Claudia Russell

West Branch Chief, Transit Program Management @Federal Transit Administration

Washington, DC, US

Managing team of 4 general engineers and project oversight consultants, providing monthly and quarterly project management oversight and CFR regulatory compliance on all major capital transit projects within Regions 6-10. • Provide technical guidance to capital transit grant recipients and to project management oversight consultants (PMOCs); ensure clear communications on compliance expectations and document consistency• Coordinate with regional directors and contracting officers (CORs) to efficiently resolve project issues, improve knowledge sharing and assist sponsors in meeting grant requirements• Develop priorities and strategies for PMOC contract and task order management; ensure funding availability and minimize lapses in technical project management oversight for major capital projects• Forecast budgets and monitor PMOC contracts for Capital Investment Grant (CIG), New Starts, Small Starts, and TIGER/BUILD/RAISE programs. • Evaluate existing data management systems for tracking capital portfolio; provide process improvement recommendations on Excel records, SharePoint filing and other internal workflows• Brief senior leadership and Transit Office of Administration (TOA) at monthly capital project meetings on core KPIs, agenda items for TOA approval and substantial project changes within capital portfolio • Review and provide improvements recommendations on public facing operating procedures (OPs) to consultants/PMOCs on TPM oversight procedures and handbooks • Review correspondence for the Administrator, coordinate with regions to determine appropriate messaging to address change requests from transit project sponsor on cost, scope, schedule and operational impacts• Review OP reports at multiple stages of project lifecycle on topics including risk assessment, operational readiness, value engineering, management capability and capacity, project management plans, etc

Georgia Institute of Technology

BS, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Strategic Management