Department: Charlotte Area Transit System Department

Salary: $114,294.00 - $164,298.19 Commensurate with Experience

SUMMARY
The Assistant Director of Mobility provides operational leadership and coordination for CATS' non-fixed route mobility services, including paratransit and microtransit programs. Reporting to the Director of Mobility Services, this role is responsible for translating division strategy, service standards, regulatory requirements, and performance expectations into effective day-to-day execution across multiple mobility service functions.

The Assistant Director leads through managers responsible for paratransit transportation operations; paratransit dispatch, eligibility, and reservations; and microtransit service delivery. The position monitors service performance, coordinates resources and priorities across programs, addresses significant operational issues, and drives implementation of service improvements intended to strengthen safety, reliability, accessibility, customer experience, and operational efficiency.

Working within the strategic, fiscal, regulatory, and service direction established by the Director of Mobility Services, the Assistant Director helps ensure consistent management practices and coordinated execution across the Mobility Services portfolio. The role works closely with Operations, Safety, Customer Experience, Planning, Technology, Maintenance, Finance, Procurement, Contracts, and external service partners to resolve issues, implement organizational priorities, and support reliable and responsive mobility service delivery.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

The following duties are standard for this position. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the classification if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment for this classification.

Mobility Services Operational Leadership

• Provide operational leadership for paratransit and microtransit service delivery in alignment with priorities, standards, policies, and resource parameters established by the Director of Mobility Services.
• Translate division goals and service expectations into operating priorities, management practices, and measurable performance expectations for subordinate managers.
• Coordinate execution across mobility programs to promote consistent, safe, reliable, accessible, and customer-focused service delivery.
• Maintain awareness of significant operating conditions, service risks, staffing issues, customer impacts, and emerging priorities across the Mobility Services portfolio.
• Provide recommendations to the Director regarding operational needs, resource requirements, service risks, and improvement opportunities.

Leadership of Managers and Organizational Execution

• Direct, coach, and support managers responsible for paratransit field operations, dispatch, eligibility, reservations, and microtransit.
• Establish clear expectations for operational accountability, management follow-through, customer service, workforce performance, and cross-functional coordination.
• Review staffing, supervisory coverage, workload, and operational readiness across assigned functions and address issues requiring coordination across management areas.
• Support manager development, succession planning, workforce capability, and consistent application of organizational leadership expectations.
• Promote effective communication and coordination among managers whose functions contribute to shared mobility service outcomes.

Service Performance and Continuous Improvement

• Monitor key performance indicators and operational results across paratransit and microtransit, including service reliability, trip fulfillment, on-time performance, customer responsiveness, call center performance, productivity, service quality, and other established measures.
• Review performance trends, operational reports, customer feedback, and manager observations to identify service gaps, recurring problems, and opportunities for improvement.
• Lead implementation of operational improvement initiatives involving workflows, service coordination, management practices, technology, staffing, customer interaction, or vendor-supported service delivery.
• Establish follow-up expectations for corrective actions and improvement initiatives and monitor progress toward desired results.
• Support effective use of data and performance information in day-to-day management and resource prioritization.

Paratransit Service Coordination and ADA Execution

• Oversee coordinated execution of paratransit field operations, dispatch, reservations, eligibility administration, and related customer-support functions through subordinate managers.
• Reinforce operational practices that support compliance with ADA paratransit requirements, agency procedures, accessibility expectations, and customer service standards.
• Monitor significant service, eligibility, customer, or compliance issues and ensure appropriate management review, escalation, documentation, and corrective action.
• Coordinate operational preparation and follow-through for audits, reviews, corrective actions, or other oversight activities affecting paratransit service delivery.
• Escalate significant regulatory, policy, or compliance risks to the Director of Mobility Services.

Microtransit Operations and Vendor Performance

• Oversee execution of the microtransit program through the Microtransit Manager, with attention to service reliability, vendor performance, customer experience, technology-enabled operations, and established performance standards.
• Review service performance, demand trends, vendor results, customer feedback, and operational issues affecting microtransit delivery.
• Support implementation of service adjustments, operating improvements, technology changes, and corrective actions within established program strategy and contractual requirements.
• Coordinate with Procurement, Contracts, Technology, Planning, and other internal partners regarding operational issues affecting contracted or technology-supported mobility services.
• Elevate significant vendor performance, contractual, financial, or service-model issues to the Director for strategic or executive-level action.

Incident Response and Operational Continuity

• Provide management leadership during significant service disruptions, customer-impacting events, technology failures, severe weather, emergencies, or other conditions affecting mobility service continuity.
• Coordinate response across subordinate managers and internal service partners to support timely decision-making, communication, resource deployment, and recovery.
• Ensure significant incidents and service failures receive appropriate investigation, documentation, management follow-up, and corrective action.
• Identify recurring operational risks and recommend changes to practices, procedures, staffing, technology, or coordination methods to reduce future impacts.
• Support operational preparedness and continuity planning for unusual or high-impact service conditions.

Cross-Functional Coordination and Implementation

• Coordinate with Safety, Maintenance, Customer Experience, Planning, Technology, Finance, Procurement, Contracts, Training, and other organizational functions to support effective mobility service delivery.
• Lead implementation of approved service changes, technology initiatives, operating procedures, organizational changes, and improvement projects affecting multiple Mobility Services functions.
• Help resolve cross-functional issues that cannot be effectively addressed within an individual manager's area of responsibility.
• Represent Mobility Services in internal working groups, project teams, operational meetings, and external discussions as assigned by the Director.
• Support stakeholder and community engagement activities by providing operational information, implementation support, and follow-through on identified service concerns.

Resource and Administrative Management

• Support development and administration of operating budgets, staffing plans, resource requests, service performance goals, and program priorities for assigned mobility functions.
• Monitor resource utilization and operational needs and identify issues requiring budgetary, staffing, contractual, or organizational attention.
• Prepare and review performance reports, operational briefings, executive updates, presentations, and recommendations for the Director and other leadership.
• Support consistent documentation, reporting, management controls, and administrative practices across Mobility Services.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Core Competencies:

The position requires demonstrated competency in the following areas:

Multi-Program Operational Leadership

Ability to translate strategic direction into coordinated operational execution across multiple mobility service functions.

• Establishes clear priorities and performance expectations for subordinate managers.
• Maintains focus on safety, reliability, accessibility, customer outcomes, and effective service execution.

Leadership Through Managers

Ability to lead a multi-layered organization by setting expectations, developing managers, and maintaining accountability for results.

• Provides effective direction, coaching, and follow-through without unnecessarily assuming subordinate management responsibilities.
• Builds consistency in management practices and strengthens organizational capability.

Performance Management and Continuous Improvement

Ability to use operational data, customer feedback, service trends, and management observations to identify problems and improve performance.

• Distinguishes isolated issues from recurring or systemic concerns.
• Drives practical improvement initiatives and maintains accountability for implementation.

Operational Judgment and Problem Solving

Ability to make sound decisions in a complex, customer-facing operating environment involving service, staffing, compliance, technology, and resource considerations.

• Responds effectively to significant service disruptions and emerging operational risks.
• Recognizes issues requiring escalation to the Director or coordination with other organizational functions.

Cross-Functional Coordination and Communication

Ability to align managers, departments, vendors, and other partners around shared service-delivery objectives.

• Communicates operational priorities, risks, and expectations clearly.
• Builds effective working relationships and resolves issues that span functional boundaries.

Supervision Given to:

• Paratransit Operations Manager
• Paratransit Dispatch, Eligibility and Reservations Manager
• Microtransit Manager

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in transportation, public administration, business administration, operations management, logistics, mobility management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in transit operations, paratransit, demand-response transportation, mobility services, customer operations, program management, or a related service-delivery environment.
• Experience managing managers, supervisors, or multiple operational functions within a customer-facing or service-oriented organization.
• Experience using operational performance measures, service data, and customer information to identify problems, establish priorities, and improve performance.
• Experience coordinating across multiple departments or functional areas to resolve operational issues and implement service improvements.
• Experience working within established regulatory, contractual, policy, or service-quality requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in public transit paratransit, microtransit, mobility-on-demand, or other demand-response transportation services.
• Experience overseeing multiple related functions such as transportation operations, dispatch, reservations, eligibility administration, customer contact, or contracted service delivery.
• Experience with ADA paratransit requirements and accessibility-related service delivery.
• Experience overseeing vendor-supported or technology-enabled transportation services.
• Experience leading operational improvement, organizational change, technology implementation, or service transition initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills and Ab