Rail and Transit Group Leader

Jacobs; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 167,500 - 293,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited Paid Time Off (PPTO)

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

401(k) Plan

Executive Deferral Plan

Job summary

A leading engineering firm is seeking a Group Lead in Washington, D.C. to provide leadership on systems projects in the Rail & Transit Market. This role involves overseeing a technical team, ensuring quality control, and contributing to project delivery while fostering employee development and effective client relationships. Candidates should have an engineering degree, leadership experience in rail systems, and a PE license or progress toward it. A competitive salary and hybrid work options are offered.

Qualifications

• Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) or progressing towards.
• Experience managing infrastructure projects, including Rail and Transit Systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing staff.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and mentor technical team across all levels.
• Manage staff performance and foster talent development.
• Drive quality control and facilitate delivery across projects.

Skills

Leadership

Project Management

Emotional Intelligence

Technical Expertise in Rail & Transit Systems

Education

Relevant degree in Engineering

Job description

Overview

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

At Jacobs, we’re transforming intangible ideas into innovative solutions designing the future – today. Therefore, we are seeking a Group Lead to provide inspirational leadership on our challenging and fast-paced systems projects in the Rail & Transit Market. When you join us, you’ll have the opportunity to use your vast experience in the industry and apply it to solving today’s challenges with a special focus on supporting our clients with Project Leadership & Delivery, Systems Engineering & Integration, Stakeholder Engagement, Quality Assurance & Safety, and Innovation & Standards.

Reporting to the Rail & Transit Department Leader, and as a senior member of our team, you’ll play an integral role in mentoring staff, developing capability & right sizing capacity to support our current projects & future pipeline, forming long-term relationships with clients and pursuing new work, including strategy development, positioning, proposing, and negotiating contracts. You’ll also have the opportunity to continue relationships with existing clients.

We’ll look to your expertise and skills while you provide effective, project management support in helping to reduce the costs of delivering projects, maintaining top technical delivery and adding value to the business through developing our talent.

Let us empower you (and your team) to deliver your best work so you can evolve, grow, and succeed.

Key Attributes

• Deep expertise in Rail & Transit Systems – such as OCS, signaling, train control, traction power, communications, track design and systems integration – along with strong leadership and project management capabilities.
• High level of emotional intelligence/team builder
• Adept at interpersonal relationship building, conflict resolution, and leading diverse teams
• Innovative and solutions-oriented thinker
• Strong social, networking, and communication skills (both internal and external)
• Team metrics, portfolio performance and strong business acumen
• Knowledge of Jacobs’ internal talent & project delivery systems

Key Responsibilities

You’ll serve as a people leader and will be accountable and responsible for the following activities

• Supervise and provide staff leadership, management, and mentorship to your technical team of all levels
• Serve as key technical expert and resource on projects within the Systems disciplines
• Manage staff performance and help talent grow and develop, utilizing the e3 process and succession planning for staff within the Rail & Transit market department
• Steward career development – basic skill development and sustainment, growth opportunities and skill refinement
• Coach, develop and mentor staff to deliver superior results collectively and individually
• Coordinate across the region to have knowledge of our collective capacity & capability to optimize resource management and provide opportunities for staff growth
• Coordinate with Project Delivery teams to cascade processes, procedures, and other information to staff within Rail & Transit market and monitor progress.
• Drive quality control across projects
• Facilitate GID delivery
• Build team culture in concert within overall performance unit and company goals/strategy, and communicate with aligned staff (i.e., regular team meetings and 11 meetings, etc.)
• Track and manage staff assignments and total billable hours on a weekly basis. Partner with the PMs, and other project execution staff, to deliver on project needs
• Coordinate team backlog with Department Leader and CAM
• Coordinate with other Rail & Transit Group Leaders across the Region and within BIA.
• Act as hiring manager where appropriate for new staff locally and with our Global Design Centers, working in concert with others around established hiring plans; including helping our business achieve TogetherBeyond goals and integrates new hires
• Work in partnership with Human Resource (HR) partner and Talent Acquisition (TA) on recruiting and hiring of talent, talent retention, driving Inclusion and Diversity, and exemplifying and leading Jacobs Culture of caring throughout the Market department
• Promote BeyondZero, quality, and safety programs to create an incident- and injury-free culture
• Approve time sheets and expense reports for aligned staff.

The final candidate could be located in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, PA, Baltimore or Silver Spring, MD or Reston, VA.

Qualifications

• Relevant degree in Engineering
• Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) or progressing towards
• Experience in Management and coordination of infrastructure projects including design, resourcing, budgeting, documentation and project management for Rail and Transit Systems such as OCS, signaling, train control, traction power, communications, track design and systems integration
• Previous experience with managing portfolio performance and possess strong business acumen
• Previous experience serving as a technical resource on projects within the Rail and Transit Systems disciplines
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching and developing staff to achieve results collectively and individually

Our health and welfare benefits are designed to invest in you, and in the things you care about. Your health. Your well-being. Your security. Your future. Employees have access to medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and the ability to purchase company stock at a discount. Eligible employees may also enroll in a deferred compensation plan or the Executive Deferral Plan. Jacobs has an unlimited U.S. Personalized Paid Time Off (PPTO) policy for full-time salaried/exempt employees, seven paid holidays, and caregiver leave. And certain roles may be eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases, performance discretionary bonus, and stock.

The base salary range for this position is $167,500.00 to $293,100.00. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. Job posted on April 15, 2026. This position will be open for at least 3 days.

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.