Vice President, Public Outreach - Transportation at Bodewell Group | San Diego, CA | $140K/yr – $180K/yr

Bodewell Group

Vice President, Public Outreach - Transportation

San Diego, CA (Hybrid)

$140K/yr – $180K/yrSenior Level15+ years expFull time

Posted 4 months ago

Top 1% of applicants do these two things.

The other 99% submit and hope. You're about to do something different.

Job Summary

Drive transportation public outreach and strategic communications programs, leading teams, budgets, and client relationships at the senior level.

Own end-to-end transportation outreach programs, budgets, and client relationships
Must-have: 15+ years in transportation public outreach/public affairs with proven large-project management
Standout: leadership of multi-account proposals and cross-brand collaboration

Job Description

Responsibilities

Forecast staffing needs for all transportation business line projects and contracts, regularly reporting fluctuations in staffing needs to the SVP, Client Excellence, Chief People Officer and VP of Finance
Support key company initiatives and promote company positions and needs with junior staff
Manage all budgeting and invoicing for transportation business line clients as well as forecast costs for proposed strategies
Present strong project management skills, which is defined as the ability to oversee all aspects of a project at a detailed level and leading client interactions independently, without requiring additional oversight from senior leadership (SVP and above)
Build and maintain meaningful relationships with targeted, high-level external audiences, contributing to the company’s overall engagement and business development efforts in various industries and markets
Serve as a positive role model who actively coaches junior staff by providing constructive feedback and coaching discussions
Coach supervisorial staff (Managers and Directors) towards maximizing performance, and ensure they have the resources needed to provide the best possible product to the client. This includes coaching staff towards internal utilization targets
Maintain an understanding of current transportation industry-related public outreach, public affairs, engagements and communications best practices, tactics and tools to provide strategic direction to clients
Work closely with Executive Committee members to develop and drive strategic direction in order to meet organizational communications goals
Develop and manage a team towards execution of strategic communication programs that could include community relations, public outreach, public affairs, social media, media relations, CEO positioning, etc.
Oversee a mix of small to large-scale communication-related projects, managing deliverables, budgets, timelines and teams to ensure expected outcomes are delivered on time and on budget
Review collateral such as fact sheets, maps, eblasts, press releases, etc. and ensure the best product is being put forth to the client
Experience managing and supporting transportation industry communications and public outreach across all phases of an infrastructure project – planning, design, environmental review, construction, and operations
Deep understanding of key policy issues in the transportation industry and ability to translate highly technical jargon into 3rd grade comprehension level
Familiarity with construction outreach management and demonstrated experience collaborating with contractors and other third-party organizations to support transportation project development
Experience managing complex, multilingual public outreach campaigns and understanding of how to reach traditionally underserved populations through culturally conscious strategies and tactics
Develop and manage all transportation business line proposals, leading all stages of the process. This may include qualifications, strategy and approach development, proposal planning, interview preparations and execution and more
Actively search for business opportunities by attending networking and community events, participating in professional associations and meeting informally with government contacts and other potential referral sources
Must actively manage personnel. This includes regular coaching and feedback through 121s, quarterly and annual review cycles, and ad-hoc coaching conversations
Contribute to companywide professional development efforts, including, but not limited to leading internal development courses, working one on one with staff on coaching scenarios and feedback, encouraging junior staff to shadow meetings for learning purposes, and more in cross-network collaboration across the brands?

Requirements

15+ years of relevant experience in transportation public outreach/public affairs or a related field
10+ years of agency experience OR 5+ years of agency experience and 10+ of in-house experience with a local or state transportation agency
Bachelor's degree in a related field
Proven ability to manage large projects as well as small teams on one or more sizable accounts
Continued management of an account for a minimum of 3 years
Experience managing both retainer and hourly billable projects
Experience supporting transportation infrastructure projects
Demonstrated active efforts to better the business rather than focusing on individual advancement
Average monthly utilization of 85% or higher (internal applicants only)
Management of two or more significant client accounts, with a combined minimum revenue target between combined accounts
Supervision of a team of staff members on major accounts
Experience as a direct supervisor of more than three staff, including participating in regular review cycles for direct reports
Willingness to work on any company project, including projects across verticals, as asked
Generation of three or more quality business leads per year that result in submitted proposals or add to monthly revenue targets
Regularly serve on at least one high profile community or industry-specific board or commission
Attends a minimum of six non-client community events per year
Available to work weekends or extended hours as needed
Meetings with non-client contacts (i.e., business referral sources) in government, business or media a minimum of six times per year
Travel is required up to 20-30% of the time. Additional travel may arise to accommodate project demands and conference participation

Preferred

Bodewell Group

Bodewell Group is a strategic communications firm advancing the building blocks of society. Through strategic advisory and integrated communications, we support infrastructure projects, technology advancements and public policies that shape how communities and people live, move, connect and prosper. We serve public and private sector clients across water, transportation, energy, technology, land use and other areas fundamental to evolving society. We build awareness, drive stakeholder alignment and move initiatives forward through strategic planning and full-service communications, including public affairs, community engagement and advocacy, public relations, digital marketing, content and creative development. Bodewell Group was formerly Southwest Strategies Group. The firm, along with its acquired agencies—Katz & Associates, BergDavis Public Affairs, ColLAborate and Kiterocket—rebranded to Bodewell Group in February 2026, moving forward under one united vision and name.

Founded in 2000

San Diego, California, USA

122 employees (23 in marketing)

www.bodewellgroup.com