The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is seeking an engaging presenter, skilled educator, and knowledgeable street designer to join our team as a full-time Program Manager of Design Education. This role will work to expand NACTO’s capacity to train on our street design guidance by building a proactive suite of street design workshops and trainings for city transportation professionals. The ideal candidate has a knack for structuring and delivering engaging presentations, has a keen understanding of best practices in professional/continuing education and workshop design, and has detailed knowledge of street design principles and practices. The position will be based in New York City with regular travel to workshops in NACTO member cities and other training sites as needed.

Who we are
NACTO is a nonprofit association of 79 major North American cities and transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues. Our members include cities such as Denver, Los Angeles, Cambridge, and San Antonio, and transit agencies such as Portland Tri-Met and Chicago Transit Authority. Our mission is to build cities as places for people, with safe, sustainable, accessible, and equitable transportation choices that support a strong economy and vibrant quality of life. Our staff team is nimble, passionate, results-oriented, and committed to challenging the status quo in transportation and raising the bar for city streets.

What you’ll do
Your job will be to enhance NACTO’s capacity to train city transportation practitioners on NACTO’s street design guidance. You will do this by structuring a comprehensive training curriculum, expanding NACTO’s Certified Trainer network, designing thoughtful workshops, and infusing NACTO materials into graduate programs in planning and engineering. You will work with a strong, progressive group of city transportation officials and a NACTO team that aims to turn big ideas into real projects on the ground, resulting in more just and sustainable communities throughout our network. More specifically, you will do things like:

• Curate and maintain the NACTO Street Design Curriculum
o Structure a comprehensive NACTO street design curriculum, packaging educational modules and materials for use during trainings, workshops, presentations, etc.
o Test the materials with a variety of audiences, iterating and polishing to ensure our messages and methods resonate; refresh training modules and curriculum as needed

• Own the NACTO street design training program
o Partner with member cities and agencies who request a training to understand their core needs, design an appropriate training or workshop, and execute the event (with logistical support from other NACTO staff)
o For non-member city trainings: conceptualize and launch a re-booted Certified Trainers program, identifying a diverse and qualified group of prospective trainers, designing a certification workshop, facilitating the program on an ongoing basis to support design trainings in a broad range of cities, and developing marketing materials to boost demand
o Develop a sustainable funding model for entire training program; manage budgets for each individual training event
o Continuously evaluate NACTO’s success and impact in training city practitioners across the country

• Deliver NACTO’s street design trainings, ensuring that all material is presented in an engaging, compelling, and accessible style
o Give presentations when appropriate; identify and coach supplemental trainers, including other NACTO staff, member city staff, and certified consultant trainers
o Lead, facilitate, or emcee training events and support other NACTO staff and consultant trainers to do so

• Program the ongoing Digital Design Charrette series
o Own the overall Digital Design Charrette series (a virtual street design peer critique for city staff) ensuring a consistent level of quality and structure for all events and serving as the main staff person responsible for the program’s overall success
o Create a comprehensive suite of materials to describe the Digital Design Charrette tool and a consistent process for documenting results and change after the charrette
o Partner with other NACTO staff on each individual charrette to identify an appropriate street design project and peer city experts to serve as critics

• Conduct outreach to graduate programs in transportation policy, planning and engineering
o Work to embed NACTO design guidance and materials into the curricula of graduate and undergraduate planning, engineering, and transportation policy programs to ensure the next generation of city transportation professionals is well-versed in the NACTO principles and practices; build links with relevant faculty and schools
o Partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, public engineering schools, and other educational institutions to support a diverse pipeline of planners, engineers, and city transportation officials

Who you are
To be successful in this job, you will excel in 6 areas:

• Compelling, engaging presenter: Excellent public speaking skills, and a knack for distilling information into visually compelling, concise, punchy slides that keep people engaged
• Expertise in street design: Deep knowledge of street design principles, techniques, and strategies, including an understanding of engineering considerations
• Passion for education: An understanding of professional and continuing education, workshop design, curriculum design, and effective training techniques
• Connecting with people: Ability to connect with a wide range of individuals in one-on-one or group settings; ability to “read the room” and gauge an audience’s comprehension, and modify presentation approach based on need
• Strategic thinking and proactive opportunity seeking: An inclination to proactively build partnerships and find solutions to challenges, seeking opportunities to influence the field of street design through education
• Comfort engaging on race and equity: NACTO staff work in a wide variety of cities and contexts across North America, and a strong understanding of and ability to engage on the issues and power dynamics around race, equity, and transportation policy are essential to this work.

How to Apply
Send a cover letter and resume, as well as a 1-page example lesson plan, as one PDF file to hr@nacto.org with subject “Program Manager, Design Education” by April 21, 2019. In the body of your email, please also indicate where you found this job posting. For the lesson plan, we are interested in the prep document you would use for a specific workshop or class, rather than a syllabus or course plan. This can be on any topic.

We will consider applications on a rolling basis, and may not wait until the deadline to interview and extend offers, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. No calls please.

NACTO is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion. We are equal opportunity employers and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience. We offer excellent benefits, including comprehensive health coverage and a 403b contribution, and a passionate working environment.