Principal Land Use Modeler



Principal Land Use Modeler

Salary

$136,763.12 - $173,448.50 Annually

Location

San Francisco, CA

Job Type

Regular/Full-Time

Remote Employment

Flexible/Hybrid

Job Number

821

Section

Planning Section

Department

Travel Modeling

Opening Date

05/04/2022

Closing Date

6/9/2022 5:00 PM Pacific

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is an equal-opportunity, non-discriminatory employer. MTC provides all employees and applicants with an equal opportunity in every aspect of the employment experience regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, physical handicap, medical condition or marital status.

DESCRIPTION


IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE APPLY IMMEDIATELY
First round interviews tentatively scheduled for Monday, June 13, 2022
A resume and cover letter are not required with your application, but highly encouraged 

Be ready to rethink your assumptions about the public sector. Flexible hours? Flexible work location? A beautiful, well-located, high amenity building for on-site work? Yes, yes, and yes!

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about MTC, visit www.mtc.ca.gov.         

The Regional Planning Program at the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and MTC develops regional and sub-regional demographic, economic and land use forecasts every four years as part of the Regional Transportation Plan; this work may also be used for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process.  

The Principal Land Use Modeler will be responsible for the development and application of the regional and sub-regional demographic, economic and land use modeling and forecasting tools. This role includes managing project teams, prioritizing and implementing model development and application, and collaborating with other teams as well as external stakeholders. This role is an excellent opportunity to get involved with the development of economic and land use policy, which can help to address critical issues facing the Bay Area, such as housing affordability.
 
All employees at MTC are classified as Disaster Services Workers.    

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

The ideal candidate will have the following knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities:

Model Development and Application

  • Experience with population and employment data and forecasting methodologies, at both a regional scale and sub-regional scale.
  • Ability to communicate about forecasting and forecasting tools to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Ability to prepare advanced technical information and to effectively communicate that information to external and internal audiences orally, in writing, and in presentations.
  • Experience with acquiring and processing Census data.
  • Understanding of spatial data technologies and awareness of current trends and capabilities in GIS, including automation and online visualization. 
  • Understanding of and experience with urban datasets representing land use, zoning, parcels and buildings, and other datasets related to land use modeling. 
  • General knowledge of urban and/or regional planning practice and an understanding of environmental, social, land use, and transportation considerations in planning.
  • Ability to collaborate across disciplines.
Technical Analysis
  • Comprehensive ability to perform mapping and analytical tasks using ESRI GIS.
  • Comprehensive ability to oversee data processing or analytical tasks using Python or R.
  • Comprehensive skills in principles of research, data collection and analysis, and technical writing.
  • Comprehensive ability to document research, data collection, and processes.
  • Comprehensive ability to analyze and systematically compile technical information and to prepare technical reports. 
  • Comprehensive skills in working with large urban datasets, development of innovative  GIS analytical solutions, and other complex research and data analysis work. 
Project and Staff Management
  • Ability to supervise 2-6 professional level employees. 
  • Interpersonal acumen and well-developed planning-related skills, knowledge and experience. 
  • Demonstrated ability to contribute to complex projects and work as part of a team.
  • Ability to coach and support the professional development of junior staff, specifically in learning how to use advanced scripting tools to produce and automate production of maps and other business intelligence.


MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

An appropriate combination of education and experience that has provided the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way of obtaining the required qualifications is:

Education: A Master's degree in an appropriate field related to the area of assignment such as transportation planning, city and regional planning; transportation engineering or modeling, financial management, economics, business or public administration. (Applicants with a degree issued from an institution outside the United States must have their transcripts evaluated by an academic accrediting service and provide proof of equivalency along with their application.)      

Experience: Three years of increasingly responsible experience in an appropriate field related to the area of assignment.  

  • Demonstrated experience developing and applying integrated demographic-economic models; a strong understanding of regional demographic and economic interaction; demonstrated knowledge of the principles and practices of econometric, real estate, and demographic forecasting.
  • Experience developing various types of land use models that use historical trends, land use inventories, zoning policies, transportation networks, and employment and household data at various levels of geography.
  • Experience communicating about regional and sub-regional forecasts as well as the tools and analysis used to develop them to technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Demonstrated experience using advanced statistical techniques and concepts in analyses and problem-solving including Bayesian analysis, judging conditional probability, data classification, linear regression, resampling, shrinkage, and tree-based analysis; experience using these techniques within a demographic or economic framework is preferred. 
  • Experience analyzing the allocation of socio-economic data and travel networks and the interactions between the transportation system and land use development; experience working with various land use and transportation modeling systems is preferred. 
  • Experience writing, reviewing and maintaining code in Python or R.
  • Experience using ArcGIS. 
  • Experience supervising and evaluating the work of professional and technical team members. 
A Bachelor's degree in an appropriate discipline and four years of relevant experience, as noted above, is an alternative qualification. The minimum education, training, and experience qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree with major coursework in urban economics, regional economics, urban planning, demography, social science, mathematics, statistics, or a related field and five years of recent professional research experience developing complex predictive modeling systems. An advanced degree is desirable.

License/Certificate: Possession of a valid California Class C driver's license and a safe driving record, or the ability to provide alternate transportation which is approved by the appointing authority. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:    

Model Development and Application

  • Responsible for creating the regional economic and demographic forecasts as well as the sub-regional forecasts for the long-range regional plan (Plan Bay Area) as well as other MTC Projects. This includes responsibility for communicating about these forecasts and the forecasting tools to both internal and external stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams across departments in project work for the agency. 
  • Develop working relationships with partner agencies, regional councils, other MPOs, stakeholders, community and elected officials, and representatives of private sector firms. 
  • Serve as a subject matter expert for the agency in internal, external and public forums. May serve on or oversee committees, task forces, and other bodies where MTC/ABAG representation is desired. 
  • Responsible for advanced analytical functions in an urban planning context within the Regional Planning Program.
  • Contribute to various work plan items as assigned.
Project Management
  • Manage the Land Use Modeling portion of the Regional Planning Program including oversight of multiple staff-led and/or consultant-led projects which includes the management of contracts and the work of external contractors or consultants.
  • Assist with the development of the annual work plan, the long-term vision for the Regional Planning Program, and strategic vision for planning throughout the agency. 
  • Identify critical budget needs, develop business case for budget, and prepare cost estimates to support budget appropriation. Manage Land Use Modeling budgets to ensure appropriate expenditures for timely completed work and services rendered.
Staff Management 
  • Assign, direct, train, and review the work of staff.
  • Coach, counsel, and evaluate staff performance.
  • Develop, coordinate, and ensure compliance with detailed staff work programs; coordinate staff schedules and priorities.
  • Recommend hiring and disciplinary actions.

THE FOLLOWING ARE AMONG THE BENEFITS OFFERED TO EMPLOYEES OF MTC:

  • Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); employee contributes a portion of gross salary on a pre-tax basis.
    • MTC is subject to California Pension Reform and as of January 1, 2013 will offer two pension plans. The plan employee will receive will be based on the individual's historical pension plan membership. HR will discuss this directly with all final candidates.
  •        
  • Health Benefits Insurance through the Public Employees' Retirement System (premiums are shared between agency and employee).
  •    
  • Agency-paid Dental Insurance (dependent coverage shared by the employee and MTC).
  •    
  • Agency-paid Vision Care Insurance, employees only (dependent coverage is paid in full by employee).
  •    
  • Agency-paid Life, AD&D, Short Term and Long Term Disability Insurance.
  •    
  • Eleven paid holidays per year.
  •    
  • One day per month paid vacation leave; for each year of service, an additional day per year is granted to a maximum of 25 days per year.
  •    
  • One day per month paid sick leave, with no limit to the amount of sick leave that can be accumulated. (May cash out up to 240 hours of accumulated sick leave upon separation from the Agency.)
  •    
  • Personal Business leave; up to three (3) days per year depending upon date of hire.
  •    
  • Monthly Transit/Parking Subsidy.
  •    
  • Alternative employee-paid payroll savings plans (tax-deferred compensation plans).
  •    
  • Two voluntary employee-paid pre-tax dependent care and flexible spending accounts available for employees to participate in.
  •    
  • Voluntary Supplemental life insurance.

01
Please describe your experience developing a regional economic and/or urban modeling tool. What tool(s) did you use and how did you decide which to use? What data informed your model(s)? How did you show your model was valid?
02
Please describe your experience applying a regional economic and/or urban modeling tool to produce a forecast (or a set of forecasts). What were the expectations and constraints of your forecast(s)?
03
Please describe your experience communicating a forecast and forecasting process (either at a regional scale or at a sub-regional scale or both) to stakeholders. What were the challenges you faced, and how did you endeavor to overcome those challenges?

Required Question

Agency
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Address
375 Beale Street, Suite 800

San Francisco, California, 94105
Phone
415-778-6700