Lead Project Engineer

Wabtec•West Melbourne, FL

2d•$79,100 - $112,800

About The Position

The Lead Project Engineer serves as the technical execution leader for customer-facing Train Handling software projects. Working across Engineering, Program Management, Product Management, Quality, and customer teams, the role translates customer requirements into executable plans and leads multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality software solutions on time and within budget. The position combines engineering judgment with project leadership. The Lead Project Engineer drives technical execution, manages project scope and risks, and ensures software deliverables meet customer and business objectives. The role leads project planning, coordinates cross-functional activities, and provides technical leadership throughout the product development lifecycle. It offers the opportunity to influence locomotive automation, train handling technologies, and software solutions used by railroads worldwide.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Minimum of 4 years of experience leading complex engineering or software development projects.
Strong understanding of software development lifecycles, including Agile and Waterfall, and systems engineering processes.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence technical decision-making.

Nice To Haves

Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Experience using project planning and execution tools such as ELM, Jira, Microsoft Project, Azure DevOps, or similar platforms.
Experience leveraging AI-enabled tools to improve engineering productivity and project outcomes.
Experience in railroad, transportation, industrial automation, safety-critical, or embedded software environments.
Experience leading customer-facing software programs and deployments.
Experience with systems integration, software validation, and product release activities.
PMP, Agile, Scrum Master, or equivalent project management certification.
Experience working with global and geographically distributed engineering teams.
Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Lead the planning, execution, and delivery of Train Handling software projects from concept through customer deployment.
Serve as the engineering lead for technical execution, schedule performance, quality, and engineering deliverables throughout the project lifecycle.
Collaborate with Program Managers, Product Managers, Software Engineers, Systems Engineers, Test Engineers, and other stakeholders to establish project objectives and execution strategies.
Translate customer, product, and business requirements into detailed project plans and actionable engineering tasks.
Lead cross-functional engineering teams to achieve project milestones and deliver customer commitments.
Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to project team members.
Facilitate technical decision-making and resolve project execution challenges.
Develop and maintain project plans, software release plans, schedules, resource forecasts, and execution strategies.
Identify critical milestones, dependencies, and critical-path activities, and proactively manage associated risks.
Monitor project performance and drive corrective actions to maintain schedule, quality, and cost objectives.
Establish and maintain project metrics, dashboards, and status reporting for leadership and stakeholders.
Coordinate software development, verification, validation, release, and deployment activities.
Lead project reviews and ensure readiness for key program milestones.
Identify technical, schedule, resource, and program risks; develop mitigation plans and drive resolution of project issues.
Escalate critical concerns and provide recommended recovery actions when necessary.
Ensure lessons learned are captured and incorporated into future projects and processes.
Serve as the engineering point of contact for customer technical discussions, status reviews, and issue resolution activities.
Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to align expectations and priorities.
Communicate project status, accomplishments, risks, and recovery plans to stakeholders and leadership teams.
Support customer demonstrations, deployments, and product acceptance activities as required.
Own project planning, execution tracking, and reporting within Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) and other project management tools.
Support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance engineering productivity, quality, and program execution.
Promote best practices in software development, systems engineering, and project execution.
Leverage AI tools, where appropriate, to improve engineering productivity, software quality, decision-making, and project execution effectiveness.
Perform other duties outside of the function or trade as requested; adequate training will be provided if necessary.