Assistant Director, Mobility & Transportation

The Assistant Director of Mobility is a professional in the Transportation & Mobility Office which oversees the implementation of MoveVU, Vanderbilt’s strategic transportation, and mobility plan. MoveVU calls for the diversification of transportation options, reduction of the drive-alone rate to campus that aligns with university goals to become carbon neutral, prioritization of pedestrian and micromobility travel modes, and improvement of accessibility.

The Assistant Director will coordinate with a broad range of stakeholders internally and externally to ensure a strong foundation for mobility policies, budgets, data, and plans aligned toward implementing MoveVU. This position will be critical to ensuring the long-term viability of the Transportation & Mobility Office and guide internal stakeholders towards program and infrastructure solutions that reduce the university’s environmental impact with more commuters taking transit, biking, walking, carpooling, and forming vanpools. The position will need to be knowledgeable of transportation trends, policies, grants, data, and resources at the city, regional, state, and national levels. They will need to understand and connect office activities with many campus stakeholders to guarantee successful outcomes, and they will manage deadline-oriented projects critical to MoveVU implementation. This person must be flexible and willing to absorb various tasks to ensure redundancy in some office operations as necessary.

Transportation & Mobility Office staff support university faculty, staff, and students in getting around campus and to campus with projects, programs, and policies that support riding transit, walking, bicycling, carpooling, and vanpooling when possible and thereby reducing the university’s drive-alone rate and carbon footprint. Decisions over generations at multiple public and institutional levels have resulted in transportation options on campus and in Middle Tennessee that heavily rely on cars, which is not an equitable solution to our community’s dynamic and changing mobility needs for the 21^st Century. As a critical thinker, this professional will be most successful with positive and tactful communication skills and a collaborative approach within the Transportation & Mobility team and campus stakeholders.

Vanderbilt has successfully secured multiple grants to support campus transportation demand management initiatives. There is strong leadership commitment to these objectives, so workload and resources are anticipated to grow over the coming years.

This position may begin as remote work but relocation to Nashville, and a hybrid work schedule, are expected within six months of employment.

Supervisory Relationships:

This position will have supervisory responsibility of the Commute Concierge Manager. The position reports administratively and functionally to the Executive Director of Mobility.

Duties and Responsibilities

This position will coordinate initiatives and projects under the direction of the Executive Director of Mobility. They will also supervise the Commute Concierge Manager and guide the Commute Concierge program.

Transportation Expertise

• Ability to understand the attributes of Vanderbilt University’s values and convey how it informs land use, transportation, and sustainability goals.
• Experience with using transit, bikeshare, vanpool, carpool, and walking for commuting to work, so one can personally relate to commuting decisions.
• Ability to identify, research, and recommend grant funding from multiple sources and ensure progress and compliance. A particular focus will be on ensuring significant progress with CMAQ grant funded activities.
• Develop university mobility policies with internal stakeholders and ensure these policies are transparent, regularly conveyed, and available to university community members.
• Work independently, diplomatically, and using good judgment with minimal supervision.

Customer Service and Leadership

• Provide exemplary customer service to all university community members and the public.
• Work with transportation planners and Commute Concierge team members to handle and problem solve elevated transportation and mobility issues and questions. Ability to perform well under pressure is a must.
• Tactfully and thoughtfully address transportation complaints to realign with university sustainability and mobility goals.
• Coordinate deadlines and prioritize competing demands.
• Develop and mentor other team members.
• Prepare presentation materials and present reports to interdepartmental committees, faculty, students, staff, and community groups.

Communications Related to Internal and External Affairs

• Maintain close working relationships with many university schools, divisions, and departments and city departments to ensure alignment of MoveVU strategies.
• Participate in budget management and establishing program metrics.
• Develop with support from Community and Government Relations a strategic advocacy framework to influence transportation solutions in the region that support MoveVU and FutureVU strategies.
• Work successfully with members of the public and project teams.
• Effectively communicate complex information with demonstrated excellence in written and verbal skills.

Career Growth

• Participate in relevant meetings, conferences, workshops, training sessions, and professional associations and review relevant publications to remain current on communications and behavioral change and best practices in the transportation demand management field.
• Research best practices and identify resources for future implementation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution is required. A Master’s Degree in an appropriate field is preferred.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience is required.
• Experience in a higher education institutional setting or local government is preferred.
• Demonstrated skills in communications, team management, project prioritization, and customer service are required.
• Experience with the following software: Microsoft Office and Adobe suite of software are strongly preferred. Experience with GIS is a plus.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal communication (verbal and written) skills are required.
• Highly collaborative and seeks to build strong relationships are required.
• Personal experience taking various forms of city transportation and knowledge of transportation options in Middle Tennessee are preferred.

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are.  We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education.

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.

Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.