Bus Operations Division Director

Posting number: 2026AA27789

Department: MTD - Metro Transit

Division: Bus Operations

Job classification: Division Director-Bus Operations (Z3 : KC Personnel Guidelines)

Posting type: Open & Promotional

Categories: Transportation, Executive Management, Transit

Summary

We are only accepting applications from current Metro Transit employees

Building the Workforce That Powers King County’s Vision

King County Metro has an exciting opportunity for our next Bus Operations Division Director. This leadership role will contribute to improving processes, make data-driven decisions, and implement innovative initiatives and transformational policies and practices that ensure the success of all Metro divisions. The Director will work in partnership with employees, colleagues, and stakeholders to ensure Metro provides world-class service while advancing King County’s Vision, Mission, and ACTIVATE values in everything the division does.

This senior leader will report directly to Metro’s Deputy General Manager, Ernest Kandilige, and in partnership with the Bus Operations Deputy Director, provide strategic direction and leadership to the Bus Operations Division and deliver results for General Manager Michelle Allison’s leadership team.

Our Vision, Mission, and ACTIVATE Values

King County’s Vision is a vibrant, inclusive, and resilient region where every individual and community is safe, connected, housed, healthy, and empowered to succeed. Our Mission is to be a high-performing organization that delivers excellent services, drives progress, improves lives, and strengthens our region. Our ACTIVATE values are our shared expectations for how we act, make decisions, and deliver change for the people of King County:

• Accountable — we own our commitments and our outcomes
• Collaborative — we achieve more by working across teams and with our partners
• Timely — we deliver when we say we will
• Impactful — we focus our effort where it matters most
• Value Employees — we invest in the people who do the work
• Accessible — we make our services and our workplace easy to reach and understand
• Trusted — we act with integrity and transparency
• Equitable — we work to close gaps and expand opportunity for all

Every Bus Operations Division Director candidate should be prepared to lead through these values — not as a slogan, but as the operating standard for how the division runs 24/7, 365 days a year.

About Bus Operations

The Bus Operations Division operates Metro Transit buses 24/7 and 365 days a year on over 200 routes, nine of which are operated for Sound Transit. Metro carries roughly 286,400 riders on an average weekday and about 94.5 million riders a year — more than any other transit agency in the northwest United States — across a fleet of approximately 1,540 buses supported by around 2,477 full- and part-time operators. The division is organized into two sections:

Base Management: Focusing management attention and support toward our transit operators who provide direct service to the riding public at Metro’s eight bus bases: Atlantic Base, Bellevue Base, Central Base, East Base, North Base, Ryerson Base, South Base, and Tukwila Base.

Service Management: Provides critical support services to fixed-route operations to ensure exemplary service. The section is comprised of five work groups: Transit Control Center, Service Quality, Systems Impacts, Bus Operations Training, and Planning and Technical Support.

This is a pivotal moment to lead Bus Operations. The King County Council’s adopted 2026–2027 budget adds more than 400,000 hours of bus service, connects riders to new Sound Transit Link light rail stations, and continues investment in zero-emission fleet conversion, facility safety, and cleaning. The division is also extending the Safety, Security and Fare Enforcement (SaFE) Reform initiative, advancing the Service & Workforce initiative to hire and train the operators who deliver that growing service.

By providing safe, clean, reliable, and equitable public transportation services, we can — and will — improve regional mobility and quality of life in King County. If you are ready to join us on this journey and would like to have a confidential discussion about the opportunity, you are invited to contact our HR Manager, Angela Alcaraz, at aalcaraz@kingcounty.gov or (206) 263-2466. 

To learn more about the Metro Transit Department, visit