Chief Mechanical Officer - Railroad

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), operator of the South Shore Line, is seeking a proven passenger-rail mechanical executive to lead the safety, reliability, availability, and cost-effective maintenance of its electric multiple-unit railcar fleet, other rolling stock, maintenance equipment, and mechanical facilities. Reporting to executive leadership, the Chief Mechanical Officer (CMO) will be a visible, hands-on leader who establishes clear standards, uses performance data to drive decisions, develops supervisors and employees, and builds a culture in which safety, accountability, operational discipline, and continuous improvement are non-negotiable.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Mechanical Operations

• Direct all mechanical operations involving inspection, maintenance, repair, overhaul, testing, and servicing of locomotives, passenger railcars and shop facilities.

• Develop and execute preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance programs that improve fleet availability, reduce road failures and repeat defects, and maximize equipment service life.

• Establish and enforce mechanical standards, maintenance procedures, configuration controls, quality assurance processes, and auditable equipment-performance measures.

• Own daily and long-range maintenance planning, fleet availability, backlog reduction, capital equipment replacement, warranty recovery, material availability, and lifecycle asset management.

• Develop and manage operating and capital budgets; establish disciplined controls for staffing, overtime authorization, contractor use, purchasing, and capital-project delivery; and take timely corrective action when performance or spending varies from plan.

• Coordinate mechanical activities with Transportation, Engineering, Operations, Procurement, and Safety departments to support reliable passenger service.

• Implement and maintain an effective computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), including accurate asset records, work orders, inspection documentation, defect history, labor charging, parts usage, and management reporting.

• Translate service requirements into a disciplined daily fleet plan and provide executive leadership with timely, accurate reporting on fleet condition, risks, resource needs, and recovery actions.

Safety Leadership

• Serve as the executive leader responsible for the safety performance of all Mechanical Department employees, contractors, facilities, and equipment.

• Develop, implement, and enforce mechanical safety and compliance programs consistent with applicable FRA requirements, including 49 CFR Parts 229, 238, 239, 243, and 270; OSHA standards; environmental requirements; and District rules and policies.

• Build a proactive, just, and accountable safety culture that emphasizes visible field leadership, hazard recognition, stop-work responsibility, employee engagement, timely reporting, and continuous improvement.

• Ensure all shop employees and supervisors receive required safety training, qualification, certification, and recurring safety instruction.

• Require strict compliance with all personal protective equipment (PPE), lockout/tagout, confined space entry, hot work, fall protection, electrical safety, respiratory protection, and hazardous material handling procedures.

• Conduct regular shop safety inspections, audits, risk assessments, and workplace evaluations to identify hazards and implement corrective actions.

• Ensure supervisors perform routine job safety briefings and verify employees are following established safe work practices.

• Ensure prompt, fact-based investigation of injuries, near misses, equipment failures, derailments, rule violations, and other safety events; identify root and contributing causes; assign corrective actions; verify timely closure; and test whether corrective measures are effective.

• Monitor compliance with mechanical safety rules and hold managers, supervisors, and employees accountable for maintaining a safe work environment.

• Maintain a frequent, visible presence in shops and work areas across all shifts; verify that standards are understood and followed; and promptly correct unsafe conditions, at-risk practices, and weak supervisory controls.

• Lead emergency preparedness planning for mechanical operations, including emergency response procedures, evacuation plans, incident command coordination, and disaster recovery.

• Partner with labor representatives, safety committees, and regulatory agencies to promote workplace safety and regulatory compliance.

• Use leading and lagging safety indicators to identify trends, set improvement targets, communicate results candidly, and implement initiatives that measurably reduce risk and workplace injuries.

Leadership and Administration

• Lead, mentor, and develop managers, front-line supervisors, and mechanical employees through clear expectations, consistent follow-through, coaching, training, performance management, and succession planning.

• Foster teamwork, professionalism, accountability, and employee engagement throughout the Mechanical Department.

• Support collective bargaining agreement administration and maintain productive labor-management relationships.

• Plan staffing and assignments to meet service requirements efficiently, manage attendance and overtime within approved controls, and work constructively with labor representatives to resolve issues and improve performance.

• Establish and routinely report departmental goals and performance measures for safety, regulatory compliance, fleet availability, inspection compliance, mean distance between failures, road failures, repeat defects, maintenance backlog, workforce productivity, overtime, budget variance, and capital-project delivery.

• Represent the Mechanical Department during regulatory inspections, internal audits, and executive planning meetings.

Minimum Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Business Administration, Transportation, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and progressively responsible railroad mechanical experience.

• At least ten years of progressively responsible railroad or rail-transit mechanical experience, including at least five years leading managers or supervisors in a safety-sensitive, 24/7 maintenance operation. Passenger-rail maintenance leadership is strongly preferred.

• Working knowledge of applicable FRA passenger-equipment and mechanical regulations, OSHA standards, electric railcar or comparable rolling-stock systems, maintenance planning, quality assurance, and fleet-management systems.

• Demonstrated, measurable success improving employee safety, regulatory compliance, fleet availability, equipment reliability, labor productivity, cost control, and maintenance execution while leading a represented workforce and managing multimillion-dollar budgets.

• Strong record of ethical leadership, sound judgment, candid communication, labor-management collaboration, change leadership, and data-based decision-making.

• Ability to respond to mechanical emergencies and work outside normal business hours in support of a 24/7 passenger-rail operation.

• Valid driver's license and ability to satisfy all applicable safety-sensitive employment, background, and medical requirements.

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary is $159,650. Credit for time served in other railroad employment, including military leaves, will be applied in determining vacation day entitlements. Benefits include paid vacation, paid holidays, health club stipend, comp time, medical benefits, dental and vision benefits, health savings account, Railroad Retirement benefits, professional development and executive leadership opportunities, supplemental pension, and other competitive employee benefits.

How to Apply: You must visit our jobs page to apply. It can be found HERE.

If you cannot click the link, enter the following web address to your browser:

https://mysouthshoreline.com/careers

From there, submit a written resume outlining education, training, experience, and work history. A cover letter outlining the reasons why you are interested and why you believe you are best qualified is encouraged but not required.

Apply early for the best chance for consideration; the District reserves the option to close this position at any time.

This posting is scheduled to close on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

NICTD is an Equal Opportunity Employer