SAIPRC is seeking a highly talented manager for our growing and productive team. We seek candidates with the skills to oversee the Committee’s performance monitoring and strategic planning process. Applicants should be effective project managers with quantitative experience, strong communication skills, and a passion for advancing passenger rail in the United States. We offer competitive pay and benefits, flexibility including hybrid (in-office and remote) schedules, and an opportunity to engage with passenger rail decisionmakers in a trusted and highly visible role.

About SAIPRC

The State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee (SAIPRC) is a multi-agency body comprising representatives from Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and 21 agencies from 18 States. SAIPRC’s staff is a small and growing team of highly motivated transportation professionals whose mission is to improve intercity passenger rail service across the United States. Our focus is on the 30 State-supported rail services that connect major city pairs—like Los Angeles and San Diego, Seattle and Portland, Chicago and St. Louis, Washington and Charlotte, New York and Toronto, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, plus many more—and carry approximately 44% of all Amtrak riders.

Congress created SAIPRC and tasked it with overseeing how States make payments to Amtrak for their services, and facilitating collaboration in areas like strategic planning, marketing, rolling stock planning, and improving stakeholder access to data to make business decisions.

Position Summary

The Manager will coordinate with the States, Amtrak, and FRA to develop and execute annual route-level strategic plans. The Manager will be responsible for developing a route-level performance monitoring framework to track progress towards strategic goals and foster Committee accountability and transparency. Additionally, the Manager will monitor performance for each of the State-supported routes and collaborate with States and Amtrak to identify improvement initiatives in areas such as ridership, revenue, on-time performance, and customer satisfaction. The results of these efforts will be summarized and reported to Congress and Amtrak leadership.

The selected candidate will be a highly organized project manager with experience managing projects involving participation from multiple stakeholders. In addition to communication and coordination with Committee Members, the Manager will direct work by staff and consultants. Successful candidates will be a creative problem-solver, highly organized, utilize effective project management tools, and be a strong communicator.

Specific tasks will include:

• Managing the annual route-level strategic planning process—identifying goals and initiatives with the States and Amtrak, and tracking progress towards the goals over time

• Developing route-level performance measures and annual targets, coordinating among Members to reach consensus

• Developing a new performance monitoring framework and reporting program

• Preparing and delivering reports, plans, presentations, and reference materials for Committee Members, Congress, Amtrak’s Board of Directors, and other internal/external audiences

• Assisting Committee Members with analyzing trends and identifying operational changes and other initiatives required to improve route-level performance

• Establishing procedures for States and Amtrak to work together regularly to identify performance goals, monitor performance, identify corrective measures, and track the delivery of initiatives

• Managing a team of staff and contractors supporting the development of performance monitoring reporting systems

• Conducting regular check-ins with Members to understand evolving needs and route-level performance issues

• Overseeing the management of Committee’s Commercial Performance Working Group, which provides a forum for Member collaboration on marketing, advertising, pricing and revenue management, and other topics

Minimum Qualifications

• At least five years of experience working in transportation, consulting, public administration, or a related field;

• High quality written, verbal, and visual communication skills for a wide range of audiences;

• Experience in quantitative analysis and reporting;

• Experience managing projects and consultants;

• Ability to form relationships with staff at all levels among external stakeholders/clients;

• Experience working with stakeholders to develop strategic plans (or similar documents) and/or performance monitoring reports;

• Ability to develop highly effective presentations and compelling, clear visual communication materials; and

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Transportation, Urban Planning, Economics, Civil Engineering, Public Administration, Finance, Data Science, Business Administration, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Eight years or more of experience working in transportation, consulting, public administration, or a related field;

• Experience with inter-agency coordination or management of participation of diverse groups of stakeholders;

• Familiarity with Amtrak and federal passenger rail policy;

• Familiarity or experience with a Business Intelligence Platform (Tableau, Power BI, Zoho Analytics, etc.); and

• Master’s degree in Transportation, Urban Planning, Economics, Civil Engineering, Public Administration, Finance, Data Science, Business Administration, or a related field (while preferred, a Master’s Degree is not required for this position and we encourage applicants who meet minimum requirements to apply).

Location and Travel

SAIPRC currently has small, in-person offices in New York, NY and Washington, DC. Hybrid or fully remote work schedules are available. Candidates from anywhere in the United States are encouraged to apply.

The position includes approximately 5% travel, although the selected candidate may have the opportunity for additional travel if desired. Off-site meetings (usually involving overnight stays) typically occur at least three times per year.

About State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee (SAIPRC)

The State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee (SAIPRC) is a multi-agency body comprising representatives from Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and 21 agencies from 18 States. SAIPRC’s staff is a small and growing team of highly motivated transportation professionals whose mission is to improve intercity passenger rail service across the United States. Our focus is on the 30 State-supported rail services that connect major city pairs—like Los Angeles and San Diego, Seattle and Portland, Chicago and St. Louis, Washington and Charlotte, New York and Toronto, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, plus many more—and carry approximately 44% of all Amtrak riders. Congress created SAIPRC and tasked it with overseeing how States make payments to Amtrak for their services, and facilitating collaboration in areas like strategic planning, marketing, rolling stock planning, and improving stakeholder access to data to make business decisions.

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