Director of Surface Transportation

The Opportunity

Ulteig is seeking a bold, strategic, and execution-oriented Director of Surface Transportation to help lead the next chapter of our Transportation Lifeline Sector. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a seasoned leader ready to shape the direction, performance, and growth of a nationally recognized transportation organization.

The Director of Surface Transportation will be responsible for driving performance, advancing operational excellence, and leading the continued evolution of the Surface Transportation organization to meet the evolving needs of the market and align with enterprise-wide and organizational strategic vision. This role plays a critical part in translating strategy into results while building a strong, accountable leadership team, and will report directly to the General Manager and Vice President of Transportation and Water.

This position is ideal for a leader who thrives in complex environments, brings clarity and focus, and consistently converts strategic intent into disciplined execution. You will lead managers and multidisciplinary engineering, technical, and construction teams serving state DOTs, counties, municipalities, and delivery partners across our national footprint. You will be accountable for performance against the Annual Operating Plan, delivery excellence, backlog growth in partnership with market leadership, and the development of future leaders.

As a member of Ulteig's Leadership Team, you will collaborate closely with executive leadership and peers across the enterprise to align Surface Transportation with broader company strategy, including digital transformation, integrated delivery, and long-term growth.

This is a leadership opportunity to build, lead, and make a lasting impact.

What You'll Do

Strategic Leadership and Business Performance

• Lead the Surface Transportation organization through its next phase of growth, digital transformation, and execution excellence.
• Own performance to the Annual Operating Plan, including revenue, profitability, backlog health, utilization, and indirect expense management.
• Establish clear operating cadence, accountability, and leadership presence across the department.
• Partner closely with the Market Director and Market Leaders to prioritize pursuits, strengthen positioning, and rebuild backlog with discipline and focus.
• Translate enterprise and sector strategy into clear priorities and executable plans for delivery teams.
• Serve as a visible leader internally and externally with clients, partners, and industry stakeholders.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery of services that meet client expectations and strengthen Ulteig's reputation in Surface Transportation.

Operational Excellence and Delivery

• Provide executive oversight of project execution, risk management, quality control, and client satisfaction.
• Ensure managers are effectively overseeing engineering, technical, and construction activities across all phases of work.
• Drive consistent use of tools, processes, and performance data to manage delivery predictably.
• Evaluate capacity, skill sets, and deployment of resources to align with demand and strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with Finance, Operations, and the Project Management Center of Excellence to improve forecasting, reporting, and operational rigor.
• Champion continuous improvement and practical innovation that improves outcomes, not just activity.

People Leadership and Culture

• Build a strong, accountable leadership team with clear roles, expectations, and development paths.
• Coach and develop managers to lead with clarity, consistency, and confidence.
• Foster a culture of trust, inclusion, accountability, and engagement.
• Ensure leaders are visible, accessible, and actively engaged with their teams.
• Lead talent planning, succession planning, performance management, and retention efforts.
• Reinforce leadership behaviors that align with Ulteig's values and leadership compass.

Growth, Clients, and Collaboration

• Maintain and strengthen key client relationships in partnership with market leadership.
• Support proposal strategy, positioning, and execution on priority pursuits.
• Collaborate across Ulteig's Lifeline Sectors, Sales, Operations, Innovation and Technology, Finance, and HR to drive integrated solutions and enterprise alignment.
• Represent Surface Transportation in enterprise-level discussions related to growth, strategy, and investment.

What We Expect from You

We are seeking a leader who brings both strategic perspective and operational discipline, and who is energized by leading through change.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an ABET-accredited institution or equivalent.
• 15 or more years of progressive experience in transportation engineering or related disciplines.
• Professional Engineer registration preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience leading managers and teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing operating plans, budgets, and performance metrics.
• Strong understanding of Surface Transportation markets, clients, and delivery models.
• Proven ability to lead through complexity, ambiguity, and change.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect strategy to execution.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to build trust and alignment across diverse stakeholders; comfort with presenting to a wide variety of audiences, from graduate engineers to the Board of Directors.
• Willingness to travel approximately 25 percent of the time.
• Demonstrates openness to innovation by embracing and applying evolving technology and AI tools to enhance workflows, solve problems, and drive continuous improvement.
• Must have authorization to work permanently in the U.S.

Leadership Profile

• Decisive, visible, and accountable.
• Comfortable making tradeoffs and setting clear priorities.
• Capable of converting ambiguity and "grey area" into action and clarity.
• Focused on outcomes rather than activity.
• Able to build alignment and cohesion across teams.
• Committed to developing people and building leadership capability.
• Energized by client engagement and external impact.

As you consider applying for a position at Ulteig, we encourage you to think outside the box - because we do! You might not meet 100% of the skills listed in a description, but we are committed to hiring people with exceptional talent, ability, and potential, and then creating an environment where they can become the best versions of themselves. We don't want to miss out on the possibility of speaking with the next outstanding Ulteig team member, so please apply if you think this role is a great match for your unique skills and strengths. And, yes, relevant military experience is absolutely considered for transitioning service members.

What You Can Expect from Ulteig

Ulteig is a purpose-driven organization that has built a culture focused on people, both our clients and our employees, for over 80 years. Working at Ulteig is more than a job, opening opportunities to make an impact by creating and solving for a sustainable future. We recognize our success relies heavily on the dedication and focus of our workforce; this is why we make investing in our employees a top priority. We prioritize flexibility and staying connected to meet your needs and help you achieve your goals. We value your unique perspective, respect your individuality, and celebrate your contributions. At Ulteig, we take our success and the success of our clients personally.

We offer our team members:

• Flexible Workplace
• Employee Ownership
• Competitive Pay
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Collaborative Environment
• Innovative Culture

Our vision is to be the most trusted partners transforming our world's critical infrastructure. Ulteig connects people and resources to develop compelling, integrated solutions across multiple Lifeline Sectors, including Power, Renewables, Transportation, and Water. Ulteig is a trusted partner in engineering North America's essential infrastructure and leverages its expertise with a wide range of public and private clients.

At Ulteig, we care deeply about our team, listening to their needs and ensuring they have the tools necessary to be productive, whether they choose to work remotely, hybrid, or in the office. Regardless of where you work, you are empowered to build a workday that best suits your strengths. We strive to ensure a balance and separation between home and work life. We support a flexible working schedule so employees are able to focus on what's important to them.

If you would like to be a part of a company that empowers their employees, apply today!

Ulteig is a Drug Free Workplace

ACHIEVE | GROW | COLLABORATE

Additional Opportunity Details:
Target Base Compensation Range for this role is $181,200- $255,000
* Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary include your job-specific skills, education, training, job location, number of years of experience related to this role, and comparison to other employees already in this role.

This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 days and will continue to be posted for an average of 60 days until a qualified applicant is selected or the position has been cancelled.

Notice to Recruiters and Staffing Agencies: to protect the interests of all parties, Ulteig Engineers, Inc., will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate or an approved vendor that has a written and signed agreement in place with Ulteig. Please do not contact or forward resumes to our company employees or locations. Any unsolicited resumes will be considered Ulteig property. Ulteig is not responsible for any charges or fees related to unsolicited resumes.