Director, Government Affairs - Northeast - 90388170 - Philadelphia- (Hybrid)

Your success is a train ride away!

As we move America's workforce toward the future, Amtrak connects businesses and communities across the country. We employ more than 20,000 diverse, energetic professionals in a variety of career fields throughout the United States. The safety of our passengers, our employees, the public and our operating environment is our priority, and the success of our railroad is due to our employees.

Are you ready to join our team?

Our values of 'Do the Right Thing, Excel Together and Put Customers First' are at the heart of what matters most to us, and our Core Capabilities, 'Building Trust, Accountability, Effective Communication, Customer Focus, and Proactive Safety & Security' are what every employee needs to know and do to be most impactful at Amtrak. By living the Amtrak values, focusing on our capabilities, and actively embracing and fostering diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives, together we will honor our past and make Amtrak a company of the future.

Work Arrangement: Hybrid. This role can be based out of the following locations: Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, and New York NY

SUMMARY OF DUTIES:

Responsible for developing positive relationships with state and local governments - particularly governors, state departments of transportation, mayors, and state legislators - and key business and stakeholder groups, congressional offices, and community-based organizations.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Advancing and advocating Amtrak's national legislative agenda.

• Developing positive relationships with key political and transportation leaders in each of the states in the territory, particularly along the Northeast Corridor (NEC).
• Working passionately at the grassroots level to develop support for Amtrak's services in the communities Amtrak serves, particularly with mayors, business groups and other community leaders.

2. Lead the company's NEC government affairs strategy and engagement activities to help advance the company's key priorities between Washington, DC and Boston. In particular, work with Capital Delivery, Service Delivery & Operations, Office of Community Engagement, and other Amtrak departments, as well as their third-party project-consultants, to advance NEC major backlog infrastructure projects, such as bridges and tunnel replacements; various state of good repair and improvement projects and ongoing maintenance of the railroad; critical fleet procurements; and major station development. Specific activities include:

• Regularly brief state and local officials, and district staff of federal officials, on the state of NEC investments, and collaborate with these stakeholders on ways to support these investments;
• Working with Infrastructure Access, Capital Delivery, Finance and other departments, identify and support opportunities for states, locals, and commuter agencies to pursue and secure federal grant opportunities, including obtaining letters or support and ensuring that state, local, and transit budgets have the resources necessary to match federal competitive grants;
• Create, staff and otherwise support field events and train rides that showcase and build support for NEC fleet replacements, such as the NextGen Acelas and new Airo trainsets
• Attend NEC Commission meetings and ensure the rest of the department is aware of and coordinating efforts in support of Commission activities;
• Track service disruptions along the NEC, and when appropriate, do proactive engagement with federal, state, and local officials to ensure they hear from Amtrak first about customer impacts.

3. Supporting Amtrak's goals and initiatives for the Long Distance, State Supported and NEC business lines.

• Articulate Amtrak's legislative goals, statutory requirements and positions on pending legislation, including both authorization and appropriations matters to governors, state departments of transportation, mayors, congressional district staff, state legislators and their staffs.
• Knowledge of the requirements of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act and its relationship to states.
• Development and drafting of briefing papers, talking points, report language, and other written materials to support the legislative agenda among state policymakers.
• Frequent, proactive outreach to key staff and members of appropriate oversight committees in various state legislatures.
• Preparing testimony, written and oral, for oversight hearings on Amtrak at the state and local level

4. Establishing relations with state and local policymakers founded on the highest standards of integrity, honesty, credibility and reliability.

5. Collaborating with Amtrak departments, including but not limited to Planning, Communications, Engineering, and Operations staff and operating Divisions to resolve issues that arise in your territory and to answer questions posed by state and local leaders, Departments of Transportation or congressional offices.

6. Outreach and advocacy to Amtrak stakeholders, interest groups, Amtrak employees and other constituents regarding support for Amtrak's legislative and congressional agenda.

7. Monitoring state and local legislation as necessary and serve as the "point person" for reporting on assigned territory's legislative issues to senior management, the federal government affairs office, employee groups, and key stakeholder organizations and advocates. This requires keeping abreast on legislative activities of relevance to assigned territory.

8. Provides guidance and mentoring to staff to foster team building and create a positive work environment.

9. A successful Director of Government Affairs for the Northeast will have to spend significant time learning about Amtrak operations, capital delivery, finances, and legislative priorities in-order-to successfully represent and advocate for Amtrak

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent combination of training, education, and relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree, including legislative, policy or related experience in rail transportation.
• Knowledge of state and/or federal appropriations and legislative procedures and experience in intergovernmental affairs strongly preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and the confidence to make decisions with little or no direct management oversight.
• Self-motivation and the ability to work in a large organization with minimal direct supervisory support.

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Superior oral and written communication skills, the highest integrity, and an ability to succeed under intense time pressures.
• A full understanding of railroad issues and Amtrak history.
• Willingness to travel (as much as 50%).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 11+ years of relevant experience
• Knowledge of state and/or federal appropriations and legislative procedures and experience in intergovernmental affairs strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of, and/or experience working for, NEC commuter agencies and their stakeholder engagement efforts.
• Advanced degree in a functional related field.

WORK ENVRIORNMENT:

Physical Demands:

• Constantly or frequently uses a computer keyboard, monitor, and mouse to perform a variety of tasks.
• Constantly or frequently sits, stands, or walks; may lift, carry, push, or pull objects of various weights; may reach, kneel, crouch, bend, or twist, in-order-to perform administrative tasks (e.g., filing, retrieving materials from desks and bookcases, moving around an office setting).

Mental Demands:

• Constantly communicates, comprehends, and responds to verbal statements and instructions both orally and in writing.
• Frequently acquires new knowledge, skills, and tasks, both complex and simple, in-order- to maintain effectiveness in position.
• Frequently resolves problems with conflicting priorities in cognitively demanding situations.
• Frequently reads and analyzes hard copy and or computer screen material and writes reports as appropriate.
• Conducts in person and/or telephone dialogues as appropriate in-order-to manage and conduct the flow of work.

Working Conditions:

• Frequently works long hours and is required to be on-call and available on an emergency basis.
• Constantly works in a fast-paced, time sensitive environment with frequently changing priorities.
• Frequently works in crisis situations requiring fast, long-reaching decisions based on incomplete information/data.
• Frequently handles multiple projects simultaneously.
• Frequently or occasionally travels throughout and outside the region as required (e.g., via airplane, train, automobile.

COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:

Must have excellent oral and written communication skills.

The salary/hourly range is $163,000-$211,140. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, internal equity, etc. Depending on an employee's assigned worksite or location, Amtrak may consider a geo-pay differential to be applied to the employee's base salary. Amtrak may offer additional incentive and pay programs to recognize and reward our employees, including a short-term incentive bonus based upon factors such as individual and company performance that is commensurate with the level of the position and/or long-term incentive plan compensation. In addition to your salary, Amtrak offers a comprehensive benefit package that includes health, dental, and vision plans; health savings accounts; wellness programs; flexible spending accounts; 401K retirement plan with employer match; life insurance; short and long term disability insurance; paid time off; back-up care; adoption assistance; surrogacy assistance; reimbursement of education expenses; Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility; Railroad Retirement sickness and retirement benefits; and rail pass privileges. Learn more about our benefits offeringshere.

Requisition ID:163937

Posting Location(s):Pennsylvania

Work Arrangement:04-Hybrid WeeklyClick here for more information about work arrangements at Amtrak.

Job Family/Function:Government Affairs

Relocation Offered:No

Travel Requirements:Up to 50%

You power our progress through your performance.

We want your work at Amtrak to be more than a job. We want your career at Amtrak to be a fulfilling experience where you find challenging work, rewarding opportunities, respect among colleagues, and attractive compensation. Amtrak maintains a culture that values high performance and recognizes individual employee contributions.

Amtrak is committed to a safe workplace free of drugs and alcohol. All Amtrak positions requires a pre-employment background check that includes prior employment verification, a criminal history check and a pre-employment drug screen.

Candidates who test positive for marijuana will be disqualified, regardless of any state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law that legalizes or decriminalizes the use or possession of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational, or other use. Amtrak's pre-employment drug testing program is administered in accordance with DOT regulations and applicable law.

In accordance with DOT regulations (49 CFR * 40.25), Amtrak is required to obtain prior drug and alcohol testing records for applicants/employees intending to perform safety-sensitive duties for covered Department of Transportation positions. If an applicant/employee refuses to provide written consent for Amtrak to obtain these records, the individual will not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions.

In accordance with federal law governing security checks of covered individuals for providers of public transportation (Title 6 U.S.C. *1143), Amtrak is required to screen applicants for any permanent or interim disqualifying criminal offenses.

Note that any education requirement listed above may be deemed satisfied if you have an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Amtrak is an EOE/Affirmative Action Minority/Female employer, and we welcome all to apply. We consider candidates regardless of race/color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions), national origin/ethnicity, age, disability (intellectual, mental and physical), veteran status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, genetic information, citizenship or any other personal characteristics protected by law.