Planner Climate Data Science

Telework

This position is eligible for telework, which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

Job Summary

The Planner, Climate Data Science is part of a small team responsible for monitoring and advancing the MTA’s goal to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2040. The MTA Climate Sustainability Planning team is making the New York City region and the MTA itself more sustainable through investment in facilities, fleets, and power infrastructure that together make up the millions of components that enable the MTA to move millions of New Yorkers every day.

The Planner identifies and generates momentum for climate sustainability projects, manages studies and analyses to support a variety of sustainability planning strategies, works on complex transportation infrastructure and assets, creates new tools to assess climate sustainability investments, and represents MTA policies with internal and external stakeholders. For more information on MTA’s climate programs, visit new.mta.info/climate.

Responsibilities

The Planner, Climate Data Science contributes substantially to the following core Planning activities:

Integrating sustainability priorities into the MTA’s 2025-29 5-year capital program and the upcoming 2030-2049 Twenty-Year Needs Assessment and future 2030-2034 5-year Capital Plan.

Evaluating relative costs and benefits to aid decision-making about various capital investment scenarios

Tracking agencywide energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and evaluating emissions reduction scenarios that result from different types of capital investments.

Support sustainability funding strategies and climate policy coordination with State and local partners

Working directly with senior staff on the development, planning, and implementation of clean energy projects, including renewable energy, energy storage, building decarbonization, and/or zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Developing and managing scopes, budgets, and work plans for various projects.

Supervising consultants, reviewing draft deliverables, providing constructive feedback, and vetting consultant recommendations with internal stakeholders to ensure high-quality final deliverables that reflect MTA priorities and the needs of its customers.

Developing, using, and managing data analytics and planning tools, particularly those that inform the prioritization of climate sustainability actions within the MTA capital plan.

Identifying, cleaning, and utilizing large databases of information, including asset assessments, asset inventories, regional planning information, transit usage, local utility data, and socio-economic and demographic information, to complete technical analyses that ultimately inform climate sustainability capital investment prioritization.

Developing and delivering concise, content-rich analyses and presentations to stakeholders, including internal leadership, government officials, and community partners.

Building collaborative relationships across multiple units within MTA and the broader community of stakeholders across the New York City region to advance the MTA’s climate sustainability goals.

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, Engineering, Public Administration, Environmental Sciences, Transportation, or a related field.

Must have a minimum of three (3) years of relevant experience, preferably in transportation

Master's degree preferred.

Fluency with greenhouse gas emissions modeling and accounting practices.

Technical understanding of clean energy strategies and technologies, including renewable energy, energy storage, building decarbonization, and zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Strong data management and technical skills, including proficiency in data analytics, visualization tools, and spatial analyses.

Ability to perform in-depth qualitative and quantitative analyses using a variety of tools and datasets.

Strong time and task management skills with ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.

Ability to persist with minimal direction and ambiguity.

Effective communication, verbal, written, and presentation skills, particularly in media such as PowerPoint.

Passion for transit and transit infrastructure. General knowledge of the MTA regional network and operating context, as well as local, state, and federal transportation policies.

Ability to work with both senior-level staff and technical personnel on a diverse array of issues.

Ability to interface with stakeholders, including senior political and business representatives.