Metropolitan Transportation Authority Careers

This position is eligible for teleworking. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective hire date.    

Opening:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

About Us:

The MTA transportation network has a very large system and infrastructure for financial, business, automated train, transportation, power, and physical security. The MTA IT Department is centrally responsible for providing a full range of Information and Operational Technology services to the MTA agencies and administrative units through its operating and support units. These services are provided on a 24/7/365 basis to support the MTA organization and its ridership. 

MTA IT’s Product Development group is empowered; multi-functional teams focused on the end-to-end management of development products from strategy to delivery. Using innovative processes and tools, the teams are responsible for developing and maintaining highly effective, secure, and innovative transportation, operational, and back-end information systems to support MTA goals and priorities. 

Summary of Job:

This role is responsible for overseeing the development of product lifecycles from inception/innovation through design, build, and ultimately the ongoing run stage before an eventual product retirement. This role must possess knowledge in multiple core IT disciplines and a broad understanding of related domains.

The role is also responsible for directing cross-functional teams assigned to design, build, and maintain one or more product lines. Various products, including, but not limited to:

• Corp Finance/ Capital Planning & Budget
• Legal, Risk & Safety
• Enterprise Asset Management 
• Workforce Products (Payroll, Pension, Timekeeping, Recruitment) 
• Employee Experience 
• Platforms/Back-End Operations/DBA 
• Bus & Paratransit
• Scheduling Crew Pick
• Transportation Intelligent Systems, Train Control 
• B&T Products 
• Customer Experience 
• Revenue Fare Collections

Responsibilities:

• Possesses knowledge in multiple core IT disciplines and a broad understanding of related domains.
• Oversees the product vision and strategy being implemented into the product development team’s work. 
• Provides strategic and operational leadership for enterprise timekeeping systems, ensuring accurate and compliant capture of work hours, shifts, and pay codes across a diverse, often unionized workforce.
• Oversees system configuration, maintenance, and integration across job assignment, scheduling, timekeeping, and payroll systems, ensuring accuracy and reliability throughout the full job pick-to-payroll process.
• Translates complex labor agreements, seniority rules, and pay practices into system logic, supporting automated compliance with union contracts and federal/state labor laws (e.g., FLSA).
• Defines and owns the product vision, roadmap, and lifecycle for the timekeeping application.
• Aligns product strategy with organizational goals, workforce policies, and compliance requirements.
• Drives modernization initiatives, including migration, user experience enhancements, and automation opportunities.
• Manages vendor relationships and technology partnerships related to Oracle products and infrastructure.
• Oversees the architecture, design, development, and maintenance of the timekeeping application built on Oracle Forms, PL/SQL, and Oracle APEX.
• Ensures system scalability, performance, data integrity, and security.
• Leads upgrade and modernization initiatives (e.g., from Oracle Forms to APEX, or cloud adoption).
• Directs database design, PL/SQL optimization, and integration with other enterprise systems such as PeopleSoft HCM, payroll, and other HCM/ERP platforms.
• Establishes development standards, code review processes, and best practices for Oracle development.
• Leads a cross-functional team of Oracle developers, analysts, and technical leads.
• Drives continuous improvement through analytics, performance monitoring, and user feedback to enhance product efficiency and user satisfaction.
• Reviews and oversees potential identified and unidentified risks to the product. Supports the development of mitigation strategies.
• Develops the budget for product initiatives. Oversees that product initiatives are completed on time and within budget.
• Leads and manages through change, including the ability to adapt to shifting priorities and market conditions.
• Translates strategies and policies into operational plans, ensuring alignment with company objectives.
• Directs IT teams, fostering professional growth and ensuring adherence to best practices.
• Delivers monthly or quarterly results, with performance subject to regular review against targets.
• Collaborates with IT and business leaders to create and manage product roadmaps aligned with digital strategies.
• Oversees team compliance with governance processes and adherence to technology architectures and methodologies.
• Develops and monitors system support processes to maintain product quality and sustainability.
• Understands customer needs, market trends, and the competitive landscape to inform product strategy and feature prioritization. 
• Contributes to or influences the strategic direction of one or more disciplines within IT.
• Directs day-to-day operations and motivates team(s) to achieve results; may be responsible for a budget.
• Oversees product lifecycle, from ideation, definition, prototyping, design, validation & testing, launch, run stage, and eventual product retirement.
• Records metrics on the sustainability, viability, and quality of delivered products within agreed service targets.
• Monitors the effectiveness and efficiency of product(s), and develops, proposes, and implements improvement strategies. 
• Oversees team priorities and resource demand/supply; recommends timelines and resources needed to achieve goals and objectives.
• Attracts, develops, coaches, and retains high-performance team members, empowering them to elevate their level of responsibility, span of control, and performance.
• Identifies, assesses, and mitigates risks. These risks may arise from numerous sources (e.g., financial instability, legal obligations, strategic management mistakes, and unforeseen incidents).
• Ensures program/portfolio/product and personnel adhere to all organizational policies and procedures, as well as any relevant laws and regulations, including MTA standards, ethical polices and guidelines. Performs periodic recertifications of devices and user usage. 
• Establishes and monitors metrics for organizational performance to ensure alignment with MTA's objectives. Responsible for maintaining dashboards, deploying tools for service optimization, and overseeing usage to enhance monitoring effectiveness.
• If applicable, identifies and selects vendors and products to be standardized by MTA, and orchestrates the establishment of contracts for their initial purchase and continued procurement.
• Collaborates with MTA IT Finance, technical teams, Legal, Procurement, specific MTA agency personnel, and vendors to establish contractual agreements and distribution protocols.
• Performs other duties and tasks as assigned.
• Observes the work performed by the contractor.
• Reviews invoices and approves them if the work meets contractual standards.
• Addresses performance issues with the contractor when possible.
• Escalates issues to other parties as needed.

Required Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Technical Skills

• Expert in deep understanding of technology.
• Expert ability to develop and implement enterprise product solutions. Ability to prioritize, handle multitask and work in an agile environment. Ability to quickly learn and understand new technologies.
• Strong experience in managing projects and initiatives.
• Strong experience with constant shifting needs and demands of the business Departments.
• Strong experience in at least one software engineering methodology, including but not limited to: Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, DevOps, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, Lean, Rapid Application Development (RAD)
• Experience with the following language(s): Job Specific (e.g., Ruby, Python, Java, C++, COBOL, etc.)
• Experience with the following vendor-specific platforms: Job Specific (e.g., Azure, Windows Server platforms, or Linux).
• 10+ years of IT leadership experience with enterprise timekeeping, payroll, or workforce management platforms (e.g., UKG/Kronos, SAP Time, Oracle HCM, Workday Time).
• Strong understanding of labor rules, wage and hour regulations, and collective bargaining agreement implementation within timekeeping systems.
• Proven experience supporting union-based workforces, including the ability to interpret and automate complex pay and scheduling rules.
• Working knowledge of the job pick-to-payroll process and its system integration requirements preferred.
• 7+ years of experience with Oracle technologies, including Oracle Forms, Reports, PL/SQL, and Oracle APEX.
• Experience in driving initiatives such as system scalability, performance, data integrity, and security.
• Experience in leading upgrade and modernization initiatives (e.g., from Oracle Forms to APEX, or cloud adoption).
• Experience in establishing development standards, code review processes, and best practices for Oracle development.
• Knowledge of workforce compliance, scheduling, and labor rules.
• Experience with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) or similar cloud platforms.
• Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and automated deployment tools.

Leadership Skills

• Expert leadership in leading change by developing inter/intra team communication and cohesiveness; sustainment of culture and supporting staff during organizational growth/changes.
• Expert leadership in leading people by working with staff to develop systems to ensure consistent, high-quality project management discipline for all technology-related initiatives and endeavors.
• Expert leadership in driving results by meeting organizational goals and customer expectations, and making decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
• Expert leadership in business acumen by providing direction on evaluation, selection, implementation, and maintenance of information systems, ensuring appropriate investment in strategic and operational systems.
• Expert leadership in building coalition by internally and externally building partnerships with key stakeholders to help achieve the MTA’s mission or common goals through influence or negotiations.

Behavioral Skills

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, provide coaching, and direct feedback.
• Expert in active listening, attention to detail, customer service, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.
• Expert in working independently and strategically.
• Expert in identifying and analyzing risks and developing effective mitigation strategies.
• Expert technical knowledge and a diverse skillset to understand various technologies, systems, and potential risks.
• Expert in critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Expert in interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with both technical and non-technical peers.
• Expert in managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing tasks based on urgency and impact.
• Extensive hands-on experience with related tools.
• Expert experience with working under pressure and meeting deadlines individually and collaboratively. Thinks logically, assesses problems, and is results-oriented.
• Expert in identifying complex business and technology risks and associated vulnerabilities.
• Expert in communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, to interact with team members, customers, management, and support personnel (technical and non-technical).
• Expert in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization, and with both internal and external customers.

Competencies:

Required Education and Experience:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree or related fields or equivalent experience. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience with a minimum of four years’ supervisory/ management experience

Other Information

May need to work outside of normal work hours (i.e., evenings and weekends)

Travel may be required to other MTA locations or other external sites.

According to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

Equal Employment Opportunity

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including those concerning veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.