Project Development Design Project Leader

State of Wisconsin; Rhinelander (WI); Hybrid; USD 69,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid leave

Health benefits

Telework options

Pension plan

Wellness program

Employee assistance program

Total rewards calculator

Job summary

Wisconsin Department of Transportation in Rhinelander/Wisconsin Rapids is seeking a Project Leader to coordinate highway improvement projects within the North Central Region. The role covers design phases, consultant coordination, and program administration with substantial stakeholder engagement.

The position offers a hybrid work model with travel across the region, a fixed salary range, and benefits package.

Qualifications

• Experience managing multiple project schedules to ensure timely completion.
• Reading and interpreting design or construction plans and contract documents.
• Engineering principles utilized in highway design and construction.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the sole coordinator for assigned projects in the North Central Region.
• Perform complex professional work in highway design, construction, and related methods.
• Manage public involvement, policy development, and program administration for projects.

Skills

Project management

Reading plans & specs

Highway design principles

Job description

Introduction Make a positive impact on Wisconsin's infrastructure and join the North Central Region today as a project leader on transportation improvement projects!

These full-time positions will be headquartered in Wisconsin Rapids or Rhinelander.

These positions offer a hybridized work schedule. The positions will be headquartered at and required to work from one of the DTSD North Central Region office buildings at least 2 days per week. All employees working a hybrid work schedule are generally expected to telework from within the State of Wisconsin. This topic will be discussed more at the time of the interview.

Benefits

• Substantial leave time including at least 3.5 weeks of paid leave time to start, 9 paid holidays, and 130 hours of sick time that roll over each year.
• Excellent and affordable health, vision, and dental benefits (health plan options start at just $49/month for single plans and $122/month for family plans after two months of employment)
• A casual office atmosphere, flexible work schedules, and telework options depending on the position’s requirements
• An exceptional pension plan with employer match and lifetime retirement payment, plus an optional tax advantaged 457 retirement savings plan
• Well Wisconsin Wellness Program
• A free and confidential employee assistance program that offers employees and their immediate family dependents a variety of tools, resources, and professional consultation services to support their health, goals, and overall well-being
• Use this Total Rewards Calculator to see the total value of our competitive benefits package!

In addition to our generous employee benefits, we strive for inclusivity and celebrate different religious holidays and cultural observances and provide flexibility for utilizing paid time off for such celebrations. For more information on WisDOT you can visit our website by clicking here.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is an organization dedicated to creating transportation solutions through innovation and exceptional service. We are committed to fostering an environment rooted in Integrity, Diversity, Excellence, and Accountability. Click here to learn more about how we apply these values in our work.

Every day, WisDOT’s Division of Transportation System Development plays the leading role in the upkeep and improvement of nearly 12,000 miles of state highways and bridges used by millions of people. You’ll find that behind every barrel is a dedicated team from a wide array of backgrounds including engineering, planning, environmental services, public outreach, real estate, finance and many more. It can be a challenging job, but we think you’ll find it’s an awfully rewarding one, too.

We’re looking for detail-oriented critical thinkers to help deliver a quality program to build, improve and maintain transportation infrastructure throughout the state. We encourage anyone at any point in any career to take a look at WisDOT opportunities and give some thought to how your skills and resume line up. Having a good attitude, a willingness to learn and a passion for creating lasting, impactful work will go a long way here. It’s a big system with lots of opportunity and responsibilities.

Position Summary

This position functions as part of the Project Development Section (PDS) cross-functional team in the North Central Region. The position performs complex professional work in the design phase of highway improvement projects. This position serves as the sole coordinator for assigned projects and requires advanced knowledge of highway design and construction principles and methods and the associated automation, surveying, and testing. This position serves as the Consultant Project Coordinator on multiple small to complex size projects, and may also assist project managers on majorly complex projects. Assignments involve high levels of public involvement, policy, standards, procedure development, program evaluation, budget, and program administration. Work assignments are broad in scope and require independent judgment in decision-making resulting in a high consequence of error.

To view the full position description, email Benjamin Harwell at [e-mail]

Salary Information

This position is in schedule-range 14-13 with an annual salary of $68,640-$93,600, plus excellent benefits. A twelve-month probationary period is required. Pay for current state employees will be set in accordance with the Wisconsin State Compensation Plan.

Job Details

This position requires the ability to travel independently throughout region to meet project needs as well as statewide to attend statewide meetings and required training.

In this position, fieldwork is required. This fieldwork can include working in all seasons, including adverse weather conditions, and working in high volume traffic conditions, bending on a limited basis, and lifting approximately 70 lbs. and carrying this load approximately 50 feet over varying terrain.

This state agency does not sponsor work visas. This state agency is not enrolled in USCIS E-Verify and is not eligible to employ international F-1 students seeking STEM-OPT extension. Any appointment made will be contingent on the applicant being able to prove valid status to work in the United States.

Prior to any appointments for position(s) filled from this announcement, candidates may be subject to a comprehensive criminal background check which may include FBI fingerprinting.

Qualifications

Qualified applicants will have experience with all of the following:

• Experience managing multiple project schedules to ensure timely project completion. Activities may include tracking project progress, establishing work/project schedules for staff, attending production or critical project meetings, identifying and addressing problems to keep projects on schedule, performing field inspections, and attending meetings to monitor progress of construction activities.
• Reading and interpreting design or construction plans and/or contract documents. Activities may include overseeing consultant contracts or reading/interpreting construction plans and specifications on transportation projects.
• Engineering principles utilized in highway design and construction. Activities may include writing/reviewing environmental documents, writing/reviewing traffic management plans, writing/reviewing design study reports, or developing/reviewing project Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) documents.

Deadline to Apply

The deadline to apply is 11:59 PM CT on Thursday, October 15th, 2026.