Special Projects Project Leader

Brief Description

This role serves as the primary project contact with the customer and will coordinate Sales, Engineering, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Logistics, Field Service, Accounting, suppliers, subcontractors, and affiliates.

The Project Manager establishes and maintains the approved scope, schedule, budget, cost forecast, risk and opportunity register, change-management process, and project documentation. The role proactively identifies and escalates risks to customer commitments, project margin, cash flow, quality, safety, and contractual performance, and drives actions through resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in the review of project RFQ’s and provide input to project estimating as required.
• Attend project “kick off” meetings and ensure handover of all information from Sales to project management.
• Distribute customer’s specifications, standards, buy-off protocols, and other supporting documentation to team members.
• Create and maintain project timing plan in MS project.
• Establish project budget plan and manage project expenditure within agreed item values.
• Report budget and timing, actual and forecast to complete, and identify any areas of risk in a timely manner and escalate potential margin erosion, unapproved scope, schedule exposure, overdue customer decisions, and contractual risk.
• Define mitigation actions, owners, and target dates, and escalate material risks through the applicable management process.
• In coordination with Sales, Engineering, Legal, and Finance, identify scope changes, develop the technical and commercial basis for change requests, lead negotiations with the customer, obtain required internal approvals, and ensure authorized changes are reflected in the applicable purchase orders and project baseline.
• Ensure change requests are documented, commercially evaluated, approved, and incorporated into the customer purchase order before execution whenever practicable.
• With input from engineering write specifications for third party services or scope of supply.
• Review supplier quotations against specification and make recommendations for selection
• Arrange and manage; project review meetings, buy-off meetings, site visits and other meetings with the project team, customers, suppliers and affiliates.
• Take meeting minutes, create open issues lists and follow up on actions to get resolution.
• Act as the single point of communication between the customer and the project team.
• Distribute all current or relevant information to interested parties and maintain issue control.
• Provide manpower plan and regular updates to SIC field service coordinator and coordinate with affiliates and sub-contractors for additional manpower as required.
• Coordinate site set up, delivery and start of installation with customer, Schuler site manager and logistics dept.
• Ensure project activities are planned and executed in compliance with applicable EHS and company requirements, while coordinating with Site Management and the customer to address safety, quality, site-access, installation-readiness, nonconformity, and customer complaint issues through resolution.
• Attend site regularly to monitor progress and provide support to Schuler site manager, following up on any open issues as required.
• Create requisition for materials/services that are needed on site/installation phase.
• Follow up on material arrival and manage requests to send the parts to the customer site.
• Review and approve vendor invoices and back-charges to the affiliate.
• Manage buy-off process and obtain customer sign off.
• Follow up with accounting invoices to be issued to the customer and affiliates.
• Create and maintain a punch list and close out open items in a timely manner.
• Ensure that all training, documentation, spare parts lists, warranty details etc. are complete and handed over to SIC service.
• Maintain a complete and current project record, including contract documents, approved scope, project baseline, purchase orders, change orders, meeting records, customer approvals, forecasts, acceptance records, and closeout documentation, in the designated company systems.
• At the conclusion of each project conduct a TGR/TGW review and capture the learning

Job Specific Competencies

• Experience with corporate business operations software is a must; SAP knowledge is highly preferred.
• Proficient user of Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Microsoft Project and PowerPoint)
• Experience managing large capital equipment projects in the metal forming industry, preferably involving press systems.

Education and Professional Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, in Project Management, Engineering, or related discipline and 5+ years of related experience.
• PMP, PgMP, CAPM, and/or comparable project management certifications is highly desirable.

Other Valued Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Able to manage conflicting priorities and challenging situations across customers, suppliers, affiliates, and internal teams by facilitating discussions, resolving conflicts professionally, leading negotiations, and delivering highly technical presentations while protecting project objectives and customer relationships.
• Possess strong analytical aptitude.
• Strong time management and organizational skills
• Ability to multi-task and to work in dynamic business environment; Adaptable to change
• Self-motivated and results oriented; Ability to use judgement and make decisions independently
• Availability to travel domestically and internationally and to work at customer installation sites as project needs require.

miscellaneous

• Performs other duties as required or assigned, which are reasonably within the scope of the duties in this job classification.
• Reports to the Head of Project Management.
• Work closely with Sales, Engineering, Purchasing, Field Service, Accounting, Customers and Affiliates.   
• German Language skills would be a plus.
• Visa holders/English as Second Language (ESL) individuals must take TOEFL exam and score above passing grade.