Senior Transportation Engineer

Employer:

City of Kirkland

Salary: $ - $ annually

Location:

Kirkland, WA (Public Works - Transportation)

Job Type: Full‑Time

Job Number:

Opening Date: 01/09/2026

FLSA:
Exempt

Bargaining Unit: AFSCME

The City of Kirkland's Public Works Department is seeking to hire a Senior Transportation Engineer.

Why Kirkland? Ranked as one of the most livable cities in America, Kirkland is an attractive and inviting place to live, work, and visit. We have big city vision while maintaining a small‑town, community feel. If you are a candidate with the desire to join an organization looking to innovate into the future, the City of Kirkland is the place for you.

We also invest in you!

• Competitive Wages
  :
  We strive to maintain competitive compensation packages.
• Awesome Benefits
  :
  The City offers benefits that are unmatched by most other employers.
• Childcare Programs
  :
  Reserved spots for City employees at local and regional providers at a discount.
• Training and Career Development
  :
  The City believes in developing employees.

The role of the Senior Transportation Engineer is to provide project management and senior level technical traffic and transportation engineering services. The Senior Transportation Engineer completes and oversees a variety of professional engineering assignments involving traffic signals, signs and markings, development review, operations analysis, traffic safety analysis, traffic data collection, and evaluation of transportation alternatives. The Senior Transportation Engineer is expected to make complex decisions and interpret policy based on engineering experience and with oversight of the Transportation Engineering Supervisor.

Distinguishing Characteristics:
This is the senior‑level classification in the Transportation Engineer series. The Senior Transportation Engineer is a technical expert and handles the most complex and difficult assignments outside of the Transportation Engineering Supervisor and Transportation Manager. The Senior Transportation Engineer is a resource to other employees and works under limited supervision.

• Serves as a subject matter expert (SME) to peers, City staff, and to the public.
• Provides SME design review, comments, direction, and coordination supporting Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Division, Development, and other projects for ITS, traffic signals, street/pedestrian lighting, signing, and channelization elements to ensure effective, proper, and safe design.
• Provides or oversees traffic modeling for engineering studies and projects; participates in engineering studies in coordination with other staff.
• Interprets and applies standards, guidelines, and policies to transportation projects; leads teams to develop new or update existing policies.
• Leads and oversees complex engineering assignments; coordinates, advises and confers with project team members, consultants, and other stakeholders on design alternatives and solutions.
• Exercises overall project management skills in all phases; may oversee budgets and project timelines; directs, leads, and oversees inter‑departmental professional staff, consultants, inspectors, and multidisciplinary teams; provides recommendations to ensure projects meet intended goals.
• Administers consultant contracts for engineering studies and design.
• Prepares grant applications from Federal, State, regional and county funded programs for transportation projects; may manage grant implementation.
• Prepares responses to service requests and inquiries from community members; provides summaries for supervisors and elected officials.
• Provides excellent service to internal and external customers.
• Works with diverse groups to build consensus on transportation engineering issues.
• Conducts advanced and complex transportation engineering and related studies, evaluation of alternatives, make recommendations and present reports to supervisors and City Council.
• Works with attorneys, insurance companies, and police; participates with City Attorney's Office in lawsuit discovery and interrogatories; may represent the City as an expert witness.
• Develops and implements innovative programs to increase pedestrian, bicycle, and transit…