Career Center

The Opportunity

WSDOT is currently seeking a highly skilled Travel Data Analyst (Transportation Planning Specialist 4). This position uses advanced knowledge of research methodologies, statistical methods, and best practices within the traffic-monitoring field, as well as facility with programming languages used to extract and transform data, to produce traffic statistics used by the department, local agencies, research institutions, and the federal government. The Travel Data Analyst will serve as the subject matter expert responsible for the stewardship, summarization, and reporting of active transportation datasets, as well as serve as the leader of a team responsible for performing interim liquidated damaged calculations for use in WSDOT maintenance and construction contracts.

What to Expect

Among the varied range of responsibilities held within this role, the Travel Data Analyst will:

• Use expert knowledge of travel characteristics, research methods, statistics, and best practices relative to data quality control and quality assurance to ensure the Department’s active transportation data meets user needs.
• Maintain the transactional database for storing active transportation data, ensuring it meets customer needs and the requirements of dependent reporting and analysis software.
• Perform quality assurance functions in relation to active transportation data.
• Collaborate with Information Technology Division staff in modeling and testing new datasets and programs, and evaluating and refining existing ones, to meet changing business needs.
• Maintain complete documentation on the business area’s active transportation datasets and programs, as well as on associated procedures. This includes the maintenance of information with the Department’s metadata registry.
• Serve as the supervisor of the Travel Data Analysis Team’s Transportation Engineer 2 and Transportation Engineer 3 positions.
• Use advanced knowledge of traffic characteristics, research methods, statistics, data quality, and the querying of relational databases to support the motorized travel data stewardship activities of other data stewards in the Data Processing and Analysis Section.

To be considered for this opportunity, the following are required:

• A Bachelor's degree with major study in transportation engineering, transportation planning, public administration, mathematics, computer programming, or a closely related field
• Four (4) years of professional transportation experience involving analysis and evaluation of transportation issues and problems.

OR

• A Master’s degree with major study in transportation engineering, transportation planning, public administration, mathematics, computer programming, or a closely related field
• Three (3) years of professional transportation experience involving analysis and evaluation of transportation issues and problems.

OR

• Two (2) years as a Transportation Planning Specialist 3, Transportation Engineer 3, or equivalent classification in city or county agencies.

In addition, the following are required:

• One (1) year of professional experience effectively leading, mentoring and providing guidance to staff.
• Proven knowledge and experience maintaining large, complicated SQL datasets to meet customer needs and the requirements of dependent reporting and analysis software.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively identify customer data requirements and construct ad-hoc database queries of moderate complexity to meet those needs (including table joins, datatype conversions, if/then logic, etc.).
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge of traffic monitoring programs, including a thorough understanding of the information contained in both the Federal Highway Administration’s Traffic Monitoring Guide and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials’ Guidelines for Traffic Data Programs.
• Ability to receive input and communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to accurately solve basic algebraic formulas, calculate growth rates, and compute basic statistics such as averages from a dataset. Additionally, ability to summarize data accurately and clearly in both tables and graphs.

It is preferred that qualified candidates also have:

• Proven experience and skill serving as a data steward, clearly and comprehensively defining business requirements for information technology staff, designing, and effectively implementing quality assurance and quality control processes, leading efforts to improve data reporting mechanisms to better meet user needs, etc.
• Experience effectively maintaining a metadata registry.
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge of the WSDOT Linear Referencing System, including experience coding data to this system.

Important Notes

• This recruitment may also be used to fill additional positions per business needs.
• In addition to the salary range listed, a general wage increase of 3.25% will be applied for all state employees on July 1, 2022.
• This position is eligible for remote work up to 100%, per supervisor approval.
• The official duty station for this position will be determined based on candidate preference and overall business needs.
• By issuance of proclamation, the Governor of Washington State mandates that all employees who work for executive cabinet agencies (which includes the Department of Transportation) must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Compliance with this mandate is a condition of employment with WSDOT. Exemption may be granted for religious or medical purposes; however, accommodations will be subject to approval based on the essential functions required of the position.
• WSDOT does not use the E-Verify system. For more information, please visit uscis.gov