Americas Advanced Manufacturing Strategy (AMS) Program Manager

trane technologies•La Crosse, WI

2d•$123,722 - $173,005•Hybrid

About The Position

The Americas Advanced Manufacturing Strategy (AMS) Program Manager is a critical, high-impact leadership role within the Advanced Manufacturing Strategy team. This position carries a unique, dual-focus mandate: actively driving strategic manufacturing network design, while orchestrating the end-to-end execution of complex footprint transformations and regional capital programs. The ideal candidate is a blend of a strategic operations thinker and a disciplined program integrator. You will partner closely with Business Units (BUs), Plant Leadership, and senior cross-functional executives to design optimized manufacturing networks and lead the implementation of multi-phase programs (comprising 5 to 10 highly interdependent sub-projects). In this role, you will translate long-term operations strategy into structured, phased execution plans that ensure operational excellence, capital efficiency, and long-term business resilience across our manufacturing sites.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Business, or a related technical discipline.
10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, industrial engineering, or supply chain.
Proven experience successfully coordinating multi-phase capital programs or transition initiatives, overseeing complex timelines and coordination across multiple manufacturing sites.
Ability to think holistically about long-term network architectures and challenge traditional assumptions around capacity, site selection, and operating models.
Mastery of program management methodologies for highly interdependent workstreams (critical path, resource smoothing, risk register management).
A collaborative leader who can seamlessly translate and align the distinct priorities of Finance, Procurement, HR, IT, Engineering, and Plant Operations around a single program goal.
Exceptional interpersonal and political savvy. Experience utilizing structured decision governance models to drive alignment across competing business units or functions.
Strong understanding of advanced manufacturing technologies (MES, PLM, automation levels) and how digital infrastructure integrates across a multi-plant network.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or MBA.
5+ years of direct leadership in manufacturing, operations strategy, or running complex capital/transformation programs within a highly matrixed industrial environment.

Responsibilities

Lead and contribute to the analytical framing, design, and continuous optimization of the Americas manufacturing footprint.
Serve as the single owner of the integration through-line for complex capital programs, facility start-ups, brownfield expansions, site consolidations, and strategic work transfers.
Drive cross-functional teams through structured footprint and network evaluation processes, aligning corporate strategy with regional operational realities.
Partner with Commercial teams to align capacity plans with market demand forecasts, utilizing scenario modeling to ensure network assets are designed to withstand market volatility rather than single-point forecasts.
Help establish structural make-vs-buy, vertical integration, and factory specialization strategies.
Collaborate with Finance partners to co-author robust business cases, evaluating capital investment options against status-quo operational baselines while clearly quantifying strategic benefits.
Evaluate candidate regions and sites against critical external and internal criteria, including industrial policies, trade/tariff exposure, local labor depth, supplier ecosystem density, energy infrastructure, and local permitting timelines.
Provide master integration, schedule coordination, and financial oversight for complex footprint programs containing 5 to 10 highly interdependent, concurrent sub-projects.
Implement disciplined phase-gate methodologies to sequence program milestones, managing capital expenditure risk and establishing clear demand/utilization triggers before releasing subsequent phases of capital.
Define and align clear program governance and program team operating structures among Business Unit leaders, corporate functions, and plant management to facilitate rapid, structured decision-making.
Translate complex, technical, and financial analyses into highly polished executive proposals.
Support cross-functional change management efforts during operational transitions, modernization programs, and technology integrations.
Collaborate with advanced engineering teams to leverage standard engineering concepts—such as Design for Manufacturability/Assembly (DFM/DFA), FMEA, and Production Preparation Process (3P)—to optimize process layouts during network realignments.