Chief Engineering Officer

South Shore Line; Chesterton (IN); On-site; USD 144,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Health club stipend

Medical benefits

Railroad Retirement benefits

Executive leadership opportunities

Job summary

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), operator of the South Shore Line, seeks a Chief Engineering Officer to lead the Engineering Department with hands-on field leadership, shaping safety, inspections, maintenance, and regulatory compliance of track, structures, line, and signal assets.

This executive role drives risk identification before failures, ensures safe operations, and partners with senior leaders on capital projects, with a focus on safe work practices over

Job description

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), operator of the South Shore Line Railroad, is seeking an experienced railroad engineering leader to serve as Chief Engineering Officer. This is a senior railroad operating and maintenance leadership position with direct responsibility for the safety, inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, reliability, regulatory compliance, and state of good repair of NICTD Engineering Department infrastructure, including Track, Structures, Line, and Signal. The Chief Engineering Officer leads NICTD’s Engineering Department and is expected to be a visible, hands‑on field leader. The successful candidate will establish clear standards, enforce railroad operating and safety rules consistently, develop supervisors and employees, identify infrastructure risks before they become failures, and ensure that work is properly planned, documented, and executed.

With safety at the front of mind, the Chief Engineering Officer is accountable for the safe condition and regulatory compliance of infrastructure under the Engineering Department’s control and for building a department in which employees understand that production, schedule, and cost never take priority over safe work practices, regulatory compliance, accurate inspection and testing, and safe railroad operations.

The Chief Engineering Officer works closely with the Senior Director of Capital Projects and Structures. The Chief Engineering Officer remains accountable for the safe condition, inspection, maintenance, repair, and operational availability of Engineering Department assets, while the Senior Director provides senior structural technical expertise and leads assigned major capital rehabilitation, replacement, and construction projects.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Safety Leadership

• Provide visible, hands‑on safety leadership for the Engineering Department, including regular field observations, work‑site visits, job briefing observations, and infrastructure inspections.
• Establish and maintain a culture in which safe work practices, operating discipline, regulatory compliance, accurate reporting, and prompt correction of hazards are expected every day.
• Ensure employees and contractors comply with NICTD safety rules, applicable FRA regulations, Roadway Worker Protection requirements, Track Safety Standards, bridge worker safety requirements, and other applicable requirements.
• Ensure employees have the training, qualifications, tools, equipment, personal protective equipment, and supervision necessary to perform work safely.
• Review employee injuries, near misses, infrastructure failures, derailments, rule violations, and significant operating events involving Engineering; identify root causes and ensure corrective actions are implemented and closed.
• Ensure reported hazards and safety concerns are evaluated promptly, and corrective actions are tracked to completion.
• Exercise authority to stop or restrict work, impose appropriate operating restrictions, increase inspection or monitoring, or remove infrastructure from service when conditions warrant.
• Report significant safety, regulatory, infrastructure, and service risks promptly and accurately to executive leadership.
• Work closely with NICTD Safety and Transportation leadership to improve employee safety, infrastructure safety, and railroad operating safety.

Track and Right‑of‑Way

• Direct the inspection, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and renewal of NICTD track and related right‑of‑way infrastructure.
• Ensure compliance with 49 CFR Part 213 - Track Safety Standards, applicable NICTD standards, and accepted railroad engineering practices.
• Ensure required inspections are properly performed, accurately documented, appropriately reviewed, and followed by timely corrective action.
• Establish maintenance priorities based on safety risk, asset condition, operating requirements, inspection findings, failure history, and available resources.
• Monitor track geometry, rail condition, switches, turnouts, roadbed, drainage, crossings, and related infrastructure for conditions affecting safety, reliability, ride quality, or train performance.
• Develop preventive and predictive maintenance practices intended to identify deterioration before it results in unsafe conditions or service disruption.
• Establish appropriate slow orders or other operating restrictions when required and aggressively manage corrective work necessary to safely remove restrictions.
• Plan and direct seasonal infrastructure programs and preparations for winter, extreme heat, drainage events, severe weather, vegetation, and other conditions affecting railroad infrastructure.
• Coordinate maintenance and construction activities with Transportation and other departments to minimize unnecessary service impacts while maintaining safety as the controlling priority.

Line and Signal

• Direct the safe inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, reliability, and state of good repair of NICTD signal systems, highway‑rail grade crossing warning systems, and line infrastructure assigned to the Engineering Department.
• Ensure compliance with applicable requirements of 49 CFR Parts 234 and 236, NICTD standards, manufacturer requirements, and accepted railroad signal and communications practices.
• Ensure required signal and grade‑crossing inspections, tests, records, and reports are completed accurately, reviewed appropriately, retained as required, and followed by timely corrective action.
• Establish preventive and corrective maintenance programs for signal, crossing‑warning, and line assets based on safety risk, regulatory requirements, failure history, asset condition, service reliability, and lifecycle needs.
• Monitor signal failures, crossing‑warning activations and failures, trouble calls, repeat defects, and other performance indicators; identify root causes and ensure effective corrective actions are implemented.
• Ensure Signal and Line employees are properly trained, qualified, equipped, and supervised to perform assigned work safely and in compliance with applicable regulations and NICTD requirements.
• Coordinate signal and line outages, testing, cutovers, temporary arrangements, and maintenance activities with Transportation and other affected departments to protect railroad operations and minimize unnecessary service impacts.
• Maintain appropriate emergency‑response capability for signal failures, crossing‑warning system failures, storm damage, utility interruptions, and other conditions affecting safe railroad operations.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Capital Projects and Structures on capital projects affecting signal, crossing, line, and related Engineering Department assets. The Chief Engineering Officer retains responsibility for the safe operation, inspection, maintenance, and regulatory compliance of those assets following turnover.
• Participate in design, constructability, maintainability, testing, commissioning, acceptance, and turnover reviews for capital projects affecting Line and Signal systems.

Bridges and Structures

• Maintain departmental responsibility for the safe condition, inspection, maintenance, repair, and operational availability of NICTD bridges, culverts, retaining structures, and other structures assigned to the Engineering Department.
• Ensure bridge inspection and management activities comply with applicable FRA bridge safety requirements, NICTD policies, and accepted railroad engineering practices.
• Ensure structural defects and deficiencies are documented, evaluated, prioritized, monitored, and corrected within appropriate timeframes.
• Implement operating restrictions, increased inspection frequency, monitoring, temporary repairs, or removal from service when structural conditions require immediate action.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Capital Projects and Structures to evaluate significant structural conditions, develop repair and rehabilitation strategies, establish capital priorities, and plan major bridge and structural improvements.
• Jointly evaluate significant structural deficiencies with the Senior Director. The Chief Engineering Officer retains responsibility for immediate safe operation and maintenance of the railroad; the Senior Director provides senior structural technical and capital‑project expertise.
• Provide maintenance history, inspection findings, operational requirements, and field knowledge needed to develop and execute bridge and structural capital projects.
• Participate in design, constructability, maintainability, testing, commissioning, and acceptance reviews for capital projects affecting Engineering Department assets.
• Coordinate Engineering Department participation in assigned capital projects without transferring supervision of Engineering Department employees to the Senior Director.
• Coordinate with the Senior Director to ensure appropriate inspection, testing, as‑built documentation, training, spare materials, warranties, and other turnover requirements are satisfied before completed assets enter routine Engineering Department maintenance.

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Salary and Benefits:

The annual salary is $159,650. Credit for time served in other railroad employment, including military leaves, will be applied in determining vacation day entitlements. Benefits include paid vacation, paid holidays, health club stipend, comp time, medical benefits, dental and vision benefits, health savings account, Railroad Retirement benefits, professional development and executive leadership opportunities, supplemental pension, and other competitive employee benefits.