Chief Operating Officer

Position Summary

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) serves as a key member of COTAs Executive Leadership Team and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of service operations and customer care. Reporting directly to the Deputy CEO, the COO provides vision, strategy, and leadership to ensure safe, reliable, innovative, and accessible mobility services.

Performs other duties in alignment with the COTA Strategic Plan and in support of the organizations vision to Move Every Life Forward.

Essential Job Functions

Executive Leadership & Strategy

Provide overall leadership for COTAs operations division, aligning strategies with organizational goals and regional mobility priorities.

Partner with the CEO, Deputy CEO and executive team to define and execute long-term strategies for service growth.

Advance data-driven decision-making by leveraging technology platforms and analytics tools to optimize transit operations, improve fleet performance, enhance maintenance planning, and support real-time service monitoring and customer responsiveness.

Ensure integration and coordination between fixed-route, paratransit, on-demand, and customer care operations.

Operational Excellence

Drive a culture of safety, reliability, and accountability across all operational areas.

In collaboration with the Director of Safety, oversee and implement risk management strategies, ensuring proactive identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks related to service reliability, fleet performance, regulatory compliance, and workplace safety.

Direct emergency preparedness and crisis management planning for Operations division, including development of response protocols, coordination with local agencies, and execution of drills to ensure continuity of service and safety of passengers and staff during critical incidents.

Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for service reliability, customer satisfaction, safety, and efficiency.

Lead efforts to modernize fleet, facilities, and technology to enhance service delivery and sustainability.

Champion sustainability initiatives across transit operations, including the adoption of low-emission technologies, optimization of fleet efficiency, and integration of environmentally responsible practices into maintenance and service delivery strategies.

Financial & Resource Stewardship

Oversee operational budgets, ensuring fiscal responsibility, transparency, and alignment with strategic priorities.

Optimize resource allocation across departments to maximize value for the community.

Workforce & Culture

Provide leadership, guidance, and mentorship to Deputy Chief Operating Officers and operational leaders.

Lead organizational turnaround and culture transformation by embedding the agencys core values, SEATS Safety, Empowerment, Accountability, Transparency, and Service into daily operations, leadership practices, and workforce engagement, fostering a resilient, high-performance, and customer-centric culture.

Ensure strong labor-management relations and compliance with collective bargaining agreements.

Community & Stakeholder Engagement

Represent COTA in external forums, industry associations, and with community stakeholders.

Partner with regional agencies, municipalities, and mobility providers to expand access and improve service delivery.

Act as a visible leader and spokesperson for COTAs operational initiatives.

Other Job Functions

Works collaboratively with the Deputy CEO to help the COTA Board of Directors monitor and evaluate COTAs relevancy to the community and its effectiveness in achieving its mission.

Confer with the CEO and Deputy CEO on policy matters and strategies to accomplish organizational goals.

Participates in negotiations of all collective bargaining agreements and other labor relations.

Administers through the Operations departments, COTA's Bargaining Agreement with Transport Workers Union, Local 208 to promote sound and effective labor relations.

May represent COTA before local, regional, state and federal government agencies, boards, commissions and conferences.

Directs and provides leadership for staff. Hires, trains, develops, and appraises staff effectively. Ensures the organization meets its EEO responsibilities by assisting in identifying problem areas, participating in local minority organizations, participating in review of complaints alleging discrimination, and supporting career counseling for employees. Takes corrective action as necessary, on a timely basis, and in accordance with policy.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Education & Experience Required

Requires a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, Transportation Management, Engineering, or a related field and at least fifteen (15) years increasingly responsible managerial experience working in a multi-modal public transportation operations and/or maintenance environment at the director or executive level.

An equivalent combination of education in business or public administration and experience in transit operations leadership will also be considered.

Licenses & Certifications

Certified Transit Manager (CTM) preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Knowledge of public transportation.

Knowledge of vehicle maintenance and engineering operations.

Ability to interrelate well with colleagues, various public officials and agencies and members of the Central Ohio community.

Demonstrated experience in working with appointed or elected Board of Trustees.

Ability to create and enhance policies, procedures and programs to achieve agency goals for a more effective organization that is financially sustainable. Ability to lead and achieve objectives across divisional lines.

Ability to inspire, persuade, engage, speak straight-forwardly about complex transit issues, make tough decisions and take difficult actions. Display balanced thinking that combines analysis, wisdom, experience and perspective.

Ability to generate new, innovative and visionary approaches to transit systems that are effective and responsive. Brings a perspective on emerging and leading transit trends and best practices.

Knowledge of the MS Office (or similar) package, including but not limited to Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Skills in verbal and written communication.

Skills in communicating with all levels of supervisory and non-supervisory employees, contractors, vendors, government entities, and community, and others internal and external to the organization.

Ability to develop and maintain a cost-effective operating budget.

Ability to define problems, research issues and develop logical and practical solutions within the framework of general principles of transportation and the policies and procedures of the organization.

Physical Requirements

This position requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body and the following additional physical abilities:

Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discrimination in sound.

Mental Acuity: Ability to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive processes.

Speaking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word including the ability to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately and concisely.

Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word including those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.

Visual Acuity 1: Have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; and/or extensive reading.

Visual Acuity 4: Have visual acuity to operate motor vehicles and/or heavy equipment.

COTA has the right to revise this position description at any time. This position description does not represent in any way a contract of employment.

To apply, please send your resume to:

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