Director of Design Services

Overview

Oversee design team operations, staffing, project delivery, and quality for rail infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• project management
• qa/qc
• staffing estimates
• client engagement
• financial oversight
• team supervision

Tasks

-Business Management - Monitor group financials, utilization, and manpower. Provide staffing and level-of-effort estimates for proposals and ongoing projects. -Lead and Manager Staff - Supervise and mentor engineers, designers, and support staff. Oversee assignments, workloads, and performance reviews. -Quality and Innovation - Enforce QA/QC standards across design deliverables. Stay current with tools, technology, and best practices to drive efficiency. -Client and Proposal Support - Provide input for proposals, staffing plans, and resource needs. Support interviews and client pursuits as needed. -Project Delivery - Manage plan production, schedules, and deliverables. Ensure design projects meet quality, budget, and client requirements. -Collaboration - Partner with the VP of Design Services for technical guidance and client engagement while focusing on daily operations, staffing, and business oversight. -Strategic Contribution - Contribute to strategic planning for design group growth, resource development, and market competitiveness.

Requirements

• leadership
• 12+ yrs
• pe license
• rail design
• team management
• on-site

What You Bring

-Excellent leadership, organizational, and communication skills. -12+ years of experience in engineering design, including at least 4 years in management/supervisory roles. -Must be able to work on-site, daily at our Headquarter located in Orange, CA. -Strong understanding of workload forecasting, resource planning, and project budgets. -Rail, transit, or infrastructure design project experience. -PE License in California (or ability to obtain). -Direct experience in engineering plan production. -Experience managing medium to large design teams (20+ staff) -Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related field.

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Benefits

-Base Salary - $140, 000 - $200,000 DOE. -Paid Vacation -Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - 100% employer-paid for employees; 50% for dependents. -Retirement - 401K with employer match -Paid Holidays -Paid Sick Time

About Zephyr Rail

-Carved a niche delivering railway engineering design—from feasibility studies and track alignment to at‑grade crossings and PS&E packages. -Provides full‑spectrum construction management services including contract administration, resident engineering, project controls and agency coordination. -Augments engineering and CM capabilities with a state‑of‑the‑art UAV fleet for aerial mapping, inspection, photogrammetry, 4K video and terrain modeling. -Awarded recent contracts such as LOSSAN’s Ortega Siding and Leesdale Siding Extension to expand track capacity and reliability in Southern California. -Typically works on light, commuter, freight and heavy rail corridor projects across California and beyond, often deploying drones to accelerate schedules. -Standout fact: one of the few firms FAA‑approved under Part 107 to operate UAVs in support of railroad engineering projects.

Sector Specialisms