Modeling & Forecasting Manager

Modeling & Forecasting Manager

Hello, we’re Metro! Metro is dedicated to shaping a better future for the greater Portland region. The work the people of Metro do every day benefits the lives of the people who live here, today, and tomorrow.

The Planning, Development, and Research Department leads the development of regional land use and transportation policies that shape the future of the metropolitan region. We are seeking a collaborative and strategic Modeling and Forecasting Manager to lead a team responsible for the forecasting, modeling, and analytical work that informs major transportation investments, growth management decisions, climate planning efforts, and long-range regional policy development.

The ideal candidate is an inclusive and adaptive leader who can inspire staff around a vision for the future of transportation and land use forecasting while ensuring projects are delivered on time and within budget. This role partners with internal teams and external stakeholders to identify forecasting needs, develop scopes of work, manage timelines and budgets, and deliver the technical analyses that support data-driven decision-making across the region. The successful candidate will combine proven leadership ability, technical expertise, and relationship-building skills to help shape the region’s future.

As the Modeling and Foresting Manager, you will:

• Lead and oversee a multidisciplinary team responsible for transportation and land use modeling, forecasting, and related regional planning initiatives.
• Direct the creation of forecasting and technical analysis to support major regional planning efforts, including the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP), transportation corridor studies, project development, and NEPA compliance activities.
• Provide modeling and forecasting leadership for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding initiatives, including Capital Investment Grant (CIG) applications and other federal grant submittals.
  Guide regional planning and forecasting efforts that support state-mandated greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, urban growth boundary (UGB) decisions, and long-range land use planning.
• Partner with planning, policy, and program teams across Metro and external agency stakeholders to identify forecasting needs and deliver data-driven analyses that inform transportation investments and policy decisions.
• Collaborate with Data Stewardship and Data Analytics & Applications teams to integrate and analyze land use, housing, economic, demographic, infrastructure, zoning, and transportation data.
• Lead the research, development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of travel demand models, forecasting tools, and transportation data resources, while staying current on emerging technologies and industry best practices.
• Develop and manage section budgets, including budget narratives, financial tracking, federal funding coordination through the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), and ongoing budget-to-actual performance monitoring.
• Provide full supervisory leadership for professional and supervisory staff, including hiring, performance management, employee development, coaching, discipline, workforce planning, and fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture.
• Direct section operations, work planning, resource allocation, and contracting activities, while ensuring projects, consultants, data management practices, and software development processes align with industry standards, organizational goals, and state-of-the-practice modeling and forecasting methodologies.

Attributes for success:

• Ability to build and maintain positive and effective working relationships with staff, jurisdictional partners, community members and community partner organizations who have different opinions and life experiences.
• Empathetic listener who can inspire and engage a diverse range of staff and managers across the department/agency.
• Effective communicator who is experienced with presentations and facilitating difficult conversations.
• Strategic thinker who can identify options and chart a course of actions to lead projects to successful conclusions.
• Highly organized, with the ability to develop realistic timelines when working across teams.
• Expertise in land use and transportation forecasting tool development, maintenance, and use.
• Experience in use of forecasting data in land use and transportation planning, policy and project analysis, performance metrics, and visualization.
• Experience in equity-aware modeling practices recognizing how data, models, and forecasts are shaped by historical, structural, and systemic factors.

TO QUALIFY

We will consider any combination of relevant work experience, volunteering, education, and transferable skills as qualifying unless an item or section is labeled required. Please be clear and specific in your application materials on how your background is relevant.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in the area of assignment or a related field AND
• Five years leading or supervising people AND
• Two years project management experience in area of responsibility OR
• Any combination of education and experience that provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the classification duties and responsibilities.

Like to have qualifications:

You do not need to have the following preferred qualifications/transferable skills to qualify. However, keep in mind we may consider them when identifying the most qualified candidates. Your transferable skills are any skills you have gained through education, work experience, including the military, or life experience that are relevant for this position.

• Knowledgeable of traffic data tools use and analysis (e.g. INRIX or StreetLight)

The application packet: The application packet consists of the following required documents. Please ensure that you upload these documents in your online application. Make sure your application is complete, missing any part of these items could result in an incomplete application and will not be moved forward in the recruitment.

• A completed online application
• Responses to the following supplemental questions