Employees

Manager, Highway Design and Traffic Engineering

Employee Name:

Nini Long

Title:

Manager, Highway Design and Traffic Engineering

Ministry:

Ministry of Transportation

Background:

Education: Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering (UBC)
Member of the BC Public Service Since: 2001

My Role

I manage the Highway Engineering group for the Northern Region. My team consists of 17 technical staff and my business unit consists of three groups: Highway Design, Survey, and Traffic Engineering. Our region extends just south of Prince George, north to the BC/Yukon border, west to the Queen Charlottes, and east to the BC/Alberta border. In my role, I provide support to the Region and to the Districts with respect to Highway Engineering services. I ensure that all work complies with Ministry and engineering standards, practices, and policies. The ultimate goal is to provide a safe and reliable transportation network for the travelling public.

Career Path:

I completed university with the notion of becoming a geneticist but came to the realization that I didn't want to spend my career in a laboratory. As a result, I completed my last year of Science in the Ecology and Environmental Biology department. I went on to complete a Civil Engineering Degree, with a specialization in Environmental Engineering. I worked as a summer student with the Ministry of Transportation and upon graduation, I rejoined the Ministry as an auxiliary staff member. I applied to the Ministry's Engineer-in-Training program and after four years, I gained my professional designation as an engineer. I worked as the Regional Design Engineer for one year before moving into the management stream.

What I Like Best:

What I like best about my job is the freedom and opportunity to explore my interests and to diversify my skills. Particularly in my current role, and at this juncture in time, I feel that I have a great deal of latitude to try new things and to introduce new ideas. I am greatly encouraged by the exciting initiatives being introduced by the BC Public Service, such as flexible benefits. There's a lot of new life being breathed into this giant that is our Public Service and I find that to be extremely stimulating. I get to work on a variety of projects in all of the different parts of the province.

Ideas At Work:

We work on improving safety and efficiency of transportation, something citizens of B.C. access everyday. My job really does physically impact people on a daily basis. It's the one thing that really links us, the transportation network. I'm responsible for either new designs or existing infrastructures and we're coming up with new designs, new safety features and anything in need of upgrade. On my team, there is ample opportunity for everyone to generate and contribute ideas.

Advice:

The opportunities for growth, development, and advancement are abundant, but a person can only capitalize on opportunities if they have a solid understanding of their own skills, abilities and personality. Although technical competencies are important, one's attitude will ultimately determine the level of success achieved. You do have to have an engineering degree to do this job. The Engineer-In-Training program for recent graduates is four years long and allows you to take on different assignments and increasing levels of responsibility. You can then apply for work experience and can move around province.