Driver Engagement Advocate

About the role

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) is the City agency responsible for regulating for-hire transportation in New York City, including taxis, street hail liveries, high-volume for-hire services such as Uber and Lyft, black cars, luxury limousines, livery vehicles, commuter vans, and paratransit vehicles.

The TLC oversees a transportation ecosystem that moves nearly 1 million riders every single day the equivalent of the entire Boston transit system. TLC is the agency responsible for regulating New York City's taxicab and for-hire vehicle industry.

With approximately 180,000 licensed drivers, 1,000 businesses, 115,000 vehicles including and the iconic yellow taxi at the heart of our city's identity, TLC is entering a new era of dignity, accountability, and collaboration across the for hire vehicle sector.

TLC continues to be on the front lines of a rapidly changing mobility landscape and our innovative efforts--whether requiring minimum pay for app drivers, ensuring wheelchair accessible service, making our licensed fleet more environmentally sustainable, working to eliminate traffic fatalities, or preventing discriminatory service--often serve as a model for other cities.

In this New Era for TLC, the agency is guided by three core priorities:

• Driver and Passenger Dignity ensuring every interaction reflects respect and fairness
• Corporate Accountability holding regulated entities to consistent, transparent standards
• A Transportation System that Works Together equitable, modern, and accessible

The Office of Community Affairs (OCA) is the Taxi and Limousine Commission's primary public-facing unit. The office works to answer non-licensing-related correspondence, interfaces with elected officials and sister city agencies, and provides language access services to the agency. Importantly, the team works closely with the Office of Policy to keep licensees, industry stakeholders, and the riding public groups up to date on agency rules and initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Assistant Director of Strategic engagement the Driver Engagement advocate will conduct regular field outreach with TLC drivers at airports, taxi stands, transportation hubs, restaurants, garages, and other driver hotspots throughout New York City.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with drivers and driver organizations across the taxi and for-hire vehicle industries.
• Develop briefings, talking points, assessments, engagement plans, and other materials to support agency priorities.
• Draft clear memos with updates, recommendations, and follow-ups from every engagement to the manager and Assistant Commissioner for Engagement and Community Affairs.
• Report out updates at in-person team meetings and provide driver feedback.
• Attend driver meetings, association meetings, community events, roundtables, listening sessions, and other industry gatherings.
• Engage directly with drivers to understand their experiences, concerns, challenges, and priorities.
• Monitor and engage with driver conversations across social media, messaging platforms, online forums, and other communication channels.
• Identify recurring themes and emerging issues affecting drivers and elevate those issues to agency leadership and relevant TLC divisions.
• Maintain a consistent feedback loop between drivers and TLC, ensuring that concerns are documented, tracked, and followed up on.
• Develop a strong understanding of TLC rules, policies, programs, licensing requirements, enforcement practices, and services affecting drivers.
• Come to driver engagements prepared with a working knowledge of current TLC initiatives, industry concerns, and relevant agency policies.
• Help connect drivers with appropriate TLC resources, information, programs, and agency staff.

To Apply

• Please go to nyc.gov/jobs and search for Job ID# 808722 or click the "Apply" button below.
• SUBMISSION OF A RESUME IS NOT A GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE AN INTERVIEW.
• APPOINTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO OVERSIGHT APPROVAL.
• Work Location: New York, NY

Additional Information

*Due to the necessary duties of this position, candidate may be required to work outside of regular business hours such as weekends and/or nights/evenings.*

What Makes This Position Different

• This is not a traditional desk-based outreach position (60% in the field and 40% in the office). The Driver Engagement Advocate is expected to be where drivers are, develop relationships directly with the industry, and bring the driver's perspective into the agency. Including conversations with drivers at an airport at 10 p.m., attending a driver meeting, taking the pulse of driver concerns being discussed online, and then translating those conversations into clear, useful information that can help TLC respond to the industry.
• The ideal candidate has firsthand experience as a recent TLC-licensed driver or significant knowledge of New York City's taxi and for-hire vehicle industry.
• The Driver Engagement advocate will need to have flexible schedule, including evenings, nights, and occasional weekends, to reflect the hours and locations where drivers work and gather. Including meetings at airports, taxi stands, transportation hubs, restaurants, garages, houses of worship and other driver gathering places and engaging with drivers in a genuine, approachable, and culturally competent manner.

Qualification Requirements

• High school graduation or equivalent and three years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to duties described above; or
• Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" above.