Transportation and Infrastructure Climate Lead

About Our Job

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

This is a limited position with an end date of February 6, 2031.

The City and County of Denver offers competitive pay commensurate with education and experience. New hires are typically brought into the organization between $86,634.00- $114,790.00/year.

We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 457B Retirement Plan
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location & Schedule

The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site in the field, as needed. Employees must work within the state of Colorado on their remote days.

In this position you can expect to work on site at least 3 days per week at the Wellington Webb Building (201 W. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80202).

Please note: Downtown parking expenses are the responsibility of the employee. We offer a flexible spending account option specifically for parking; if you elect this option, you can use pre-tax dollars for parking. We also offer a City-sponsored RTD EcoPass to all City employees– allowing the use of public transportation for free as a City Employee.

Who We Are & What You’ll Do

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), through its employees, enhances the quality of life in Denver by efficiently delivering effective, high quality, safe and equitable public infrastructure, and services. For more information, please visit the DOTI website. 

DOTI’s Commitment to Equity: 

• DOTI is committed to providing attention and resources to the areas, assets and people of the city with the greatest need.  Through equitable contracting, equitable investments, and equitable workforce development. 
• DOTI’s culture revolves around four key principles: (1) Invest in Our People, (2) Operate with Discipline, (3) Use Data to Drive Decisions, and (4) Deliver Results. 

Transportation is the leading source of air pollution and the second-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Denver. Beyond transportation, DOTI's responsibilities for solid waste, stormwater infrastructure, and the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure also have significant environmental benefits and impacts. These activities directly affect the health, well-being, and quality of life of Denver residents.

DOTI's strategic plans—including Denver Moves Everyone, One Water, and the Strategic Asset Management Plan—establish goals for advancing climate and resilience goals. Key strategies include expanding access to low-emission transportation options, improving the resilience of public infrastructure to a changing climate, and transforming how the City designs, constructs, operates, and maintains its infrastructure to reduce environmental impacts. 

The Transportation Planning Division of DOTI is responsible for planning and programming improvements to the city's multimodal transportation system in coordination with city, local, regional, and state agencies. This includes developing policies that advance Denver's transportation vision, leading studies to identify short- and long-term infrastructure needs, planning capital improvements, and programming funding for infrastructure delivery. Our team is energetic, collaborative, creative, and dedicated to advancing Denver's ambitious climate and mobility goals. The Climate Strategist will be part of the Transportation Planning Division and support its work and will also collaborate closely with many other DOTI teams and divisions to advance sustainability outcomes across all the department’s operations. 

DOTI is seeking an experienced Transportation and Infrastructure Climate Lead with expertise at the intersection of climate change, resilience, and transportation and infrastructure planning and delivery. This position will lead efforts to advance DOTI's Sustainability and Resiliency Policy, working across DOTI and in partnership with Denver's Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) to develop innovative approaches, establish policies and practices, and scale successful solutions across the department to make progress on ambitious climate and resilience goals.  

Specifically, as the Transportation and Infrastructure Lead, you will:

• Serve as DOTI’s subject matter expert on climate and resilience, advising executive leadership on strategies, policies, and infrastructure standards that advance DOTI’s sustainability priorities and align with citywide climate goals and ensuring implementation of the DOTI Sustainability & Resiliency Policy. Provide technical guidance informed by emerging research, best practices, and innovative approaches, including application of the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework across DOTI capital projects. 

• Drive organizational change and adoption of innovative climate and resilience practices across DOTI. Build relationships with internal teams and stakeholders, identify opportunities for near-term and long-term improvements, and develop practical strategies to overcome institutional, technical, and funding barriers. Translate new ideas into actionable approaches that can be adopted and scaled across DOTI programs. 

• Lead the development of DOTI’s climate and resilience strategies, including cross-department coordination, policy and standards development, program development and management of the annual DOTI–CASR Project Partnership process and associated agreements. 
• Serve as an experienced project manager to lead complex and innovative planning projects that advance the City’s climate, resilience, and mobility goals. Oversee all phases of planning project management, including scope, schedule, and budget management, with a focus on leading projects that test new approaches, policies, and practices, that result in scalable solutions that inform how other teams plan and deliver projects. 
• Collaborate with DOTI’s Capital Programming Team and the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) to identify and secure funding – including grants - that advances climate and resilience initiatives. Coordinate with DOTI Program Leads to identify funding needs, align projects with grant opportunities, and develop competitive applications. Lead DOTI’s annual CASR partnership funding process, including maintaining project scoring and prioritization tools, facilitating cross-department coordination meetings, advising executive management on funding recommendations, and tracking funding commitments and allocations between CASR and DOTI project managers. 
• Lead climate performance tracking and reporting in coordination with the Denver Moves Everyone (DME) Implementation Lead, Performance, and Asset Management teams, including the development and maintenance of emissions metrics, performance measures, and reporting tools to track progress toward DOTI’s climate and resilience goals. 
• Perform technical and geospatial analysis supporting Climate and Resiliency planning work, including building spreadsheets in Microsoft excel, GIS analysis and supporting maintenance of the DME Database and prioritization model, coding, and mapping, and developing website material, online tools, and web maps.  
• Examples of current and emerging responsibilities: 
  • Transportation Policy and Standards: Finalize Mobility Impact Study Specifications to guide private development contributions to multimodal infrastructure, and work to support successful implementation. 
  • Innovative Climate and Resilience Planning: Lead and support initiatives related to resilient landscapes, greenways, parkways, trails and waterways, fleet electrification, mobility hubs, urban heat mitigation, making urban streets more resilient to climate change, and new methods to pilot rapid multimodal project delivery. 
  • Data, Technology, and Performance Management: Lead and support emerging initiatives involving data fusion, digital twins, and transportation demand management promotional campaigns, including developing tools and analytical approaches that help DOTI programs make data-informed decisions and accelerate progress toward adopted goals. 
  • Embodied Carbon & Materials Sustainability: Support development and implementation of policies, tools, and pilot projects that advance low-carbon construction materials, embodied carbon tracking, life-cycle assessment, material reuse, and other strategies to reduce the environmental impacts of infrastructure delivery.

What You’ll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

• At minimum a focused Bachelor’s Degree in City or Regional Planning, Urban Resiliency and Sustainability, Engineering, Public Policy and Administration, Communications, Environmental Science, Public Policy, Biology, Chemistry, or Life Sciences, or a directly related degree that created career pathways that are aligned w/ the job description
• Preferred, Master’s Degree in City or Regional Planning, Urban Resiliency and Sustainability, Environmental Policy, Sustainability Management, Environmental Science, Engineering, Public Policy and Administration, or a directly related degree 
• 5 years + professional experience working at the intersection of climate and resiliency and urban infrastructure planning and delivery, with professional experience in climate policy, transportation planning, program management, change management or related fields. Public sector experience is preferred, with demonstrated track record of leading cross-disciplinary initiatives.  
• As this position resides within DOTI’s Transportation Planning team – experience with multimodal transportation projects is preferred. This includes experience supporting or leading transit, bicycle, pedestrian, signal, traffic calming, and vision zero/safe routes planning and design efforts.  
• 2 years + serving as a project manager with demonstrated experience leading projects from initiation through completion, including managing projects on scope, schedule, and budget. 
• Capital Programming and grant writing and administration experience, with track record of securing grants and managing their successful completion. Understanding and experience with public sector funding cycles.   
• Cross-disciplinary experience working with engineers to deliver policy, program, and project solutions.   
• Experience developing both technical and public facing presentations, with the ability to speak to a variety of audiences, including DOTI leadership, Denver City Council, stakeholders, and the general public. 
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Proficiency in GIS with experience developing desktop and web maps and spatial tools to support planning and analysis. 
• Microsoft Excel: Skilled in organizing, manipulating, and synthesizing complex data sets to support planning functions and decision-making. 
• Adobe Suite: Experienced in using Adobe programs to create graphics, maps, public outreach materials, and formatted reports for planning projects. 

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement: Bachelor's Degree in a related field based on a specific position(s).
• Experience Requirement: Five (5) years’ experience performing full performance professional level duties within a specialized, functional area. (This does not include clerical experience.)
• Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements. 

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume/CV section on the My Experience tab): 

• Resume  Cover letter with details about your experience with transportation-focused climate/environmental management, and your interest in the role.  

Application Deadline

• This position is expected to stay open until November 20, 2026. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than November 20, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CA2308 Administrator II

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Limited (Fixed Term)

Position Salary Range

$86,634.00 - $142,947.00

Target Pay

$86,634.00 - $114,790.00/year, based on experience and education

Agency

Dept of Transportation & Infrastructure

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. 

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact [email protected] with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

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