Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Urban Transport Project Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Urban Transport Project Assistant supports delivery of urban mobility and public transport projects by providing day-to-day program coordination, technical support, data analysis, stakeholder liaison, procurement and M&E assistance. This role ensures project activities are implemented on time, within budget, and in compliance with financial, environmental and social safeguards and donor requirements. The position works closely with project managers, technical specialists, local authorities and consultants to translate plans into on-the-ground results that improve sustainable mobility, safety and accessibility.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Transport Planner / Graduate Transport Analyst
Project Support Officer (Infrastructure / Urban)
Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant

Advancement To:

Urban Transport Project Officer / Coordinator
Transport Planner or Traffic Engineer
Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist

Lateral Moves:

Procurement / Contracts Officer (in infrastructure projects)
Stakeholder Engagement or Communications Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Assist the Project Manager in day-to-day project coordination, preparing activity schedules, tracking milestones, and maintaining the project workplan and detailed Gantt charts to ensure timely delivery of urban transport interventions.
Prepare, consolidate and submit monthly and quarterly progress reports, technical notes and donor deliverables (including attachments), ensuring consistency with the project monitoring framework and donor guidelines.
Support baseline, midline and endline data collection and analysis for mobility, ridership and accessibility indicators — design questionnaires, supervise field teams, ensure data quality and produce clean datasets for analysis.
Carry out traffic and passenger counts, intercept surveys, and origin-destination studies; compile, clean and analyze survey results to inform route planning, service frequency and performance monitoring.
Produce GIS maps, spatial analyses and visualizations (network maps, service coverage, accessibility heatmaps) to support design reviews, stakeholder meetings and public engagement materials.
Support transport modeling and simulation activities by preparing inputs, running model scenarios (travel demand models, micro-simulations) and documenting results for technical teams and decision makers.
Assist in drafting Terms of Reference (TORs), scopes of work, and evaluation criteria for consultants and small works contracts; support the procurement process and tender evaluation in line with donor procurement rules.
Monitor and report on contract implementation and contractor performance, including site supervision notes, progress photographs, compliance checks and raising non-conformance reports where needed.
Maintain project financial tracking documents: update budget spreadsheets, log expenditures, prepare payment requests and support reconciliation for grants, subprojects and petty cash.
Support environmental and social safeguard compliance by documenting mitigation measures, collecting monitoring data, assisting with grievance redress logs and ensuring community outreach is recorded.
Coordinate and organize stakeholder consultations, workshops and trainings with city departments, transit operators, civil society and private sector partners; prepare agendas, minutes and follow-up action trackers.
Assist in the design and implementation of pilot interventions (e.g., bus priority measures, protected cycle lanes, smart ticketing pilots) including procurement of equipment, field set-up and data collection for evaluation.
Maintain a comprehensive project documentation system: filing technical reports, minutes, contracts, permits and GIS layers to support audit readiness and institutional memory.
Support development and revision of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and quality assurance checklists for construction supervision, service monitoring and data collection.
Conduct desk-based research and benchmarking on best practices (BRT, integrated ticketing, non-motorized transport, TOD) and prepare concise policy briefs and presentations for municipal counterparts.
Liaise with municipal departments, transport operators and donor representatives to coordinate approvals, permits and inter-agency information sharing required for project activities.
Support social inclusion activities by assisting in gender analysis, vulnerability mapping and ensuring community engagement processes are accessible to women, elderly and people with disabilities.
Assist in the implementation of road safety audits, collecting crash data, analyzing high-risk corridors and supporting small-scale remedial works and awareness campaigns.
Help maintain and improve the project’s M&E system: update indicator databases, calculate targets and achievements, and visualize trends for internal and external stakeholders.
Provide administrative support for consultancy management: track deliverables, facilitate review cycles, coordinate payments and ensure timely contract closure.
Support internal and external communications by preparing concise technical summaries, briefing notes, slide decks and public-facing content on project achievements and lessons learned.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with procurement documentation, bid evaluations and compliance checks for small works and goods.
Provide on-site logistical support during pilot roll-outs and public consultations, including setting up equipment and coordinating field staff.
Backup project communications: maintain social media updates, prepare press release drafts and compile success stories for donor newsletters.
Provide administrative support including travel arrangements, meeting coordination and minute taking for technical steering committees.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Transport planning and urban mobility fundamentals — public transport operations, network planning, scheduling and service optimization.
Data collection and analysis — survey design, SPSS/STATA/R/Excel data cleaning and statistical analysis.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) — spatial analysis, QGIS/ArcGIS, mapping public transport routes and accessibility analysis.
Transport modeling basics — experience with travel demand models, micro-simulation tools (e.g., VISUM, VISSIM) or familiarity with model inputs and outputs.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) — indicator development, baseline/endline measurement, logical frameworks and results reporting.
Field survey management — supervising field enumerators, tablets/CAPI systems (SurveyCTO, ODK), and quality assurance protocols.
Procurement and contract administration — drafting TORs, understanding donor procurement rules (e.g., World Bank, ADB) and managing consultant contracts.
Project reporting and documentation — preparing donor reports, technical memos, and maintaining filing systems.
Financial literacy — basic budget tracking, expense reporting and supporting financial reconciliation.
Road safety and non-motorized transport (NMT) interventions — knowledge of street design, protected cycling infrastructure and pedestrian improvements.
Environmental and social safeguards — familiarity with mitigation measures, GRM procedures and social inclusion considerations.
Microsoft Office Suite — advanced Excel (pivot tables, vlookups), PowerPoint for presentations and Word for technical documentation.
Basic database and SQL familiarity (desirable) — managing indicator databases and querying datasets.

Soft Skills

Strong verbal and written communication — clear technical writing and ability to present complex findings to non-technical stakeholders.
Stakeholder engagement and diplomacy — ability to work collaboratively with municipal officials, operators, NGOs and communities.
Attention to detail and quality orientation — ensuring data, contracts and reports are accurate and audit-ready.
Time management and multitasking — prioritize competing deliverables in a fast-paced project environment.
Problem-solving and initiative — identify risks and propose practical mitigation measures.
Teamwork and collaboration — supportive team member who assists technical specialists and external consultants.
Cultural sensitivity and community focus — experience engaging diverse, multi-lingual urban populations.
Facilitation and workshop skills — design and run stakeholder workshops, trainings and public consultations.
Adaptability and resilience — field-oriented, comfortable with site visits and changing project priorities.
Continuous learning mindset — eagerness to grow technical skills in transport planning, data analytics and project management.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Transport Planning, Urban Planning, Geography, Economics or a closely related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree or postgraduate qualification in Transport Planning, Urban Mobility, Infrastructure Management, Public Policy or related disciplines.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Urban and Transport Planning
Civil/Traffic Engineering
Geography and GIS
Economics, Public Policy and Development Studies

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2 – 5 years of relevant professional experience supporting urban transport, public transport or infrastructure projects.

Preferred:

3 – 7 years with demonstrated experience on donor-funded or municipal transport projects, hands-on fieldwork (surveys, pilot implementation), and familiarity with procurement and M&E systems. Experience with GIS, transport modeling inputs, and stakeholder coordination in low- or middle-income city contexts is an advantage.