Since 2023, Manuel Valdés has been the general manager of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM). Previously, he worked for seventeen years at the Barcelona City Council: in 2006, he was appointed director of Infrastructure; in 2013, deputy manager of Infrastructure and Urban Coordination; and in 2015, manager of Infrastructure and Mobility.

He spearheaded the launch of the T-usual and T-casual travel cards in 2019, when he was a member of the ATM Board of Directors. He has also been involved in promoting the tram connection along Diagonal Avenue, the implementation of the New Bus Network, the Barcelona Ring Roads Low Emission Zone, the construction and management of the Glòries tunnel, and the Barcelona Superblocks and Green Axes project.

He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the ETSECCPB (UPC) and is a graduate of the Senior Management Program (PADE) at IESE. He has taught at the School of Civil Engineering at the UPC and is currently a member of the faculty at the School of Sustainable Mobility and the Facility Management postgraduate program at the Sert School of the College of Architects of Catalonia.