Senior Director, Pre-Construction

Location: 2401 Mill Road, Alexandria, VA, 22314 (On-Site)

WMATA Reference: 200

Position Summary

WMATA is seeking a Senior Director of Pre-Construction to help shape the future of one of the nation’s most essential transit systems. In this leadership role within the Office of Project Delivery, you will drive strategy and development for transformative capital projects—from rail expansions and station modernization to critical infrastructure upgrades.

You’ll lead pre-construction planning, oversee task order management, and support marketing outreach efforts that position WMATA’s capital program for success. You will optimize multi-year capital programs and proactively mitigate risk while ensuring the highest standards of safety, reliability, and sustainability.

Partnering with cross-functional teams and regional stakeholders, you will guide complex projects from concept to readiness for execution, leveraging expertise in planning, constructability and project management. This is a unique opportunity to champion innovation and deliver lasting impact across a vital transportation network.

Position Description

The Senior Director, Pre-Construction directs and manages the activities and operations of the Office of Pre-Construction. The incumbent manages and coordinates the planning of capital projects for the Authority’s capital construction program, currently valued at approximately $1.5 billion per year; oversees and monitors engineering, construction and other capital activities of task order consultants to ensure fulfillment of contract specifications, timetables, budgets, and other conditions.

The Senior Director ensures the achievement of best practices in planning, project delivery methods and procurement; provides market outreach support for all departments within the Office of Infrastructure and the wider WMATA organization; ensures policies, procedures, and standards for the department comply with various legal, safety, and other regulatory requirements, particularly FTA project management oversight; and provides support to the SVP Project Delivery as requested.

The incumbent also assists in the development of key performance metrics and oversees team performance to ensure effective implementation of programs.

Principal Job Duties

• Develop and manage implementation of the Office of Pre-Construction, setting short- and long-term goals, objectives, policies and priorities; determine the allocation of resources and organizational structure to lead and build excellent teams in support of Metro’s strategic transformation plan.
• Develop procurement and contract strategies for professional services or construction contracts that result in optimal execution and delivery of project scope and capital projects on time.
• Manage processes to develop implementation strategies for proposed and approved projects, including contracting structure, risk transfer, scheduling and associated cost-benefit analyses.
• Work closely with the Project Management (PM) team to develop project delivery strategies for each project to support Metro’s strategic transformation and deliver capital projects on time.
• Evaluate staffing and organizational development to ensure that the number of personnel is commensurate with the magnitude of workload.
• Ensure staff have the technical knowledge or training necessary to successfully accomplish the duties of their positions.
• Provide coaching, mentoring and training of staff directly.
• Carry out supervisory responsibilities, including interviewing, hiring, planning, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, and addressing complaints and grievances to lead and build excellent teams.
• Lead the establishment of effective processes to develop cost-benefit analyses of potential contracting strategies to determine the best value to WMATA, inclusive of all costs and risks to deliver capital projects on time.
• Collaborate with the Office of Capital Programs Support (OCPS) and Procurement (PRMT) for the development of task orders, as needed, to engage appropriate resources.
• As needed, manage the production of scopes of work for engineering and project management services for selected alternatives to bridge projects to the next phase of implementation.
• Lead outreach to the contracting community and industry to ensure best-practice solutions are considered in the development of future work.
• Provide procurement and closeout support to PM teams.

Other Duties

• Maintain and promote awareness and accountability with safety policies and procedures while performing job functions.
• Promote a positive safety culture and encourage reporting of safety concerns consistent with the Agency Safety Plan, other regulatory requirements within the Safety Management System and just culture principles.

The functions listed are not intended to limit specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Nor are they intended to limit in any way the right of managers and supervisors to assign, direct and control the work of employees under their supervision.

Responsibilities

Knowledge

• Strong commercial acumen and contracting and procurement knowledge.
• Knowledge of business and management principles.
• Knowledge of means and methods for construction.
• Knowledge of, or ability to rapidly attain knowledge of, laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process, as applicable to WMATA.

Skills

• Executive-level skill in managing human capital resources, including supervising senior-level managers.
• Skill in complex problem solving and coordinating multiple teams.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to distill complex issues clearly and concisely.
• Skill in developing effective strategies for project management and risk transfer.

Abilities

• Ability to determine the appropriate level of information for the intended audience.
• Ability to resolve complex issues, evaluating multiple solutions against multiple priorities.
• Ability to develop and motivate people, both through direct and indirect supervision and influence.
• Ability to handle multiple concurrent tasks or priorities and effectively manage resources in the Authority’s best interest.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple organizations and to receive and execute input from implementing and other departments.

Machine, Tools, Equipment, Software, Hardware Required

Standard office equipment such as personal computers, mobile devices, cameras, copiers, printers and phone systems; Microsoft software; departmental document control software; and financial software.

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervises the work of others, including planning, assigning, scheduling and reviewing work and ensuring quality standards. Responsible for hiring, terminating, training and developing staff, reviewing performance and administering corrective action. Plans organizational structure and job content.

Qualifications

Minimum Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Program Management, Business or related field.
• In lieu of a bachelor’s degree, a high school diploma and four (4) years of experience overseeing the planning, administration, or management of capital construction programs/projects, in addition to the experience stated below, will be considered.

Minimum Experience

A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience overseeing the planning, administration, or management of capital construction programs/projects, three (3) years of which include managing a team of professionals and/or construction/maintenance projects.

Minimum Certification/Licensure

• Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) Level 1 within six (6) months of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Program Management, Business or related field.

About Us

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), known as Metro, is the region’s leading public transportation provider. Serving a 2,054-square-mile jurisdiction, Metro operates six rail lines, 98 stations, 126 bus routes, and MetroAccess, a shared-ride paratransit service.

As one of the nation’s busiest transit systems, Metro connects communities, supports economic growth, and provides safe, reliable transportation.

Evaluation Criteria

Consideration will be given to applicants whose resumes demonstrate the required education and experience. Applicants should include all relevant education and work experience.

Evaluation criteria may include one or more of the following:

• Skills and/or behavioral assessment
• Personal interview
• Verification of education and experience, including certifications and licenses
• Criminal background check. A criminal conviction is not an automatic bar to employment.
• Medical examination, including a drug and alcohol screening for safety-sensitive positions
• Review of a current motor vehicle report

Closing

WMATA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by applicable federal law.

This posting is an announcement of a vacant position under recruitment. It is not intended to replace the official job description. Job descriptions are available upon confirmation of an interview.

Apply Before: 9/8/2026, 8:59 p.m.

To apply for this position, visit WMATA's Career Center

Equal Employment Opportunity