Program Manager Engineer - New Product Development

Summary of the position:

This position leads the successful planning and execution of new product development along with product lifecycle activities for industrial, portable and technology products with a cross-functional team. The successful candidate will develop, lead, and drive the project schedule and monitor / report progress on all key performance metrics (schedule, scope, finance, and risk) on a regular basis. This position is located at Hitachi Global Air Power’s campus in Michigan City, Indiana.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities, gather requirements to create project scope, and develop a program plan
• Develop the overall program schedule with detailed sub-workstreams by function and ensure committed owners’ delivery of all actions and work product deliverables
• Clearly define and document key program targets such as cost, timing, specification
• Lead, communicate and drive program goals and actions cross-functionally through all applicable stakeholders
• Guide stakeholders in the prompt and comprehensive delivery of their work packages
• Schedule, conduct, document, and distribute minutes for all program related meetings
• Employ analytical skills to evaluate data and resolve issues to meet program requirements and targets
• Identify deviations from program targets (cost, timing, specification, scope) and coordinate functions to develop and implement counter measures / mitigation actions
• Manage scope creep through enforcing proper evaluation and documentation of scope changes, capture impacts from stakeholders and present to leadership for approval
• Present all aspects that cannot be resolved at the working level to the proper leadership team members, secure approval, document and drive the decision back into the program team
• Escalate time sensitive issues to the responsible decision makers outside of the established review cadence
• Create and maintain program documentation structure and data repositories/tracking tools used to document all program related work
• Prepare and present the required materials for the monthly NPD program reviews
• Ability to lead multiple programs simultaneously

Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or equivalent degree
• Certification in Project Management (e.g., PMP certification) desirable

Professional experience:

• 5 years of experience in project/program management
• Excellent verbal communication and organizational skills are required
• Proficient with Microsoft Project, PowerPoint, and Excel
• SAP ERP/PLM experience is highly desirable
• Experience in a New Product Development Phase Gate Design Process
• Experience in NX Unigraphics or equivalent 3D CAD Software Program is beneficial

Key behaviors:

• Leading through influence without authority and successful collaboration across the matrix organization
• Ability to effectively communicate at all levels of the organization
• Demonstrated critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Ability to multi-task and be highly organized for effective project execution
• Act with a sense of urgency and the ability to influence others to act with urgency
• Strong understanding of engineering principles, supply chain, and manufacturing operations

Direct reports:

• N/A