Manager of Project Design

Date Opened: Monday, May 18, 2026 12:00 AM

Close Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 12:00 AM

Department: Charlotte Area Transit System Department

Engineering

Salary: $96,323.00 - $120,404.00 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

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Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

The Manager of Project Design leads and coordinates the planning, engineering, and design phases of a large, complex capital project – the Red Line Commuter Rail project, which includes track and guideway infrastructure, stations, facilities and systems elements. Working under general direction, this role ensures design deliverables meet safety, operational, regulatory, constructability, accessibility, sustainability, and life-cycle requirements.

The role oversees consultant design teams, facilitates design reviews, integrates stakeholder needs, and ensures project documentation is complete, traceable, and compliant with funding and permitting requirements. This role supports transition to procurement and construction phases by ensuring design intent, risks, and assumptions are well-documented and communicated, and manages the approval process for design changes during construction.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The following duties are standard for this position.  The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the classification if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment for this classification.

Design Oversight & Coordination

• Lead and manage the design process across planning, preliminary engineering, final design, and pre-construction phases.
• Coordinate the work of multiple design disciplines (civil, structural, systems, architecture, signal/communications, environmental, ADA, fire/life safety, and utilities).

Standards, Requirements & Technical Governance

• Ensure designs comply with applicable codes, engineering standards, design criteria, accessibility requirements, fire/life safety guidelines, operational needs, and federal funding conditions.
• Maintain configuration control and design decision records.

Stakeholder & Agency Integration

• Facilitate design coordination with Operations, Maintenance, Safety, Real Estate, Environmental compliance, external utilities, jurisdictions, and third-party stakeholders.

Constructability, Cost & Schedule Alignment

• Lead constructability reviews, value engineering workshops, and cost-risk analyses in collaboration with Project Controls and construction partners.
• Coordinate design timelines to align with procurement strategy and construction phasing.

Procurement & Contract Support

• Develop or review scopes of work, technical specifications, bid documentation, and design-related contractual submittals.
• Support procurement evaluations and design clarification meetings.

Transition to Construction

• Ensure design documents support construction execution, testing, commissioning, and system start-up needs, with clearly documented assumptions and change history.  
• Manage design changes during construction and ensure project goals and design intent continue to be met.

As part of your responsibility to support the CATS Safety Culture, report safety concerns and issues through the various methods established by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) as outlined in the ASP. 

Core Competencies:

• Technical Leadership & Design Governance – Applies engineering and architectural judgment to guide consultant design efforts and ensure compliance with standards, codes, and agency requirements.
• Multi-Disciplinary Coordination – Integrates civil, structural, systems, architectural, utilities, and life-safety considerations into cohesive design solutions.
• Constructability & Lifecycle Thinking – Evaluates design decisions for constructability, maintainability, operational impacts, and long-term asset performance.
• Risk Identification & Resolution – Anticipates technical, regulatory, and integration risks and leads resolution strategies prior to construction.
• Stakeholder Collaboration – Effectively coordinates with operations, maintenance, safety, real estate, environmental teams, and external partners.
• Documentation & Traceability – Maintains clear records of design decisions, assumptions, approvals, and changes to support audit readiness and transition to construction.
• Professional Communication – Communicates complex technical issues clearly to both technical specialists and executive decision-makers.

Supervision Given to:

Engineer I , Engineer II, and/or Lead Engineers

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Knowledge of

• Engineering and architectural standards, design processes, multi-discipline coordination, and public infrastructure permitting.

Skill in

• Directing consultant teams, resolving technical conflicts, facilitating design workshops, and synthesizing technical and operational requirements.
• Ability to organize heavy and complex workloads, establish and adjust priorities, and accomplish objectives within established scopes, budgets, and schedules are required

Ability to

• Lead complex design efforts from concept through readiness for construction and communicate design decisions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a closely related technical field.
• 5 years of progressive experience managing or overseeing design for complex capital infrastructure or facility projects.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-disciplinary consultant design teams.
• Working knowledge of public-sector project delivery, permitting, and procurement environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional registration (PE) desired
• Experience with large transit, transportation, or public infrastructure programs.
• Experience supporting alternative delivery models (e.g., Design-Build, CM/GC, Progressive Design-Build).
• Familiarity with FTA-funded projects, accessibility requirements, and life-safety standards.

Salary Information The salary for this position is $124,789 – $155,986, commensurate with experience. This reflects the actual compensation that will be offered for the role.

Some system‑generated fields may display a legacy salary range tied to an older structure. Candidates should rely on the salary range listed above, which represents the current and accurate pay for this position.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email Careers@ci.charlotte.nc.us

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.