Toole Design Seeks Portland Office Director
After more than 37 years of work in transportation engineering, Rob Burchfield, PE will be transitioning from full-time work at Toole Design. Rob opened Toole Design’s Portland office in 2016, after spending nearly 30 years in the public sector serving most recently as Chief Traffic Engineer for the City of Portland. He will move to his new role with our firm as a part-time Senior Engineer and Adviser in spring 2019.
“Rob’s impact on the practice of multimodal transportation, and on Toole Design, has been essential to the growth we have seen for the industry and for our firm” said RJ Eldridge, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Growth & Innovation. “His work establishing Portland as a model for integrated networks of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure helped communities across the country see that potential for their own streets.”
Throughout his career in the public and private sectors, Rob has been instrumental in helping cities across the country expand mode share for biking, walking, and transit. Inspired by a study tour of major European cities, Rob helped meet the growing need for design guidance for multimodal streets by leading the development of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO’s) Urban Bikeway Design Guide. Rob’s achievements also earned him the 2009 Public Sector Professional of the Year award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.
During the past three and a half years, Rob led the growth of our Portland office from a staff of two to a team of 14 transportation planning, design, and research professionals working on innovative solutions to multimodal transportation challenges across the country. Our Portland office, located in the heart of downtown, is made up of a talented group of planners, engineers, and urban designers, including members of our research team and bikeshare practice, working on projects in Oregon and beyond. The office also serves as a west coast administrative hub for our marketing and administrative teams that support our work across North America.
As Rob prepares to transition from his current role, Toole Design is seeking a dynamic, experienced leader for our Portland office with a vision for active transportation in communities across the US and Canada. Our team in Portland is talented, creative, and passionate about the work we do, and we’re looking for the right person to manage our office, exceed client expectations on every project, and lead business development efforts in Portland and beyond from our west coast administrative hub. Toole Design is committed to inclusivity and diversity and strives for our offices to reflect the communities in which we work. If you are a collaborative, passionate transportation professional committed to advancing both the practice of active transportation and the careers of the staff in your office, please consider applying. More information about the position is available here.
