National recruiting for DOT programs, highway design, traffic engineering, transit planning, and multimodal infrastructure across the AEC and infrastructure sectors. Licensed PEs, program managers, and transportation planners placed in all 50 states.
Metro Associates delivers specialized staffing across DOT, federal highway, transit, and private capital programs nationwide. With very successful experience recruiting within the AEC and infrastructure sectors, including civil, water/wastewater, transportation, and project management, we bring cross-disciplinary depth to every search.
Recruiting expertise
Transportation hiring is driven by letting schedules and program funding, so the question that decides the route is whether the need outlives the project.
Highway, traffic and ITS engineers, transportation planners and licensed PEs. The bottleneck is rarely graduates. It is the five to fifteen year band holding a PE plus a specific agency's project history, and that band is recruited, not advertised to.
DOT program directors, transportation practice leaders and the people who own a state agency relationship. Moving one is a visible event in a small market, so the approach is direct and the process stays confidential on both sides.
Planning and design capacity around a letting date or a funded program, staffed for that window instead of carried year round. Federal program funding arrives on its own schedule, and headcount that ignores it gets expensive in both directions.
Beyond licensure, every candidate is evaluated against the specific tools, certifications, and methods transportation programs actually require.
2026 national compensation trends
45+ years of proven results placing transportation engineers on DOT, federal, and private capital programs — from single-discipline PEs to full program delivery teams.
We recruit within the AEC and infrastructure sectors, including civil, transportation, water/wastewater, and project management — giving us cross-disciplinary insight no generalist firm can match.
Our researchers reach high-performing transportation engineers who are not actively searching job boards — licensed PEs, senior planners, and program managers with active federal and state program experience.
We track NCEES Records and comity timelines for transportation PEs relocating across state lines, so a six-week licensure gap does not appear after an offer is accepted.
Deep fluency in FHWA funded project requirements, NEPA permitting workflows, state DOT design standards, and DBE reporting — so candidates we present are ready for compliant program environments.
Looking to scale your DOT program team or find your next transportation role? Tell us what you need.
We recruit for firms whose projects are entered, and recognized, in the programs below. Metro doesn’t enter them; a recruiting firm isn’t eligible. We place the engineers who deliver the work that does, which is why we track what these juries reward.
ACECEngineering Excellence AwardsThe engineering profession's flagship project competition, judged on innovation, complexity and social value. Categories include Building/Technology Systems, Energy, Water and Transportation.State → nationalACECACEC state & metro member organizationsNational entries must come up through one of 51 state and metropolitan organizations, so every state runs its own Engineering Excellence competition first.All 50 states + DC
ENRBest Projects & Best of the BestRegional project awards across every state, DC and Puerto Rico, judged in 18 categories from airport/transit to sports/entertainment, plus special awards for safety and sustainability. Regional winners advance to the national round.Regional → nationalEvery US state and Washington, DC runs its own Engineering Excellence competition. See the state-by-state list.
Each logo is the trademark of the organization that runs the program, shown to identify it. Metro Associates is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a winner of any of them; our clients are the entrants.
Transportation, infrastructure & municipal projects
Mechanical, electrical & plumbing systems
Treatment, distribution & stormwater programs
Materials testing, bridge & roadway inspection
Public works & capital improvement programs
Bridge design, high-rise & seismic retrofit
AEC program directors, PMs & owner's reps
Licensure and comity, pay by seniority, consulting against agency work, and what is hardest to fill.
