NJ Transit’s Chief Customer Experience Officer and Customer Advocate has been on the job for close to a year, but riders, transit advocates and a ranking state senator said he represents the company more than commuters — and that may be because the role he applied for was originally a public relations job for the company.

According to documents obtained by NJ Advance Media, Stewart Mader applied for the job a month before Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation creating the position in December 2018.

The job description he replied to, still posted on Linked In as of Thursday, was laden with public relations responsibilities including “serving as the chief spokesperson for NJ Transit” and “planning and presenting events to ensure optimal exposure of positive information about NJ Transit.”

Critics, including commuters and State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, say Mader hasn’t been doing what legislators had in mind when the NJ Transit reform law was written, which created the position.

Tweets go unanswered, there’s no published phone number for riders to contact him, and commuters say social media videos — shot during off-peak hours — come off as promotional and tone-deaf to conditions they experience daily.

“Obviously they were playing a game. They took what was a public relations job and convinced people they hired a public advocate,” said Weinberg, D-Bergen, one of the authors of the NJ Transit reform law. “He was not hired for the job the law intended.”

Got the @NJTRANSIT App? ✅ Got alerts too? 🤔 If you're not sure, @StewartMader shows you how, with step-by-step instructions. Take a minute to check, so you're prepared! pic.twitter.com/xwH6CGxHpl — NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) February 14, 2020

Mader applied for the position on Nov. 19, 2018, a month before Gov. Phil Murphy signed NJ Transit reform legislation that created the position, according to his application package, obtained by NJ Advance Media.

He called on heavy hitters as references to get the job, including key people in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, a former DOT commissioner and ex-Port Authority executive director.

The job description he applied to said he was to advise top NJ Transit managers, “the Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office on public issues to manage the message” and ensure that NJ Transit, its services and the state are publicly put in the best light.”

NJ Transit officials said that job description was later “refined to include Customer Advocate and Chief Experience Officer,” according to Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.

That refinement eliminated being chief spokesman, media relations and some other public relations duties, according to the job posting NJ Transit provided. The change was made in late 2018-early 2019, officials said.

The new description said Mader is responsible for developing metrics to measure, track and report customer experience assessment activities, including issue resolution. A report of his activities is to be included in NJ Transit’s annual report and he makes monthly reports to NJ Transit’s customer service committee.

Mader was one of five internal and external candidates interviewed, she said.

On the application, Mader name-checked various officials, such as Murphy’s press secretary, who can “speak to Stewart’s ability to work with elected officials to ensure transit issues are framed constructively and presented in the best possible light.”

Others, such as Murphy’s senior transportation policy advisor, a former NJ Transit director, and ex-Port Authority director, were also listed to show how he could generate ideas to improve the “customer experience.” Mader tapped former PATH general manager Michael Marino to speak about how he worked with staff to “work together to “deliver accomplishments for customers.”

But none of the references he provided were asked to detail how he could be an advocate for the hundreds of thousands of riders who use NJ Transit daily.

I’ll confirm the specific issue today, but having been in this situation myself when riding with customers, the crew was trying their best to resolve the issue and get the train running, and only cancelled once they determined they couldn’t fix the issue on the spot. — Stewart Mader (@StewartMader) February 20, 2020

“I’ve never seen anything he does that represents me as a commuter,” said Jeff Alexander, who rides the Morris & Essex lines between South Orange and New York and posed more than a dozen questions to Mader on Twitter. “He should say these are the things I’m working on for commuters.”

Commuters complained their questions tweeted to Mader on Feb. 3 went unanswered for at least 40 minutes after an Amtrak overhead wire problem required the shutdown of one of two existing 110-year tunnels, causing 90-minute NJ Transit rail delays. Trains in the tunnel had to back out to New Jersey and riders travel times ballooned to multiple hours.

“It’s almost like a joke. We know he’s advocating for NJTransit, not for me,” said Alexander.

"on your commute to Trenton this morning" Morning. To Trenton. Not NYPenn. Yes, I am sure there are issues going AGAINST the flow of rush hour, but given everything we see, NOT EVEN A FRACTION OF THOSE GOING WITH RUSH HOUR! @StewartMader YOU AND THIS IS EVERYTHING WRONG WITH NJT! https://t.co/KWwbqLyi3e — Bryan Lord (@BryanTLord) February 18, 2020

A spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy declined to comment about the hiring process but said the position provides a way for riders to voice concerns .

“As part of the reform legislation Governor Murphy signed, the position of Customer Advocate and Chief Experience Officer was created to closely monitor the customer experience, and integrate the needs of commuters into NJ Transit’s decision making process,” said Jerrel Harvey, a spokesman. “While progress has been made toward this goal, the agency has an obligation to continuously evaluate its processes to ensure that customer feedback is placed at the forefront of its operations.”

Mader did not respond to emailed questions or a request NJ Advance Media made through NJ Transit’s public relations department for an interview.

NJ Transit officials defended Mader, saying the position “was created to comply with the reform legislation to monitor and improve the customer experience statewide at every customer touchpoint.”

Snyder credited Mader with improving the flow of information from NJ Transit operations to customers through alerts and social media, the recent website and smartphone app upgrades and “being on the front lines engaging with customers and seeking their feedback.”

“It seems to me they should hire a real customer advocate, someone the train and bus riding public has confidence in,” said Weinberg. “It cannot be someone who reports to NJ Transit’s CEO. It needs to be a customer advocate who comes to the board and reports what’s wrong.”

Whether the customer advocate’s job description needs to be re-written in the reform law could depend on the outcome of hearings by a Joint Senate panel, created by Senate President Steve Sweeney to investigate NJ Transit, Weinberg said.

Mader — along with NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett and NJ Transit’s chief financial officer, rail operations head, chief administrator, chief information officer and head of capital projects — have been called to testify at Friday’s Joint Panel hearing at 11 a.m. in the Statehouse. Only Corbett has confirmed, officials said.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters