Senior IT Project Manager - Contract

Project Manager/Delivery Lead - Kinaxis Maestro Demand Planning
Location: Charlotte, NC preferred; Corning, NY also preferred. Remote candidates will be considered.
Type: 12 Months Contract Role

Travel: Minimum one trip per month to Charlotte, NC
Work Hours: 8:00 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET
Additional Requirements: Some weekend and after-hours work will be required during scheduled go-live events.

About the Role
The client is seeking an experienced Project Manager/Delivery Lead to lead delivery of the Kinaxis Maestro Demand Planning implementation for the Optical Communications business. This role is ideal for a strong project leader and servant leader who can drive execution across business, IT, SAP ECC, and vendor teams while enabling Agile ways of working.

This position is focused on the core fundamentals of delivery leadership: communication, stakeholder alignment, governance, financial tracking, issue resolution, and iterative execution. Because Kinaxis Maestro is being implemented as a product, the successful candidate must bring experience leading incremental, iterative delivery in Agile/Scrum environments and supporting teams through release-based implementation and go-live readiness.

The ideal candidate will have deep experience leading enterprise implementations in a manufacturing environment, strong knowledge of demand planning, and a proven background working within SAP ECC landscapes, including integration, data migration, and cutover planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of the Kinaxis Maestro Demand Planning implementation using Agile, Scrum, and iterative product delivery practices.
• Serve as a servant leader for the team by enabling collaboration, removing blockers, supporting decision-making, and driving accountability across cross-functional stakeholders.
• Manage core project leadership activities including delivery planning, governance reporting, status updates, RAID management, executive communications, and escalation management.
• Coordinate business, IT, SAP ECC, implementation partner, and vendor teams to ensure aligned execution across workstreams.
• Drive effective backlog and workflow management through Kanban-based delivery practices and support sprint/release planning activities.
• Track project financials, delivery progress, risks, dependencies, and key milestones.
• Support integration planning, data migration readiness, testing coordination, cutover execution, and go-live planning.
• Ensure adherence to SOX, regulatory, and enterprise governance requirements.
• Provide clear executive-level updates to senior leadership and maintain strong stakeholder engagement throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Required Qualifications

• 7 years of experience leading enterprise technology implementations as a Project Manager, Delivery Lead, or similar role.
• Strong project leadership foundation in:

communications
stakeholder management
problem resolution
governance and status reporting
executive updates
financial tracking
vendor coordination

• Experience leading teams in Agile/Scrum environments with strong knowledge of iterative and incremental delivery.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience working from a Kanban board.
• Scrum Master certification or PMI-ACP required.
• Experience with SAP ECC implementations and SAP ECC platform landscapes is required.
• Experience delivering solutions involving integration, data migration, and cutover coordination.
• Knowledge of demand planning in a manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of SOX/regulatory compliance and structured enterprise governance.
• Ability to work 8:00 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET.

Highly Desired Qualifications

• PMP certification
• Product Owner certification (CSPO or PSPO)
• First-hand experience implementing Kinaxis Maestro Demand Planning
• Experience implementing complex SAP ECC solutions
• Hands-on experience with Planview AgilePlace
• Experience presenting to and influencing senior leadership

Preferred Location

• Candidates based in the Charlotte, NC or Corning, NY areas are preferred; however, qualified remote candidates will be considered.

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