Senior Transportation Planner / Engineer – Travel Demand Modeler

AECOM•Arlington, VA

39d•$110,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

AECOM is seeking a hands-on Senior Travel Demand Modeler to join our Arlington, VA office, supporting a diverse portfolio of transportation planning and modeling projects across the Mid-Atlantic and nationwide. This role is ideal for a technical expert who actively develops, calibrates, and applies models, not just oversees them. You will work within a collaborative team of approximately 10 modelers, contributing directly to model development while guiding junior staff and supporting client engagement. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience in dynamic traffic modeling or Activity-Based Modeling (ABM), and those with a demonstrated interest and capability in software development, such as C++, for high-performance modeling or similar applications. This is a hybrid work option with a consideration of being remote.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Transportation Planning, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or related field
8 years of directly relevant, hands-on experience in travel demand modeling or demonstrated equivalency of experience and/or education.
Demonstrated experience developing, calibrating, and applying models
Proficiency and experience with one or more platforms: Cube, TransCAD, VISUM, TRANSIMS, DTALite, DynusT, or similar
Ability to develop custom data analysis routines in Python, R, C++, or similar
Proficiency and experience with C++ or demonstrated aptitude and interest in developing modeling-related software components
Experience working with large datasets and model workflows/pipelines
Advanced skills and experience in Excel and data analysis
Experience with GIS platforms (ArcGIS Pro or QGIS)

Nice To Haves

Experience with COG/TPB Gen2 Travel Model (trip-based)
Experience or exposure with Activity-Based Models (ABM) or COG/TPB Gen3 Travel Model (activity-based)
Experience implementing or supporting travel models for MPOs or DOTs
Master’s or PhD in a related field
10 years of modeling experience with increasing technical responsibility
Familiarity with federal processes (NEPA, FHWA/FTA guidelines)
Experience with Tolling and managed lane modeling
Experience with Big data processing (RITIS, StreetLight, Replica, TomTom, etc.)
Experience with Cloud environments (AWS, Azure) for model execution
Experience with Visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau)
Hybrid position slightly preferred over remote position
Demonstrated ability and interest in software development beyond scripting, particularly (a plus): Writing or modifying core modeling code in C++, Improving performance, memory efficiency, or scalability of models

Responsibilities

Hands-on development, calibration, validation, and application of travel demand models (trip-based and/or activity-based)
Implement, enhance, and maintain travel-demand models
Apply and refine mode choice models and advanced discrete choice frameworks
Develop and apply dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) and multimodal modeling approaches
Contribute to or develop model components, tools, or extensions in C++ or other high-performance languages, as appropriate
Diagnose and resolve model and code issues, ensuring robust, efficient, and reproducible outputs
Support integration between modeling platforms, scripting environments, and core software components
Lead technical discussions with clients while remaining actively involved in analytical work
Provide technical mentorship through code reviews, modeling guidance, and collaborative problem-solving
Contribute to automation, performance optimization, and workflow improvements
Support proposal development and technical approach writing