Project Manager, CDOT Programs
Title may be extended to Senior Project Manager, Director, or Vice President depending on the selected candidate's experience, licensure, and portfolio. The scope of work described below does not change with the title.
Location: Chicago, Illinois (onsite, 5 days per week) Department: Transportation / Infrastructure Employment type: Full time, exempt Compensation: $175,000 to $250,000 base, plus annual performance bonus Travel: Local travel to project sites, CDOT offices, ward offices, and public meetings
Position Summary
We are hiring a transportation leader to own our relationship and delivery record with the Chicago Department of Transportation. This is a city street role. The work is dense, visible, politically live, and constrained by everything already in the ground and everyone already on the block.
You will lead CDOT projects from pursuit through construction closeout: arterial and residential reconstruction, streetscape, bridge and viaduct rehabilitation, intersection and signal modernization, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and complete streets corridors. You will manage the agency relationship, the technical delivery, the money, and the community conversation.
The successful candidate already knows how CDOT actually operates. You know which reviews take weeks and which take quarters, how a project changes when the alderman's office weighs in, and what happens to a schedule when Water Management, ComEd, and Peoples Gas all have a claim on the same trench.
This role is onsite in our Chicago office. Being near the agency, the sites, and the delivery team is the point.
Key Responsibilities
Project Delivery
- Serve as Project Manager of record on CDOT contracts across roadway reconstruction and resurfacing, streetscape, bridges and viaducts, traffic signals and ITS, and multimodal corridor improvements.
- Direct design from concept through final contract documents: plans, specifications, special provisions, quantity takeoffs, and engineer's estimates conforming to CDOT standards, details, and the Chicago Standard Specifications.
- Manage construction phase services including resident engineering, submittal and RFI response, documentation of contract quantities, change orders, and closeout.
- Own project financial performance: fee development, budget, earned value, profitability targets, invoicing accuracy, and subconsultant management.
- Hold schedule accountability across CDOT review cycles, utility relocation, permitting, and construction staging in active corridors.
- Enforce quality control on every deliverable that leaves the office. In a city this dense, a drawing error becomes a field problem within a week.
Agency, Utility, and Community Management
- Act as primary point of contact for CDOT project managers and division leadership across Project Development, Engineering, Complete Streets, and Bridges.
- Navigate CDOT permitting and the Regulations for Openings, Construction, and Repair in the Public Way.
- Coordinate with the Department of Water Management, Department of Planning and Development, Department of Streets and Sanitation, CTA, Metra, ComEd, Peoples Gas, and private utilities.
- Lead ward level engagement and public involvement: aldermanic briefings, community meetings, business and BIA outreach, and construction communication plans. Some of these neighborhoods have long memories about infrastructure decisions made without them, and that history is part of the job.
- Manage federal aid requirements where applicable, including Local Public Agency processes, IDOT oversight of federally funded city projects, and FHWA compliance documentation.
Business Development
- Identify, position for, and capture CDOT pursuits.
- Lead SOQ and proposal development, interview preparation, and teaming strategy, including MBE and WBE partner selection consistent with City of Chicago participation goals.
- Maintain and expand agency relationships. This is a reputation market and it compounds in both directions.
- Contribute to annual revenue and backlog targets.
Team Leadership
- Supervise, mentor, and develop engineers and technical staff.
- Allocate staff across a project portfolio, resolve resource conflicts, and forecast utilization.
- Support recruiting and retention in a tight Chicago labor market.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or a closely related discipline from an ABET accredited program.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license in Illinois, or ability to obtain by reciprocity within six months.
- Minimum 12 years of transportation design or construction engineering experience, with a demonstrated delivery record on CDOT projects specifically.
- Working command of CDOT standards, details, and permitting processes, including the Public Way regulations.
- Demonstrated experience managing project budgets, schedules, and multidisciplinary teams in an urban right of way.
- Direct experience with utility coordination and construction staging on active city streets.
- Strong written and verbal communication, including the ability to present to community audiences and elected officials without hiding behind jargon.
- Ability to work onsite in Chicago and travel locally to project sites.
Preferred Qualifications
- Structural Engineer (SE) license in Illinois for bridge and viaduct focused candidates.
- PMP certification.
- Existing relationships with CDOT leadership and project management staff.
- Familiarity with Chicago's ADA Transition Plan, Vision Zero Action Plan, and Complete Streets Chicago design guidelines.
- Experience with federally funded city projects and the IDOT Local Roads oversight interface.
- Prior experience inside a public agency, which we treat as an asset rather than a detour.
- MicroStation, OpenRoads Designer, and Chicago permitting systems.
- Track record growing a client relationship from a single project into a program.
Compensation and Benefits
- $175,000 to $250,000 base salary, plus annual performance bonus.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage effective day one.
- Seniority LevelDirector
- Industry
- Construction
- Civil Engineering
- Employment TypeFull-time
- Job Functions
- Engineering
- Project Management
- Consulting
- Skills
- Civil Engineering
- Project Management
- Transportation Engineering
- Construction Management
- Traffic Engineering
- Stakeholder Management
- Public Works
- Engineering Design
- Business Development
- Community Outreach
Pay: $175,000.00 - $250,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
