Principal Project Manager - 90302461 - New York

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As we move America’s workforce toward the future, Amtrak connects businesses and communities across the country. We employ more than 20,000 diverse, energetic professionals in a variety of career fields throughout the United States. The safety of our passengers, our employees, the public and our operating environment is our priority, and the success of our railroad is due to our employees.

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Our values of ‘Do the Right Thing, Excel Together and Put Customers First’ are at the heart of what matters most to us, and our Core Capabilities, ‘Building Trust, Accountability, Effective Communication, Customer Focus, and Proactive Safety & Security’ are what every employee needs to know and do to be most impactful at Amtrak. By living the Amtrak values, focusing on our capabilities, and actively embracing and fostering diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives, together we will honor our past and make Amtrak a company of the future.

SUMMARY OF DUTIES:

The Principal Project Manager – Construction Manager will oversee the design and construction activities for Amtrak’s Sawtooth Rail Bridges Replacement program within the Capital Delivery – Major Bridges Department.

This role requires independent management of all pre-construction and construction phases, ensuring alignment with project objectives, schedules, budgets, and safety protocols. The Construction Manager will collaborate with Amtrak internal teams, the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Contractor and their sub-contractors, the Designer of Record (DOR), the Independent Cost Estimator (ICE), and external stakeholders to ensure construction progresses efficiently. They will address challenges proactively and facilitate seamless project delivery. This position represents Amtrak on-site and manages Amtrak’s protocols during the pre-construction and construction phases of the project. Additionally, the role provides critical input during the design and pre-construction phase to ensure project success and adherence to Amtrak processes and procedures. Under the guidance of the Project Director, the successful candidate will serve as a key team member throughout the execution of this high-profile bridge project, from design through to construction. The candidate will deliver safe, on-time, cost-effective, and high-quality projects for Amtrak.

The Sawtooth Bridges, originally built in 1907, have exceeded their useful life and are a major bottleneck on the NEC. The Sawtooth Bridges Replacement Project is a multi-billion-dollar effort that is critical to enhancing the reliability and resilience of rail service, while supporting future capacity improvements.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

•  Provides leadership and oversight for all construction efforts, ensuring adherence to safety, quality, project specifications, and execution in alignment with the contract, design, budget, and schedule.
• Ensures all construction activities comply with Amtrak standards, FRA regulations, and applicable safety codes.
• Reviews contract design documents and assists with bid forms, pre-bid conferences, proposal evaluations, recommendations, and negotiations with consultants and contractors.
• Oversees the work of the CM consultant team, monitoring for compliance with project scope, schedule, budget, technical, and safety requirements.
• Coordinates with internal Amtrak Subject Matter Experts to obtain direction and technical solutions to design and construction-related issues, ensuring uninterrupted progress.
• Analyzes change orders, cost estimates, and invoices; prepares justification documents for submission to Procurement or for negotiations with contractors and design consultants.
• Processes Requests for Information (RFI) related to construction and design project requests.
• Performs technical and constructability reviews of submittals and design plans to ensure compliance with design intent and project requirements.
• Evaluates value engineering concepts, sequencing plans, schedules, cost estimates, and other components necessary for successful project completion.
• Hosts and/or participates in workshops and technical meetings with the CMAR, Amtrak, NJ Transit, PATH, and Conrail to plan and secure outages for the Sawtooth Bridges construction.
• Coordinates with workforce management to ensure adequate resources are available, including securing track outages, labor clearances, and ensuring labor forces are planned and scheduled effectively.
• Communicates, implements, promotes, and enforces safety rules, policies, and procedures in support of the corporation’s safety vision and goals.
• Maintains accountability for the safety performance of all subordinate employees and contractors under their supervision.
• Provides oversight of construction activities during nights and weekends to ensure job safety.
• Performs safety audits and takes corrective actions to enhance safety performance.
• Prepares and reviews Safety Site Specific Work Plans (SSSWP) and ensures work is performed in compliance with these plans for job safety.
• Prepares force account estimates and tracks force account labor, material, and other resources as necessary.
• Ensures force account labor and related charges are properly documented, tracked, and coded to ensure accurate invoicing to external stakeholders.
• Oversees the process of securing labor clearance from multiple railroads as required.
• Oversees the commissioning of construction, testing, startup, and transfer of operational procedures for the project.
• Provides mentorship and delegates responsibilities to team members based on their experience.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 

• BS degree in engineering, construction management or related field, or the equivalent combination of education, training and/or experience.
• Demonstrated experience as a manager/supervisor of construction and/or maintenance projects and/or programs working in a railroad environment.
• Extensive Construction Management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities under tight constraints. 
•  Must have the ability to coordinate efforts with other technical disciplines and have knowledge of scheduling, budgeting, and estimating.
•  Strong Safety Focus.
• Knowledge of RWP, AMT II, NORAC, applicable FRA rules and regulations, OSHA requirements and other federal, state and local regulations and standards sufficient to ensure compliance.
• Strong leadership required, encompassing effective communication, motivation, and team building/team performance skills.
•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders. 
• Valid driver’s license

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 

• Practitioner experience with construction and construction management.
•  Demonstrated working knowledge of Amtrak standards (MW1000, Engineering Practices, NORAC, AMT-1, AMT-2) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Safety Standards and OSHA.
• Demonstrated construction experience in a railroad environment.
• Licensed as professional engineer.
• Certified Construction Management (CCM) or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
• Combination of office building and jobsite environment.
• Work in cubicle setting; stand, sit, bend, twist, use file drawers.
• Sit at computer to complete assignments, projects, and majority of tasks.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Occasional travel as needed.

COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:

Must have excellent oral and written communication skills.

The salary/hourly range is $113,200-$146,664. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, internal equity, etc. Depending on an employee’s assigned worksite or location, Amtrak may consider a geo-pay differential to be applied to the employee’s base salary. Amtrak may offer additional incentive and pay programs to recognize and reward our employees, including a short-term incentive bonus based upon factors such as individual and company performance that is commensurate with the level of the position and/or long-term incentive plan compensation. In addition to your salary, Amtrak offers a comprehensive benefit package that includes health, dental, and vision plans; health savings accounts; wellness programs; flexible spending accounts; 401K retirement plan with employer match; life insurance; short and long term disability insurance; paid time off; back-up care; adoption assistance; surrogacy assistance; reimbursement of education expenses; Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility; Railroad Retirement sickness and retirement benefits; and rail pass privileges. Learn more about our benefits offerings here.

Requisition ID:163070
Posting Location(s):New York; Connecticut; New Jersey

Work Arrangement:06-Onsite 
Job Family/Function:Engineering 
Relocation Offered:No 
Travel Requirements:Up to 25% 

You power our progress through your performance.
 

We want your work at Amtrak to be more than a job. We want your career at Amtrak to be a fulfilling experience where you find challenging work, rewarding opportunities, respect among colleagues, and attractive compensation. Amtrak maintains a culture that values high performance and recognizes individual employee contributions. 

Amtrak is committed to a safe workplace free of drugs and alcohol. All Amtrak positions requires a pre-employment background check that includes prior employment verification, a criminal history check and a pre-employment drug screen. 

Candidates who test positive for marijuana will be disqualified, regardless of any state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law that legalizes or decriminalizes the use or possession of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational, or other use. Amtrak's pre-employment drug testing program is administered in accordance with DOT regulations and applicable law.  

In accordance with DOT regulations (49 CFR § 40.25), Amtrak is required to obtain prior drug and alcohol testing records for applicants/employees intending to perform safety-sensitive duties for covered Department of Transportation positions. If an applicant/employee refuses to provide written consent for Amtrak to obtain these records, the individual will not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions.

In accordance with federal law governing security checks of covered individuals for providers of public transportation (Title 6 U.S.C. §1143), Amtrak is required to screen applicants for any permanent or interim disqualifying criminal offenses. 

Note that any education requirement listed above may be deemed satisfied if you have an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Amtrak is an EOE/Affirmative Action Minority/Female employer, and we welcome all to apply. We consider candidates regardless of race/color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions), national origin/ethnicity, age, disability (intellectual, mental and physical), veteran status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, genetic information, citizenship or any other personal characteristics protected by law.