Project Manager

Project Manager

New Milford, CT

Full Time

Position Summary

The Project Manager is responsible for the successful execution of multiple concurrent projects from order intake through final delivery and project closeout. This role serves as the primary liaison between customers and internal departments, ensuring projects are completed safely, on time, within budget, and in accordance with customer requirements and company objectives. The Project Manager provides leadership across Sales, Engineering, Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Quality, Testing, and Finance while proactively managing risks, schedules, resources, and customer expectations.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership & Execution

• Manage multiple large-scale, custom-engineered projects simultaneously.
• Lead project kick-off meetings to confirm project scope, customer deliverables, schedule requirements, budgeted labor hours, revenue milestones, and key success criteria.
• Develop, maintain, and communicate comprehensive project plans throughout the project lifecycle.
• Monitor project progress and drive corrective actions when scope, schedule, budget, quality, or delivery objectives are at risk.
• Ensure all project activities align with contractual requirements and customer expectations.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with Sales, Engineering, Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Quality, Testing, and Finance teams to establish project requirements and execution plans.
• Review Sales Budget Worksheets and validate project assumptions at Sales Order inception.
• Confirm labor hour budgets for Engineering and Manufacturing and communicate discrepancies to Sales and Finance.
• Flow down project requirements, milestones, deliverables, and customer commitments to all stakeholders.
• Coordinate departmental priorities to support overall project success.

Customer Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for customers throughout project execution.
• Provide regular project status updates, milestone reporting, and schedule communications.
• Manage customer requests, change orders, technical clarifications, and escalation items.
• Coordinate customer witness testing, factory acceptance testing (FAT), and shipment schedules.
• Foster strong customer relationships through proactive communication and issue resolution.

Schedule & Resource Management

• Review and approve project schedules generated by Planning.
• Identify and resolve labor loading, capacity constraints, material shortages, and scheduling conflicts.
• Coordinate with Production Planning to establish realistic manufacturing and assembly schedules.
• Support resource allocation decisions across Engineering and Manufacturing to optimize project performance.
• Monitor critical path activities and develop recovery plans when necessary.

Budget & Financial Management

• Monitor project costs, labor utilization, and revenue recognition milestones.
• Compare budgeted hours against actual performance and forecast completion costs.
• Conduct regular project reviews with Finance to evaluate schedule performance, margins, change orders, and financial risks.
• Assist in preparing project forecasts and revenue projections.
• Support change order pricing and contract modification assessments.

Engineering & Technical Coordination

• Review Engineering schedules, deliverables, and percent-complete metrics.
• Identify technical execution risks and coordinate solutions with Engineering leadership.
• Ensure technical documentation, specifications, drawings, and release packages are completed according to project schedules.
• Facilitate communication between Engineering and Manufacturing regarding design changes and production readiness.

Procurement & Supply Chain Coordination

• Collaborate with Procurement to monitor material availability, vendor performance, and delivery schedules.
• Identify long-lead items and potential supply chain risks.
• Escalate material shortages and coordinate mitigation plans to minimize project impact.

Quality & Test Coordination

• Monitor certification requirements and coordinate with Quality to ensure compliance prior to shipment.
• Facilitate movement of completed assemblies from Production to Testing.
• Coordinate internal and customer witness testing activities.
• Ensure all testing, inspections, certifications, and documentation are completed before shipment.

Risk & Change Management

• Identify project risks early and implement mitigation strategies.
• Maintain project risk registers and action plans.
• Evaluate and manage scope changes, schedule impacts, and cost implications.
• Ensure all approved changes are formally documented and communicated.

Continuous Improvement & Project Closeout

• Lead project closeout meetings to review technical, operational, and financial performance.
• Document lessons learned, risks encountered, corrective actions, and recommendations for future projects.
• Develop and recommend improvements to project management processes, standard operating procedures, and cross-functional workflows.
• Support initiatives that improve efficiency, quality, communication, and customer satisfaction.

Performance Objectives

The Project Manager will be evaluated on the following key performance indicators:

Project Delivery

• Deliver projects on or before committed customer delivery dates.
• Maintain project schedules with minimal variance from baseline plans.
• Achieve project completion milestones as planned.

Financial Performance

• Meet or exceed project gross margin objectives.
• Maintain labor utilization within approved budgets.
• Accurately forecast project costs and revenue milestones.

Customer Satisfaction

• Maintain positive customer relationships throughout project execution.
• Respond promptly to customer inquiries and concerns.
• Achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and repeat business opportunities.

Project Controls

• Effectively manage change orders and project risks.
• Maintain accurate project records and reporting.
• Ensure project status updates are timely and actionable.

Operational Excellence

• Improve cross-functional communication and team collaboration.
• Identify and implement process improvements.
• Develop comprehensive project closeout documentation and lessons learned reports.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Project Management, Operations Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience in a custom-engineered, industrial, project-based manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years of project management experience in manufacturing, power systems, industrial equipment, or related industries.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams, customer-facing projects, budgets, schedules, and technical deliverables.
• Knowledge of transformer, rectifier, electrical power equipment, or similar engineered products preferred.
• PMP certification or equivalent project management training is desirable.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Strong leadership, organization, and decision-making abilities.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and ERP/MRP systems.
• Ability to interpret technical drawings, specifications, and project documentation.
• Knowledge of project scheduling tools and project management methodologies.
• Strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across all organizational levels.
• Customer-focused mindset with strong relationship management skills.

Travel Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 10% as required for customer meetings, witness testing, project reviews, supplier visits, and business needs.

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