Global VAVE Project Manager

Are you someone who is passionate, motivated, and driven to make a difference?  If so, MSA Safety is the perfect fit for your career. 

At MSA, SAFETY is who we are AND it is what we do.  We are a purpose-driven company committed to deploying innovation and technology to deliver on our Mission to help protect people and assets all around the world.  We continue to be relentless in our pursuit of solving our customers greatest problems so they can go home safe each and every day. 

Are you in?  Read on for more details about this particular role.

At MSA Safety, our mission is simple: protecting people at work and at home. We are seeking a highly driven and strategic Global VAVE Project Manager to lead enterprise-wide Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VAVE) initiatives focused on product cost optimization, design simplification, operational efficiency, and value creation across global product portfolios.

This role will partner closely with Engineering, Product Management, Operations, Sourcing, Quality, Packaging, and Manufacturing teams to identify and execute opportunities that improve profitability while maintaining or enhancing customer value, safety, performance, and compliance.

The position is strongly aligned with MSA’s strategic pillars, including growth, margin expansion, operational excellence, innovation, and customer value. Due to the global scope and direct financial impact of VAVE initiatives, this role will have strong visibility across senior leadership and key business stakeholders.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical understanding, project leadership capability, workshop facilitation expertise, and strategic business acumen to successfully drive complex cross-functional initiatives in a global environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan, facilitate, and lead VAVE workshops for new product development and existing product portfolios.
• Define project scope, gather cost and technical data, and align cross-functional teams.
• Lead function analysis, idea generation, evaluation, and development of cost-reduction concepts.
• Manage VAVE projects from initiation through implementation, including scope, schedule, budget, risks, and resources.
• Track project performance, savings, milestones, blockers, and corrective actions.
• Build and lead global cross-functional teams across Engineering, Sourcing, Operations, Quality, Product Management, and Finance.
• Communicate project status, risks, decisions, and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement, standardization, and best-practice sharing across the VAVE process.
• Support change management, implementation planning, and sustainment of completed initiatives.
• Align VAVE initiatives with MSA strategic priorities and provide high-visibility updates to senior leadership on value creation, savings delivery, risk mitigation, and business impact.

Experience Required

• A minimum of 7 years of project management experience in cross-functional and/or geographically diverse projects from discovery through deployment with proven track record of successful delivery and subsequent value realization
• CAP-M or significant progress towards PMP® (Project Management Professional)
• Highly developed emotional intelligence and a leadership mindset to navigate project team challenges, establish trust, enhance collaboration, build relationships, drive engagement, ensure alignment, and influence without direct authority.
• Advanced project management acumen needed to adapt to complex project environments, solve ambiguous problems, and drive strategic decision-making.
• Advanced knowledge of, and experience implementing, project management methodologies and strategies to effectively and efficiently manage stakeholders, quality, schedule, scope, budget, resources, and risks.
• Skilled at proactively and strategically communicating to inform and collaborate with project teams and stakeholders on project progress, milestones, and potential hurdles.
• Executive presence and experience working directly with senior leaders, including ability to preparedly, confidently, succinctly, and tactfully present.
• Understanding of change management expertise necessary to facilitate the adoption, functional ownership, and sustainment of deployed projects.
• Strong customer focus, with ability to support driving tasks to completion to ensure on-time delivery while meeting or exceeding expectations.
• Strong time management and organization ability to prioritize tasks, manage individual backlog, and complete tasks on time.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including formal presentation skills and ability to tailor messaging to audience.
• Displays integrity and intellectual curiosity.

Education Required

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or technical field, preferably from an ABET accredited program.

• Including 5+ years progressive experience in manufacturing process environment and/or Product development, with knowledge in Lean tools.

Experience Preferred

• Experience with SharePoint, Tempus, Miro, Teams, and MS Project
• VA/VE Facilitator
• PMP, Lean Six Sigma, or VAVE certification.
• Experience with FAST, DFMA, should-cost analysis, PLM, SAP, or project management tools.
• Knowledge of product cost drivers, manufacturing processes, design-to-cost, and value engineering methods.

Education Preferred

• MBA/MS

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