Senior Railway Operations Specialist

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

In the role of Senior Railway Operations Specialist, we'll count on you to:

• Plan, direct and monitor all aspects of rail planning, advisory, operations, and/or engineering projects.
• Assist HDR Project Managers in understanding rail operations, regulations and policies, and commercial and strategic practices, and facilitate guidance during project execution.
• Serve as an overall source of guidance for working with freight and passenger railways and associated government agencies.
• Perform periodic project reviews, as needed.
• Establish client relations and be involved with marketing, contractual, design and production meetings.
• Direct work of others in completion of required studies, documents and reports.
• Demonstrate extensive public participation, agency coordination, planning and programming experience.
• Participate in design development and contract document work sessions in conjunction with appropriate technical professionals and other disciplines.
• Coordinate staffing and workload through entire project development to complete documents on schedule.
• Knowledge base includes understanding of the ownership, traffic characteristics, geography, and commercial and strategic roles and value of rail lines and rail traffic types in North America, including intermodal freight, bulk freight, and manifest freight.
• Possess broad knowledge of North American freight rail operations, regulations, networks, markets, and infrastructure; and rail network strategic planning and marketing opportunities.
• Knowledge base includes understanding of the ownership, traffic characteristics, geography, and commercial and strategic roles and value of rail lines and rail traffic types in North America, including intermodal freight, bulk freight, and manifest freight.
• Have good familiarity with the terminology, business practices, labor arrangements, management organization, and regulatory environment of freight railroading at Class I, regional, and short line railways.
• Possess broad knowledge of intercity and commuter passenger rail operations and methods. Must understand the interactions of train operations on shared passenger and freight rail corridors and the technical requirements for developing intercity passenger and commuter rail improvement projects and new services on dedicated and shared-ownership corridors. A strong background in dispatching, corridor management, and service planning would be an asset.
• Ability to independently research and prepare documents about a broad variety of questions concerning railways, and provide technical consulting about rail operations, strategy, business models, and commercial aspects to HDR's environmental, engineering, and economic disciplines. Ability to research local, state or provincial, and federal requirements for publicly funded rail projects, and develop grant applications. Ability to research, summarize, and communicate to internal and external clients, information and analysis on a broad variety of railway topics including market assessments, operational methods, train scheduling and network design, equipment selection, operation on main tracks and in yards, and industrial switching.
• Have strong experience in writing and preparing documents to support projects that include freight-rail initiatives, shipper initiatives, and projects intended for public funding, including the development of grant applications, operating plans, economic models, Service Development Plans, Project Management Plans, and Project Financial Plans.
• Be accessible and responsive to internal and external HDR clients, on multiple projects.
• Have the ability to identify where a conflict of interest may develop between our proposed projects or projects in execution and notify the appropriate HDR leads of potential conflicts.
• Communicate regularly with the Freight Rail Advisory Practice Lead, Rail Operations & Planning Practice Lead, and with project managers on multiple simultaneous projects.
• Perform other duties as needed

Marketing

• Will possess memberships in professional transportation organizations and will cultivate relationships with key individuals at freight and passenger railways, and governmental agencies. Candidate will attend special HDR and rail industry events, as required.
• Support marketing and pursuits that are directly or indirectly related to the HDR freight rail practice.
• Be a resource for answering (or obtaining answers) where another project (Highway, Transit, Port, DOT, Municipality, etc. or other Freight Rail) may be involved and cause a potential conflict.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong leadership and analytical skills and ability to communicate effectively verbally and with writing, presentations, and reports.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative team environment, as well as independently.
• Proven experience in developing proposals, grant applications, operating plans, and studies.
• Ability to travel.
• Ability to gain knowledge of current operations simulation software that supports train network operations analysis and pursue additional technical and professional education and on-the-job training as provided by the company.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Planning, Engineering or a related field
• A minimum of 10 years' experience with transportation planning
• Possess excellent analytical and communication skills
• Understanding of transit planning principles
• Positive attitude and ability to work independently or as part of a team
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and personnel
• Solid business development skills; demonstrated ability to relate well to clients; and demonstrated presentation skills
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

What We Believe
HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment
As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

Primary Location:
Canada-Alberta-Calgary

Industry:
Transit

Schedule:
Full-time

Employee Status:
Regular

BusinessClass:
Advisory Services

Job Posting:
Dec 12, 2025

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer ). We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.