Fellowship Opportunity for College Seniors, Grad Students & Recent Grads

Full Job Description

This is a paid temporary position limited to a maximum of 9 months from the date of hire.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and this announcement will be closed when the position is filled. It is in your best interest to apply early.

Applications will be considered from residents and non-residents of Colorado.

CDOT has several prestigious paid fellowship opportunities for college seniors, graduate students and recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in any of the following areas:

• Risk and Resilience
• Office of Innovative Mobility
• Division of Transit and Rail
• Clean Transit Enterprise

These positions offer the opportunity to work on important research and assignments that support critical programs at our headquarters in Denver. This is your chance to apply what you've learned to make a positive impact on transportation in Colorado!

This is a paid temporary position limited to a maximum of 9 months from the date of hire. In addition to being a fantastic place to work, CDOT offers all temporary employees paid sick leave. Temporary employees accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capped at 48 hours.

Pay is determined by education level and qualifications.

About CDOT

Do you want to make a difference in Coloradans’ lives? Do you have a passion for helping people and keeping them safe?

At the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), you’ll have the opportunity to do just that.

The work our people do contributes to keeping Coloradans and visitors safe and provides freedom, connection, and experience through travel.

Please visit our careers page to learn about CDOT and how we are making Colorado a great place to live, work and play, now and for the future!

CDOT for All

CDOT’s strength is our people, and our commitment to our people is to shape, support, and sustain the employee experience, and ultimately, create a supportive workplace where everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, education, disability, socio-economic status, or any other identity, has the opportunity to thrive.

Requirements

These fellowship positions support programs based out of CDOT’s headquarters in Denver. The purpose is to provide meaningful professional experience for college seniors, graduate students and recent graduates with proven academic performance and a strong desire to learn and contribute.

What You will be Doing
Work assignments will vary by specialty area:

Risk and Resiliance Program - Performance & Asset Management (Division of Transportation Development) - The Office of Performance and Asset Management leads CDOT’s performance and asset-management programs by providing tools to effectively measure, analyze, forecast and communicate to staff and transportation stakeholders the performance of CDOT’s programs, processes and investment decisions.

Within this team, the Risk and Resilience Program seeks a Fellow to perform analysis and mature the program's capabilities to integrate relevant extreme weather and nonstationarity data into risk assessment methodologies.

While the concept of resilience is not limited to physical threats, this is the main focus of resilience work in transportation.

The Fellow will focus on implementation of nonstationarity approaches to enhance the resilience of transportation assets (for example, the design and maintenance of bridges to withstand low probability flood events).

An ideal candidate would have the following skills, experience, and/or qualities:

• Ability to conduct research and analysis on a range of resilience and transportation topics;
• Familiarity with data analysis, spreadsheet calculations, and Python-based modeling;
• Understanding of atmospheric science, meteorology, climate change studies, and/or natural sciences and physical systems;
• Capacity to draft technical memos, perform modeling analysis, and serve as a subject matter expert applying concepts to assess extreme weather events in a transportation planning context.

Innovative Mobility - The Office of Innovative Mobility (OIM) is focused on expanding mobility options through the use of traditional and emerging technologies.

The OIM Fellow would contribute to one or more long term projects focused on program design, procurement and implementation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) first responder training; researching existing and emerging strategies for reducing vehicle miles traveled; and supporting the development of statewide Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programming.

Additional projects or areas of work may be assigned over the course of the fellowship as dictated by the needs of the OIM Director and staff, or by outside forces such as new legislation.

An ideal candidate would demonstrate strong project management, research and writing skills, along with proficiency in data collection and analysis across a wide range of transportation and environmental topics.

Clean Transit Enterprise - CTE is looking for a current graduate student/ anyone who has recently compled an advanced degree.

The CTE Fellow will provide general project support to the Director and staff of the CTE while also leading one or more long-term planning projects focusing on topics such as demand forecasting and strategy for future ZEV capital grant rounds, collaborative multi-agency fleet transition planning, innovative loan and rebate programs to support transit electrification, and more.

Regular, ongoing activities may include the development and refinement of data to support a transit funding formula program and the development of reports and presentations to the legislature, Transportation Commission and transit stakeholders.

Additional projects or areas of work may be assigned over the course of the fellowship as dictated by the needs of the CTE Director, new legislation, or the direction of the CTE Board.

An ideal candidate would demonstrate strong project management, research, writing, data collection and data analysis skills.

An ideal candidate would demonstrate strong project management, research, writing, data collection and data analysis skills.

An ideal candidate would demonstrate strong project management, research, writing, data collection and data analysis skills.

Division of Transit and Rail (DTR) - A DTR Fellow will support the Transit Service Planning unit in the development of a Transit Connections Study Implementation Report.

This role will involve regular collaborationwith the Clean Transit Enterprise to help focus and implement recommendations from the Report, andwith the Bustang Operations team to support day-to-day analysis and continuous improvement of Bustangservices.

An ideal candidate would demonstrate proficiency in transportation planning, transit planning, or transit operations, along with strong data analysis, GIS, research and writing skills.

Work Environment:

• Most positions are based at CDOT's Headquarters located at 2829 W. Howard Place, Denver, CO 80204, although the Maintenance and Operations role may be based out of Golden.
• You will likely work a hybrid schedule with a combination of in-office and remote work.
• Expected work schedule is between Monday through Friday.
• The number of hours worked will depend on business need and candidate availability and may vary part/full-time.
• Use of a computer to accomplish everyday work duties

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications
Qualified candidates must be either:

• Any college senior or graduate student enrolled in an accredited college or university seeking a Bachelors, Masters or Ph.D. degree.

OR

• A recent college graduate. Recently graduated means the individual should have attended an accredited college or university and have graduated with an Associates, Bachelors, Masters or Ph.D. degree within three calendar years.

Please Note: The required experience must be substantiated within the work experience section of your application.

“See Resume” statements on the application or resumes in lieu of a complete application may not be accepted.

Additional information submitted after the closing date of this announcement will not be considered in the review of your application. In addition, part-time work will be prorated.

College Transcripts: If you are using education to qualify, a legible copy of your official or unofficial college transcript(s) or an official foreign credential evaluation report must be submitted with your application. Transcripts must show your name, the name of the school, completed credit hours, and (if applicable) current enrollment or that a degree was conferred. Transcripts from colleges or universities outside of the United States must have been assessed for U.S. equivalency by a NACES educational credential evaluation service. The credential evaluation report must be an official report. Failure to provide a transcript or official foreign credential evaluation report may result in your application being rejected and you will not be able to continue in the selection process for this position.

Conditions of Employment

• Must pass a pre-employment screening which may include social security number trace, criminal records check, public court records check, educational records, and driving records checks. More information in the supplemental information section.
• A current valid driver license is required for all Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) positions which require operating a state or personal motor vehicle to perform one or more essential functions of the position.

Preferred Qualifications
The exceptional applicant will be senior undergraduate or graduate college/university student, or recent graduate as defined above, with proven accomplishments in the following:

• Enrolled in or completed a degree with a major related to one of the specialty areas.
• Knowledge or interest in the transportation industry and a desire to learn more.
• Knowledge and understanding of theories, principles, and best practices of one of the targeted specialty technical areas.
• A collaborative spirit with excellent follow-up and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent organizational skills, an ability to prioritize tasks in a fast moving environment, self-direct, and take initiative with minimum supervision.
• Excellent reasoning, investigative, analytical, and problem solving ability.
• Strong communicator including interpersonal, written, and speaking skills.
• Highest work/personal ethics and integrity.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Passion for safety.
• Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Access), Gmail, and the ability to quickly learn other software systems.

Additional Information

Applicant Checklist

Complete Applications must include the following documents:

1. A complete CDOT Application for Announced Vacancy (please submit online using the green 'APPLY' button at the top of this announcement)

2. A complete Supplemental Questionnaire (The questionnaire is part of the online application. You will be prompted to answer them as you are completing your online application.)

A cover letter that describes your interest in this position, how your experience aligns with the minimum and preferred qualifications of this position.

Cover letters must be uploaded as an attachment to your online application. Cover letters will not be accepted after the closing date and time of the announcement.

3. A detailed chronological resume. Resumes must be uploaded as an attachment to your online application and will not be accepted after the closing date and time of the announcement.

4. A copy of your official or unofficial transcript showing completed coursework (and degree conferral if applicable) and the name of your school, or your NACES accreditation. Please submit this as an attachment to your online application.

Please note that you may redact information on your attachments that identifies your age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

Only complete applications submitted by the closing date for this announcement will be given consideration. Every effort must be made to submit all application materials by the announcement close date.

Where unusual circumstances prevent timely acquisition of transcripts, they must be submitted within five business days of the announcement close date.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application. Failure to submit properly completed documents by the closing date of this announcement may result in your application being rejected.

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.

The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.

Notifications:

All correspondence regarding your status in the selection/examination process will be via email.

Include your current working email address on your application and check your email frequently as you could receive time sensitive correspondence regarding this position.

We highly recommend that you set up your email to accept messages from "state.co.us" and "info@governmentjobs.com" addresses.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your email will accept these notices and/or review your junk mail and spam filtered email.

Immediately after you submit your application you should receive an email that confirms that you successfully submitted an application for this position.

If you do not, try submitting again until you receive the confirmation email. Be sure to also check your junk folder for email communications from the State of Colorado's website.

Employment Screening

If an applicant reaches the finalist stage of the hiring process, the Colorado Department of Transportation may procure a consumer report and/or investigative consumer report on the applicant in connection with his/her application for employment purposes, as defined under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

These reports may be obtained at any time after receipt of the applicant's authorization.

As part of the employment screening an applicant will be requested to disclose any deferred judgments and convictions as well as an explanation of the circumstances around any arrest or conviction.

In the event that a screening returns information that the applicant believes is not accurate, he or she will have an opportunity to dispute the information with “Accurate.”Accurate, a consumer reporting agency, will obtain the report for CDOT.

Further information regarding Accurate including its privacy policy, may be found online at www.accurate.com.

Accurate is located at 200 Spectrum Center Drive Suite 1100, Irvine, CA 92618.The report may contain information bearing on the applicant's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living.

The information that may be included in the report includes social security number trace, criminal records check, public court records checks, educational records, and driving records checks.

CDOT will only request credit reports insofar as they relate to the position for which the applicant is applying.

The information contained in the report will be obtained from private and/or public record sources.

The applicant will have the right, upon written request made within a reasonable time after receipt of a notice, to request disclosure of the nature and scope of any investigative consumer report.

ADAAA Accommodations

CDOT is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals.

As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship.

If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to Madelyn Katz at madelyn.katz@state.co.us.

Former State Employees

Former employees of the Colorado Department of Transportation System or any other State of Colorado Department or Agency, who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination, must disclose this information on his/her application.

MK (May2026Fellow)