Design & Construction Division Director (PCN 252264)

Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership; Anchorage (AK); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Alaska DOT&PF seeks an executive leader to direct statewide engineering, design, construction, and capital project delivery. You will guide projects from development through procurement, construction, and handoff, coordinating regional teams and resources to meet schedule, budget, and quality goals.

The role requires experience in leading dispersed teams, managing risk, and aligning planning, environmental, rights-of-way, and utilities with overall transportation priorities for Alaska.

Qualifications

• Strategic, collaborative, results-oriented engineering executive with experience leading complex transportation design, engineering, and capital project delivery programs.
• Ability to translate strategic priorities into clear expectations, accountable execution, and measurable results.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary functions across planning, engineering, construction, procurement, finance, and operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead statewide engineering, design, construction, and project delivery functions for Alaska DOT&PF's capital program.
• Establish statewide engineering standards, design quality, constructability requirements, and performance measures.
• Oversee budgeting, fund management, administration, safety coordination, and organizational performance.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Capital program management

Cross-functional leadership

Budgeting & finance

Strategic planning

Job description

Design & Construction Division Director (PCN 252264) | Workplace Alaska page has loaded.

Lead Design and Construction Delivery Where Standard Solutions Are Not Enough

Alaska is not a typical infrastructure environment, and this is not a typical project delivery role.

From highways built on permafrost and rural airports accessible only by air or barge to coastal marine facilities, major bridges, and growing urban corridors, Alaska presents some of the most complex transportation challenges in North America. The Design and Construction Division Director is the department's statewide engineering leader responsible for guiding the design, construction, and delivery of safe, resilient, and constructable transportation projects across this vast and diverse landscape.

If you are motivated by purpose, complexity, and lasting public impact, this is a rare opportunity to lead one of the nation’s most distinctive transportation infrastructure programs. You will guide statewide project delivery, align regional teams and technical resources, strengthen accountability, and help modernize how DOT&PF plans, designs, procures, and constructs infrastructure for Alaska.

Depending on the selected applicant, this position may be located in Fairbanks, Anchorage, or Juneau. Salary will be determined based on the selected applicant’s qualifications and experience and will be paid according to the applicable Range 27 salary schedule for the assigned duty station.

Fairbanks: Unit Designation XE - Partially Exempt and Exempt Executive Branch Employees (Download PDF reader)

Anchorage: Unit Designation XE - Partially Exempt and Exempt Executive Branch Employees (Download PDF reader)

Juneau: Unit Designation XE - Partially Exempt and Exempt Executive Branch Employees (Download PDF reader)

What you will be doing:

As the Design and Construction Division Director, you will lead DOT&PF's statewide engineering, design, construction, and capital project delivery program. You will oversee projects from development and design through procurement, construction, operational integration, and final handoff.

You will lead a geographically dispersed organization responsible for delivering highways, bridges, airports, marine facilities, and other transportation improvements in some of the nation’s most technically and logistically demanding conditions. Success will depend on building high-performing teams, establishing clear delivery expectations, aligning resources with priorities, managing risk, and strengthening accountability for schedule, budget, quality, and results.

The position directly supervises the regional Preconstruction and Construction Engineers and the Division Operations Manager responsible for budget, finance, fund management, administration, and safety. You will provide executive engineering leadership and work closely with planning, environmental, right-of-way, utilities, procurement, operations, and department leadership to ensure projects are technically sound, practical, constructable, financially responsible, and responsive to Alaska's transportation needs.

In this role, you will:

• Lead statewide engineering, design, construction, and project delivery functions across DOT&PF's capital program
• Establish consistent statewide engineering standards, technical decision-making practices, design quality expectations, constructability requirements, and performance measures
• Guide capital program execution, project readiness, resource alignment, risk management, and delivery accountability
• Strengthen coordination across planning, environmental, design, right-of-way, utilities, procurement, construction, and property management functions
• Support clear, constructable solicitations and improve procurement readiness, consultant utilization, and delivery reliability
• Oversee division operations, including budgeting, fund management, administration, safety coordination, reporting, and organizational performance
• Coordinate staffing, technical resources, consultant capacity, and delivery needs across regional teams
• Partner with Maintenance & Operations leadership to ensure infrastructure investments support long-term maintainability, resilience, and lifecycle performance
• Advance data-informed project delivery, performance metrics, forecasting, reporting, and modernization of project management systems
• Represent DOT&PF before the Legislature, local governments, Tribal organizations, industry partners, regulatory agencies, and community stakeholders
• Serve as a key member of the department's leadership team, advising on statewide engineering, design and construction strategy, technical and delivery risks, organizational coordination, and long-term transportation priorities

Our organization, mission, and culture:

DOT&PF is modernizing how transportation design, construction and services are delivered across Alaska. Under the department’s evolving organizational model, statewide functional leaders establish strategy, policy, standards, and performance expectations, while regional teams continue to deliver projects and services based on local conditions and community needs.

The Design and Construction Division Director will be central to this evolution. The Director will bring regional project delivery teams together under a coordinated statewide framework, improve the consistency and predictability of capital delivery, and strengthen accountability for schedule, budget, quality, and outcomes.

This position will help create stronger connections among planning, engineering, construction, procurement, operations, and asset stewardship so that infrastructure decisions consider the full lifecycle of each investment. The Director will also foster a culture that values collaboration, professional judgment, innovation, safety, and practical problem-solving.

This is an opportunity to shape the future of design and construction delivery in a state where transportation is more than mobility; it is a lifeline connecting people to essential services, employment, education, commerce, and one another.

The benefits of joining our team:

Working for Alaska DOT&PF means leading design and construction delivery at a scale and level of complexity few organizations can offer. Our projects connect communities, strengthen public safety, support economic development, and provide access to essential services across one of the nation’s largest and most geographically diverse states.

This role offers:

• Executive leadership responsibility with meaningful statewide impact.
• The opportunity to modernize and strengthen capital project delivery.
• Leadership of complex projects across Arctic, coastal, rural, and urban environments.
• The ability to shape how transportation investments are planned, designed, constructed, and transitioned into operation.
• Collaboration with experienced professionals committed to serving Alaska.

Few places offer the opportunity to lead projects across terrain ranging from Arctic tundra and mountain passes to coastal rainforests and remote island communities—while delivering infrastructure that directly affects the safety, connectivity, and economic future of an entire state.

Join DOT&PF as we build a modern, resilient, and agile transportation organization capable of meeting today’s challenges and tomorrow’s demands.

The working environment you can expect:

This position may be based in an Alaska DOT&PF regional office, with the final duty station determined in consideration of the selected candidate and the department’s operational needs. The position leads a statewide program and requires regular coordination across all regions.

Travel throughout Alaska is expected, including visits to regional offices, construction sites, rural airports, marine facilities, remote communities, and other project locations. Travel may involve small aircraft, ferries, extended road travel, and changing weather conditions.

The working environment combines executive leadership, strategic planning, virtual coordination, public engagement, and direct field involvement. You will work closely with department executives, regional and statewide teams, federal partners, elected officials, Tribal organizations, local governments, contractors, industry representatives, and community stakeholders.

Although the position’s regular work is structured, flexibility and responsiveness are essential when critical project issues, infrastructure emergencies, legislative priorities, or other statewide needs arise.

Minimum Qualifications

Positions in this job class are in the Partially Exempt Service under AS39.25.120(c)(2).

Special Note: Departments are authorized by Personnel Rule 2 AAC 07.015 to identify Division Directors by their specific division titles.

Who we are looking for:

We are seeking a strategic, collaborative, and results-oriented engineering executive with demonstrated success leading complex transportation design, engineering, construction, and capital project delivery programs in geographically dispersed and operationally demanding environments.

The ideal candidate will bring significant professional engineering and executive leadership experience involving transportation infrastructure, design, construction, capital program management, fiscal stewardship, organizational performance, and multidisciplinary coordination.

Successful candidates will demonstrate the ability to:

• Lead large, geographically dispersed professional and technical organizations.
• Translate strategic priorities into clear expectations, accountable execution, and measurable results.
• Balance ambitious capital programs with available workforce, funding, consultant capacity, and realistic delivery schedules.
• Build alignment across planning, engineering, construction, procurement, finance, and operational functions.
• Strengthen organizational accountability while empowering regional leaders and technical professionals.
• Make sound, timely decisions involving complex technical, financial, regulatory, and public considerations.
• Lead organizational change while sustaining project delivery and workforce engagement.
• Communicate effectively in highly visible settings involving executive leadership, legislators, federal agencies, communities, and industry partners.
• Develop high-performing teams and support workforce development, succession planning, and professional growth.
• Promote safety, innovation, quality, integrity, and responsible stewardship of public resources.

Candidates may come from senior public- or private-sector engineering leadership roles, including transportation agencies, engineering consulting firms, design and construction organizations, major capital delivery programs, military infrastructure programs, utilities, or other large-scale infrastructure environments. Candidates should demonstrate substantial responsibility for engineering design and construction delivery.

Experience modernizing engineering and project delivery practices, improving organizational performance, and integrating design, construction, procurement, operations, and financial management is highly valued.

EEO STATEMENT

The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities, who require accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats, please call 1-800-587-0430 or [phone] in Juneau or TTY: Alaska Relay 711 or 1-800-770-8973 or correspond with the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations at: P.O. Box 110201, Juneau, AK 99811-0201. The State of Alaska is an equal opportunity employer.

Contact Information

For specific information about this position, please contact the hiring manager at the following:

Name: Jody Thomas

Phone [phone] (Statewide toll-free number)
[phone] (Juneau and out-of-state callers)