complex infrastructure programs.
Change leadership supporting innovation, modernization, and continuous improvement across engineering organizations.
Deep understanding of complex, interdependent transit systems (e.g., train control, communications, traction power, SCADA, facilities systems).
Demonstrated ability to ensure end-to-end system integration across design, construction, testing, and operations environments.
Experience resolving cross-system interface issues, integration risks, and operational challenges.
Demonstrated ability in conducting structured root cause analysis (RCA) for complex system failures and operation incidents.
Experience leading cross-functional incident response efforts in live operational environments to support timely restoration and decision-making.
Ability to translate incident findings into corrective actions, design improvements, and long-term reliability enhancements.
Strong executive presence with experience supporting senior leadership decision-making through data, risk analysis, and performance metrics.
Experience overseeing design reviews, technical compliance, system acceptance processes, and delivery coordination.
Experience implementing reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), asset management, and State of Good Repair (SOGR) initiatives.
Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and coordinating across internal departments, external agencies, consultants, and regulatory stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Assumes overall leadership responsibility for the development and execution of District engineering programs, such as Engineering Risk Assessment for Maintenance and Engineering (M&E) systemwide infrastructure assets and associated projects for Capital Improvement.
Drives the development and implementation of reliability-based maintenance programs for the M&E Department.
Hires and develops innovative program management and other staff to align with changing technology environments impact on legacy systems.
Monitors and evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of project commissioning methods and procedures, insuring improved program deliveries.
Proactively executes, within departmental policy, continuous application of lessons learned to drive improved safety, reliability, and efficiency.
Oversees and manages Engineering support of operations and maintenance.
Systematically identifies and reduces risk to ensure that projects meet scope, schedule, budget, and quality requirements.
Identify, create, and implement via collaborative methods with appropriate levels of authorization, new programs as required by regulatory compliance, customer requirements, system needs, or efficiency improvements.
Oversees effective negotiations of contracts and agreements related to programs and insures compliance and continued progress towards completion.
Develops efficiencies for complex outage planning, including project consolidation which minimizes impacts to operations and patron service.
Provides executive level recommendations for asset assessment program implementation to comply with FTA requirements for State of Good Repair.
Establishes benchmarks, measurement methods, and reporting for accountability and adherences to tactical and strategic goals.
Prepares, reviews and provides project portfolio status reports and updates to managers and executives.
Lead enterprise-level engineering program portfolios that span multiple projects, disciplines, and operational interfaces across the District.
Provide program and portfolio leadership by translating executive direction into coordinated engineering initiatives aligned with capital delivery, maintenance, and operations.
Oversee complex, multi-disciplinary programs that modernize infrastructure, improve system reliability, and advance State of Good Repair (SOGR) and innovation objectives.
Ensure end-to-end system integration across design, construction, testing, and operations environments.
Resolve cross-system interface issues, integration risks, and operational challenges.
Conduct structured root cause analysis (RCA) for complex system failures and operation incidents.
Lead cross-functional incident response efforts in live operational environments to support timely restoration and decision-making.
Translate incident findings into corrective actions, design improvements, and long-term reliability enhancements.
Support senior leadership decision-making through data, risk analysis, and performance metrics.
Oversee design reviews, technical compliance, system acceptance processes, and delivery coordination.
Implement reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), asset management, and State of Good Repair (SOGR) initiatives.
Coordinate across internal departments, external agencies, consultants, and regulatory stakeholders.