ABOUT VPRA

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (“VPRA”) is a new independent rail authority established by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2020. The VPRA has the authority to own and build rail infrastructure. Governed by an appointed Board of Directors, VPRA functions as an independent agency and works in collaboration with the Commonwealth’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Executive Director is accountable for all strategy, policy development, and operations of the Authority. The Executive Director reports to a 15-Member Board of Directors, who serve 4-year staggered terms. The successful candidate will be charged with helping build and establish a team, creating policies and procedures for the start-up Authority, and providing leadership for all operations, maintenance, capital programs, human resources, administrative and financial operations while maintaining agency-wide efficiency and safety. The Executive Director serves as a representative of the Authority as a whole and will build and maintain internal and external stakeholder relationships. The ideal candidate for Executive Director will have the following skills, knowledge, and personal attributes:

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Demonstrated leadership experience and the ability to manage all operations of a complex, start-up Authority, including rail infrastructure, operations, maintenance, capital programs and related contracts as well as administrative functions including human resources, procurement, and financial management. Demonstrated skill and ability to navigate a complex political environment and balance competing interests.

• Report to a Board of Directors and take policy direction set by the Board and implement actionable and executable programs.

• Serve as the primary representative of the Authority in its day-to-day business dealings. • Ability to establish and manage a complex, multi-faceted business in a start-up phase, including hiring new employees and at the same time managing ongoing daily business and other organizational activities.

• Communicate with partner organizations and ensure strong relationships with other rail organizations serving the Commonwealth including CSX, Norfolk Southern, VRE, Amtrak, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders located across the Commonwealth which includes communities in municipal, urban, suburban, and rural regions of the Commonwealth.

• Establish, maintain, and strengthen relationships with local appointed and elected government officials, the Commonwealth General Assembly, the Governor, and federal officials to ensure strong support for passenger transportation. 2

• Respond to media inquiries in a timely, transparent, and appropriate manner to ensure confidence in the Authority.

• Set organizational direction and ability to create and update policies, budgets, and procedures to meet key needs as the organization grows.

• Detailed knowledge and understanding of, and ability to provide oversight for large, multi-billion-dollar capital design and construction and major property acquisition programs while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

• Proven track record of strong customer service and safety achievement and ability to grow the customer base and increase ridership.

• Strong ability to clearly communicate agency objectives, operations, programs, and vision to both internal and external stakeholders, including media.

• Ability to make sound decisions or deal with immediate challenges either independently or utilizing a team as appropriate.

• Extensive knowledge of financial procedures in a large operating organization, and the ability to manage operating and capital budgets and allocate resources appropriately and efficiently.

• Excellent leadership skills and the ability to build and motivate a high-performing team, recognize employee strengths and delegate responsibilities in a way that contributes to the efficiency of the organization.

• Experience working in the Commonwealth, the mid-atlantic region or another region of similar complexity is highly desired.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate information to internal and external stakeholders at all levels in a way that is thoughtful, well-researched, clear, concise, engaging, and appropriate to the audience.

• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to work with and empower employees at all levels of the organization, build stakeholder relationships, and maintain communication with related agencies and organizations.

• Unquestioned integrity, ethics, and professionalism.

• Visionary leadership and the ability to manage short-term challenges and opportunities in a way that contributes to meeting the Authority’s long-term objectives.

• Strong financial knowledge, including knowledge of operating and capital budgets and funding sources in transportation.

• Strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity at all levels within the organization and in services provided to the community.

• Ability to recruit and hire talented individuals to build a high-performing team. 

• Collaborative leadership mindset and the ability to work with community groups, the Board, elected officials, government and regulatory agencies, partner organizations, transit agencies, the media, and a variety of other external stakeholders.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

The ideal candidate will have a minimum of eight (8) years of executive management experience within another public or private entity of comparable size and complexity to VPRA. A Bachelor’s degree in a related concentration such as transportation, transportation management, engineering, government affairs, public administration, or business management is strongly preferred, however a combination of experience and education will be considered in lieu of a degree. A Master’s degree or another advanced degree is also preferred.

For additional information or to submit a cover letter and resume, please contact Gregg Moser at [email protected] Applications must be received by 5:00pm EST on Wednesday, February 10^th, 2021.