Manager of Traction Power Engineering

BART
Oakland, California United States  View Map
Posted: Mar 17, 2026
  • Salary: $168,682.00 - $255,553.00 Annually USD
  • Full Time
  • Administration and Management
  • Engineering
  • Job Description

    Marketing Statement

    Ride BART to a satisfying career that lets you both: 1) make a difference to Bay Area residents, and 2) enjoy excellent pay, benefits, and employment stability. BART is looking for people who like to be challenged, work in a fast-paced environment, and have a passion for connecting riders to work, school and other places they need to go. BART offers a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, paid time off, and the CalPERS retirement program.

    Job Summary

    Pay Rate
    Non-Rep Payband E10
    Salary Range: $ 168,682.00 (Minimum) - $255,553.00 (Maximum)
    *The starting negotiable starting annual salary will be between $ 168,682.00 - $225,257.422 to commensurate with experience and education.

    Reports To
    Group Manager, Electrical Mechanical Engineering

    Current Assignment:

    Please Note: Applications for this posting will be reviewed in three rounds based on the following schedule:

    • Round 1: March 16 - April 15
    • Round 2: April 16 - May 15
    • Round 3 : May 16 - June 16

    The BART Traction Power Construction Team is seeking highly motivated and an exceptionally innovative individual to lead a Traction Power Engineering Division, and manage, motivate, and drive improvements with a staff of approximately Electrical Engineers and project personnel responsible for the development and modification of BART’s facilities and systems such as:
    • Substations, transformers, circuit breakers, switchgears, rectifiers, traction power distribution, utility power, protective relays and PLCs, grounding, and cables.
    • Leadership and delivery of complex engineering design projects in an operating environment
    • Innovative and creative problem solving, data driven root cause analysis
    • Risk based Asset Management
    • Continuous improvement, Quality Control/Quality Assurance

    The most qualified candidates will demonstrate superior abilities in leadership, self-motivation, and technical acumen as well as have management experience, strong communication and organizational skills, and sound judgment.

    The most qualified candidates for this position will have highly developed competencies in the following areas, which will be reinforced in the related work experience and will be articulated during the selection process:
    • Strong experience with management of a comprehensive Traction Power Engineering program.
    • Excellent communication skills, including the ability to make clear presentations, produce concise technical and administrative reports, and explain complex/technical issues to BART management and leaders.
    • Ability to select, train, develop, supervise, and motivate staff.
    • Experience with managing the services of outside consultants.
    • Planning, organizing, directing, reviewing, and evaluating the activities of professional staff and contract consultants on assigned engineering projects.
    • Ability to establish performance measures and Key Performance Indicators (KPI), including for an intelligent power systems performance
    • Experience in preparing and administrating group/program budgets and contracts.
    • Ability to interpret and apply Federal, State and local policies, laws and regulations.
    • Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships.
    • Participating in the development and administration of division goals, objectives and procedures.
    • Developing engineering feasibility studies, plans, specifications, cost estimates, requests for proposals and bid documents for power engineering projects.
    • Analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, projecting consequences of proposed actions and implementing recommendations in support of goals.
    • Researching, analyzing and implementing new and innovative methods and techniques for power distribution, maintenance, monitoring and equipment reliability.
    • Clear and concise communication, both oral and in writing.
    • Willingness to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (in rotation with others), to work occasionally during overnight and weekend maintenance windows, and to work occasionally in noisy and dirty environments or in foul weather and in close proximity to moving trains.
    • An understanding of electrical, mechanical, physical, and mathematical principles applicable to the BART train control, traction power, ventilation, HVAC, and other miscellaneous support systems and a keen interest in keeping up to date with emerging technology, developments, and trends in these areas.

    Application and Selection Process

    All applicants must apply online, at www.bart.gov/jobs . Applicants needing assistance with the online application process may receive additional information by calling the Talent Acquisition Division at (510) 464-6112 or employment@bart.gov .

    All applicants are asked to complete the application in full, indicating dates of employment, all positions held, hours worked, and a full description of duties. Applicants are invited to electronically attach a resume to the application form to provide supplemental information but should not consider the resume a substitute for the application form itself. Applications must be complete by the closing date and time listed on the job announcement. Applications will be screened to assure that minimum qualifications are met. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will then be referred to the hiring department for the completion of further selection process.

    The selection process for this position may include a skills/performance demonstration, a written examination, and a panel and/or individual interview. The successful candidate must have an employment history demonstrating reliability and dependability; provide copies of certificates, diplomas or other documents as required by law, including those establishing his/her right to work in the U. S. Pre-employment processing will also include a background check. (Does not apply to current full-time District employees unless specific job requires additional evaluations).

    Examples of Duties

    Assumes management responsibility for assigned services and activities of the Traction Power Engineering Division including design, rehabilitation, construction activities, and maintenance support.
    Oversees the design work the traction power system rehabilitation, maintenance, and construction projects to ensure technical and code conformance to established standards.
    Manages and participates in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies and priorities for assigned programs; recommends and administers policies and procedures.
    Monitors and evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery methods and procedures; recommends, within departmental policy, appropriate service and staffing levels.
    Plans, directs, coordinates and reviews the work plan for assigned staff; assigns work activities, projects and programs; reviews and evaluates work products, methods and procedures; meets with staff to identify and resolve problems.
    Manages and oversees traction power system rehabilitation and other contracts, including engineering consultant contracts, traction power engineering projects; including the District's System Rehabilitation Program; reviews and approves final project plans, specifications and cost estimates.
    Directs the preparation of plans, specifications, cost estimates, requests for proposals and bid documents for District traction power engineering projects.
    Monitors developments and legislation related to assigned area of responsibility; evaluates impact upon district operations; recommends and implements equipment, practice and procedural improvements.
    Selects, trains, motivates and evaluates assigned personnel; provides or coordinates staff training; works with employees to correct deficiencies; implements discipline and termination procedures.
    Oversees and participates in the development and administration of the division's annual budget; participates in the forecast of funds needed for staffing, equipment, materials and supplies; monitors and approves expenditures; implements adjustments.
    Serves as the liaison for the Traction Power Division with other divisions, departments and outside agencies; provides technical assistance to the Legal Department and serves as an expert witness; negotiates and resolves sensitive and controversial issues.
    Oversees traction power engineering project contracts including progress reviews, payments, claims, submittals, and correspondence.
    Serves as staff on a variety of boards, commissions and committees; prepares and presents periodic and special reports regarding division activities to management staff or other departments and other necessary correspondence.
    Directs the preparation of and approves final plans, specifications, cost estimates, requests for proposals and bid documents; conducts or directs analytical studies.
    Responds to and resolves difficult and sensitive citizen inquiries and complaints; responds to emergency situations related to safe operation of the traction power equipment in the District.

    Minimum Qualifications

    Education:
    A Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a closely related field from an accredited college or university.

    Experience:
    Five (5) years of (full-time equivalent) verifiable traction power engineering experience, which must have included at least (2) two years of administrative and supervisory experience.

    License or Certificate:
    Registration as a professional electrical engineer in the State of California.

    Other Requirements:
    Must have a valid California driver’s license and have a satisfactory driving record.
    Must possess sufficient physical mobility to inspect construction in progress or run varied equipment tests.

    Knowledge and Skills

    Knowledge of:
    • Operations, services and activities of a comprehensive traction power engineering program.
    • Principles and practices of traction power engineering.
    • Principles and practices of project scheduling and management.
    • Principles and practices of program development and administration.
    • Principles and practices of budget preparation and administration.
    • Construction materials, methods and equipment used in electrical and mechanical engineering projects.
    • Principles and practices of contract and construction management.
    • Principles of supervision, training and performance evaluation.
    • Related building codes, regulations and provisions.
    • Related Federal, State and local laws, codes and regulations.
    Skill in:
    • Overseeing and participating in the management of a comprehensive electrical and mechanical engineering program.
    • Selecting, supervising, training and evaluating staff.
    • Managing the services of outside consultants.
    • Participating in the development and administration of division goals, objectives and procedures.
    • Planning, organizing, directing, reviewing, and evaluating the activities of professional staff and contract consultants on assigned engineering projects.
    • Preparing and administering large program budgets and contracts.
    • Preparing clear and concise administrative and financial reports.
    • Preparing engineering project feasibility studies and cost estimates.
    • Analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, projecting consequences of proposed actions and implementing recommendations in support of goals.
    • Researching, analyzing and evaluating new service delivery methods and techniques.
    • Interpreting and applying Federal, State and local policies, laws and regulations.
    • Communicating clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
    • Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.


    Equal Employment Opportunity GroupBox1

    The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 and above), religion, national origin (including language use restrictions), disability (mental and physical, including HIV and AIDS), ancestry, marital status, military status, veteran status, medical condition (cancer/genetic characteristics and information), or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

    The BART Human Resources Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination process to accommodate persons with disabilities or for religious reasons. Please advise the Human Resources Department of any special needs in advance of the examination by emailing at least 5 days before your examination date at employment@bart.gov .

    Qualified veterans may be eligible to obtain additional veteran's credit in the selection process for this recruitment (effective Jan. 1, 2013). To obtain the credit, veterans must attach to the application a DD214 discharge document or proof of disability and complete/submit the Veteran's Preference Application no later than the closing date of the posting. For more information about this credit please go to the Veteran's Preference Policy and Application link at www.bart.gov/jobs .

    The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) prides itself in offering best in class benefits packages to employees of the District. Currently, the following benefits may be available to employees in this job classification.

    Highlights
    • Medical Coverage (or $350/month if opted out)
    • Dental Coverage
    • Vision Insurance (Basic and Enhanced Plans Available)
    • Retirement Plan through the CA Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
      • 2% @ 55 (Classic Members)
      • 2% @ 62 (PEPRA Members)
      • 3% at 50 (Safety Members - Classic)
      • 2.7% @ 57 (Safety Members - PEPRA)
      • Reciprocity available for existing members of many other public retirement systems (see BART website and/or CalPERS website for details)
    • Money Purchase Pension Plan (in-lieu of participating in Social Security tax)
      • 6.65% employer contribution up to annual maximum of $1,868.65
    • Deferred Compensation & Roth 457
    • Sick Leave Accruals (12 days per year)
    • Vacation Accruals (3-6 weeks based on time worked w/ the District)
    • Holidays: 9 observed holidays and 5 floating holidays
    • Life Insurance w/ ability to obtain additional coverage
    • Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance
    • Survivor Benefits through BART
    • Short-Term Disability Insurance
    • Long-Term Disability Insurance
    • Flexible Spending Accounts: Health and Dependent Care
    • Commuter Benefits
    • Free BART Passes for BART employees and eligible family members.


    Closing Date/Time: 6/16/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
  • ABOUT THE COMPANY

    • BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
    • BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

    The BART story began in 1946. It began not by governmental fiat, but as a concept gradually evolving at informal gatherings of business and civic leaders on both sides of the San Francisco Bay. Facing a heavy post-war migration to the area and its consequent automobile boom, these people discussed ways of easing the mounting congestion that was clogging the bridges spanning the Bay. In 1947, a joint Army-Navy review Board concluded that another connecting link between San Francisco and Oakland would be needed in the years ahead to prevent intolerable congestion on the Bay Bridge. The link? An underwater tube devoted exclusively to high-speed electric trains.

    Since 1911, visionaries had periodically brought up this Jules Verne concept. But now, pressure for a traffic solution increased with the population. In 1951, the State Legislature created the 26-member San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission, comprised of representatives from each of the nine counties which touch the Bay. The Commission's charge was to study the Bay Area's long range transportation needs in the context of environmental problems and then recommend the best solution.

    The Commission advised, in its final report in 1957, that any transportation plan must be coordinated with the area's total plan for future development. Since no development plan existed, the Commission prepared one itself. The result of their thoroughness is a master plan which did much to bring about coordinated planning in the Bay Area, and which was adopted a decade later by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).

    The BART Concept is Born
    The Commission's least-cost solution to traffic tie-ups was to recommend forming a five-county rapid transit district, whose mandate would be to build and operate a high-speed rapid rail network linking major commercial centers with suburban sub-centers.

    The Commission stated that, "If the Bay Area is to be preserved as a fine place to live and work, a regional rapid transit system is essential to prevent total dependence on automobiles and freeways."

    Thus was born the environmental concept underlying BART. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, in 1957, the Legislature formed the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, comprising the five counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo. At this time, the District was granted a taxing power of five cents per $100 of assessed valuation. It also had authority to levy property taxes to support a general obligation bond issue, if approved by District voters. The State Legislature lowered the requirement for voter approval from 66 percent to 60 percent.

    Between 1957 and 1962, engineering plans were developed for a system that would usher in a new era in rapid transit. Electric trains would run on grade-separated right-of-ways, reaching maximum speeds of 75-80 mph, averaging perhaps 45 mph, including station stops. Advanced transit cars, with sophisticated suspensions, braking and propulsion systems, and luxurious interiors, would be strong competition to "King Car " in the Bay Area. Stations would be pleasant, conveniently located, and striking architectural enhancements to their respective on-line communities.

    BART employees in the 1970s

    BART employees in the 1970s.

    Hundreds of meetings were held in the District communities to encourage local citizen participation in the development of routes and station locations. By midsummer, 1961, the final plan was submitted to the supervisors of the five District counties for approval. San Mateo County Supervisors were cool to the plan. Citing the high costs of a new system-plus adequate existing service from Southern Pacific commuter trains - they voted to withdraw their county from the District in December 1961.

    With the District-wide tax base thus weakened by the withdrawal of San Mateo County, Marin County was forced to withdraw in early 1962 because its marginal tax base could not adequately absorb its share of BART's projected cost. Another important factor in Marin's withdrawal was an engineering controversy over the feasibility of carrying trains across the Golden Gate Bridge.

    BART had started with a 16-member governing Board of Directors apportioned on county population size: four from Alameda and San Francisco Counties, three from Contra Costa and San Mateo, and two from Marin. When the District was reduced to three counties, the Board was reduced to 11 members: four from San Francisco and Alameda, and three from Contra Costa. Subsequently, in 1965, the District's enabling legislation was changed to apportion the BART Board with four Directors from each county, thus giving Contra Costa its fourth member on a 12-person Board. Two directors from each county, hence forth, were appointed by the County Board of Supervisors. The other two directors were appointed by committees of mayors of each county (with the exception of the City and County of San Francisco, whose sole mayor made these appointments).

    The five-county plan was quickly revised to a three-county plan emphasizing rapid transit between San Francisco and the East Bay cities and suburbs of Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The new plan, elaborately detailed and presented as the "BART Composite Report, " was approved by supervisors of the three counties in July 1962, and placed on the ballot for the following November general election.

    The plan required approval of 60 percent of the District's voters. It narrowly passed with a 61.2 percent vote District-wide, much to the surprise of many political experts who were confident it would fail. Indeed, one influential executive was reported to have said: "If I'd known the damn thing would have passed, I'd never have supported it. "

    The voters approved a $792 million bond issue to finance a 71.5 mile high-speed transit system, consisting of 33 stations serving 17 communities in the three counties. The proposal also included another needed transit project: rebuilding 3.5 miles of the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The new line would link muni streetcar lines directly with BART and Market Street stations, and four new Muni stations would be built.

    The additional cost of the transbay tube -- estimated at $133 million -- was to come from bonds issued by the California Toll Bridge Authority and secured by future Bay Area Bridge revenues. The additional cost of rolling stock, estimated at $71 million, was to be funded primarily from bonds issued against future operating revenues. Thus, the total cost of the system, as of 1962, was projected at $996 million. It would be the largest single public works project ever undertaken in the U.S. by the local citizenry.

    After the election, engineers immediately started work on the final system designs, only to be halted by a taxpayer's suit filed against the District a month later. The validity of the bond election, and the legality of the District itself, were challenged. While the court ruled in favor of the District on both counts, six months of litigation cost $12 million in construction delays. This would be the first of many delays from litigation and time-consuming negotiations involving 166 separate agreements reached with on-line cities, counties, and other special districts. The democratic processes of building a new transit system would prove to be major cost factors that, however necessary, were not foreseen.

     

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