Controls Project Manager

The Controls Project Manager will have responsibility for the success of controls project realization, change management, client management, and overall client satisfaction, usually for multiple projects at a time.

The Controls Project Manager will coordinate with teams of controls engineering resources including technical leads and engineers from the different controls disciplines (Hardware, PLC, and HMI).

Responsibilities                       

Essential job functions and position requirements include:

• On-time and on-budget project delivery Provide technical leadership for all projects being realized by the controls engineering team.
• Leading controls team by fully understanding project business requirements, scope of supply, schedule and tasks to be completed
• Leading customer meetings and reviews in all business aspects, including other project resources on an as needed basis Lead and/or contribute to PLC/HMI software reviews.
• Collaborating with project Technical Lead on technical requirements, other team resources task allocation, task tracking, monitoring and escalation of possible issues.

The Controls Project Manager will collaborate with Controls department leadership reviewing project needs and ensuring appropriate resources are allocated to each project

Controls Engineering Project Planning

• Coordination, control and monitoring of control and automation technology projects for conveyor and stacker cranes
• Carrying out technical coordination on the scope of services and scope of delivery with all project participants
• Development of process and interface descriptions and control of partners and suppliers
• Coordination of deadlines and milestones across the various project phases and ensuring transparent communication
• Control of the change management for the previously defined scope of services and deliveries to partners, suppliers and customers
• Development and maintenance of an OC project management process including templates and tools and the transfer to all OC areas
• Supporting operational tasks
• Develop goals and objectives.
• Work with Controls team leadership to resource project team.
• Work with overall Project Manager to create controls project schedule.
• Oversee creation of description of operation.
• Oversee creation of technical design.
• Contribute to, manage and oversee creation of tasks.
• Manage creation of test plan.
• Manage and participate in internal and external controls testing.
• Manage execution customer training.
• Manage getting training materials created.
• Develop training plan.
• Manage execution of hotline support training.
• Develop on-site activity and resource plan.
• Manage execution of commissioning.
• Manage and participate in start-up support.
• Manage project closure and hand-off to customer service.

Project administration

• Manage schedule and resources
• Create weekly project status report
• Create monthly short term forecast report
• Create change order documents
• Create materials and execute lessons learned meeting

Results Orientation

• Manage and motivate the project team(s) assigned to you to successfully realize controls projects to customers.
• Plan and monitor progress of the tasks to be completed to realize assigned projects.
• Produce clear, concise, and complete minutes of customer meetings for assigned projects and deliver on a timely basis

Technical/Commercial Knowledge

• Have full knowledge of the functionality and architecture of many material handling system types, controls architectures, PLC coding styles, and hardware types.

• Keep up to date with the controls engineering standard developments.
• Understand the effort and work involved in delivering projects of varying sizes and complexity for both viastore SYSTEMS and our customer.

Customer Focus

• Be accountable for and deliver on internal and external customer commitments.
• Build a network of good working relationships with our internal and external customers.
• Strive to deliver the best solutions to our customers, minimizing cost, risk and complexity.

Analytical Thinking and Decision Making

• Make well-informed, effective and timely decisions with due diligence and consideration of the risks involved.
• Formulate objectives, plans and priorities for themselves taking into consideration department, organizational and customer needs.
• Influence the architecture and design of product customizations that provide our customers with elegant, robust and supportable solutions.

Leadership

• Convince, influence and mobilize your peers, management both in the viastore SYSTEMS region and the product development team to implement new ideas and make sure you act in accordance with it.
• Organize personal areas of responsibility.
• Serve as a role model to teammates and colleagues, ensuring best practices are adopted in all aspects of teammates’ work.

Flexibility

• Work outside of regular office hours where necessary.
• Work away from home and possibly overseas where necessary.
• Be open to change, receptive to new ideas and readily adapt to changing circumstances, new requirements or unexpected issues.
• Demonstrate initiative to seek out and execute tasks which will contribute to project and customer success.

Team Work

• Establish effective working relationships across teams, departments and business units.
• Establish effective working relationships with customers.
• Work collaboratively with others and avoid silo thinking.

Communication

• Communicate openly and effectively with team members, peers, management and stakeholders from all levels
• Communicate openly and effectively with our customers in a professional and courteous manner
• Ensure that information is passed onto those who should be kept informed
• Communicate technical detail in layman’s terms

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. During travel to customer locations, the employee may be exposed to various environments.

At times, tasks will require the use of tools (power and hand), such as, but not limited to, drills, hand tools, volt meters, etc. to be used for fine tuning the controls during commissioning and system run-offs.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee frequently is required to walk; use hands to touch, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision color vision and the ability to adjust focus.

At times, tasks will require the use of tools (power and hand), such as, but not limited to, drills, hand tools, volt meters, etc. to be used for fine tuning the controls during commissioning and system run-offs.           

Travel Requirements        

Ability to travel 10-15% per year. Some extra travel maybe necessary depending on workload, but this is the target travel range.

Required Qualifications             

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor's Degree or Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent technical experience or degree.
• More than ten (10) years of experience in the material handling industry controls field.
• Employee is skilled in PC usage and associated software including Microsoft office (Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint).
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• The ability to read and interpret documents such as functional specifications, technical specifications, safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced engineering or related degree.
• The ability to read and speak German or Spanish.
• Knowledge in Rockwell programming suite
• Understanding control panel design
• Knowledge using AutoCAD Electrical
• Knowledge using ePlan
• Knowledge using Ignition SCADA
• Automotive experience
• Robotics Experience