Lead Project Manager – Data Center

Altorfer CAT•Cedar Rapids, IA

6d•$80,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

The Lead Project Manager – Data Center is a player-coach leader within Altorfer’s Data Center Program, which delivers Caterpillar electric power generation projects and related solutions to key data center accounts. The role leads and mentors the New Equipment Project Management team and owns front-end execution from customer order acceptance through technical submittals, approvals, equipment and material release, procurement, production coordination, final enclosure packaging, and formal handoff to Data Center Product Support. The New Equipment team remains available for technical and commercial support after handoff. This highly customer-facing leader builds trusted relationships with customer project managers across sites, leads program and project meetings, anticipates issues, develops strong project managers, and creates clear, repeatable execution standards. The role calls for urgency, technical depth, commercial judgment, customer focus, and servant leadership, while maintaining disciplined control of scope, schedule, margin, risk, quality, and customer commitments. Work is performed in office, remote, manufacturing, vendor, and jobsite environments. The position is remote-eligible within the United States, with travel to Altorfer locations, customer sites, Caterpillar facilities, suppliers, packaging partners, factory tests, and team meetings. The typical schedule is Monday through Friday, with weekend work as needed and flexibility for customer milestones and time-sensitive issues. This is a full-time, exempt position.

Requirements

At least 7 years of progressive project management, project engineering, application engineering, sales engineering, or technical program experience in electric power generation, critical power, or mission-critical infrastructure.
Demonstrated leadership or mentoring of program managers or technical professionals, with a record of improving accountability and team performance.
Experience coordinating long-lead equipment, engineering submittals, production slots, factory milestones, packaging integration, and required-on-site schedule dependencies.
Working knowledge of Caterpillar generator-set application and installation requirements, including ventilation, exhaust, fuel, cooling, electrical protection, controls, enclosures, and balance-of-plant systems.
Familiarity with applicable standby and emergency power codes and standards, including NFPA 70, NFPA 110, NFPA 37, and UL 2200.
Proven ability to manage multiple complex projects while protecting customer commitments, schedule, quality, margin, and stakeholder relationships.
Strong people leadership, coaching, conflict-resolution, and team-building skills.
Strong customer- and sales-focused mindset, commercial judgment, and ability to deliver difficult messages constructively.
Ability to critically interpret electrical and mechanical drawings, one-line diagrams, technical specifications, submittals, supplier literature, schematics, and O&M documentation, and translate findings into clear decisions and action items.
Strong planning and portfolio-management discipline, including schedule logic, milestone tracking, risk registers, change control, cost forecasting, and executive reporting.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and meeting-facilitation skills, including the ability to lead customer-facing discussions and clarify decisions, owners, and action plans.
Ability to make timely decisions with incomplete information, escalate early, and present options with a recommendation.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, and with project scheduling or portfolio tools.
Commitment to safety, quality, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement.
Valid driver’s license and clean driving record: no more than two minor violations within the past three years and no major violations within the past five years; a Motor Vehicle Report will be performed on the final candidate.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering; a related technical degree with substantial electric power generation experience may be considered.
PMP certification; equivalent demonstrated leadership of complex, multi-stakeholder technical projects is acceptable.
Formal leadership, Lean, or continuous-improvement training.
Direct Caterpillar Electric Power Generation experience, including packaged diesel generator sets and proficiency with CSQ, GenSizer, TMI, and PowerNet.
Experience with hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise data center projects and owner-furnished/contractor-installed equipment delivery models.
Experience with Power BI or dashboard reporting.
Working knowledge of AutoCAD or Autodesk tools for drawing review and markups.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop the New Equipment Project Management team by setting priorities, balancing workloads, establishing accountability, and providing practical feedback.
Own front-end project execution from customer order acceptance through submittals, approvals, equipment and material release, packaged-enclosure completion, and formal handoff to Data Center Product Support.
Lead customer program and project meetings, communicate status and risks, drive timely decisions, document commitments, and ensure action items are closed.
Serve as the senior escalation point for customers, Sales, consulting engineers, Caterpillar, packaging partners, suppliers, and internal teams on scope, technical, schedule, and quality issues.
Lead Sales-to-project-management turnover by confirming purchase orders, specifications, quoted scope, exclusions, approved deviations, payment milestones, and schedule commitments.
Direct technical submittals according to customer requirements, covering technical data, drawings, generator options, controls, circuit breakers, emissions and aftertreatment, fuel and cooling systems, ventilation, sound attenuation, enclosures, switchgear interfaces, and balance-of-plant requirements.
Review and interpret customer and consultant electrical and mechanical drawings, one-line diagrams, schematics, and specifications; identify conflicts, gaps, and deviations from quoted scope and work with Engineering to resolve them before release.
Ensure approvals and customer decisions are obtained in time to protect production slots, supplier lead times, packaging schedules, and required-on-site dates; maintain portfolio visibility and escalate risks early.
Review supplier proposals and technical quotations against customer requirements and specifications, confirm equipment, options, exclusions, and assumptions, and escalate technical or commercial discrepancies.
Coordinate with Caterpillar, Engineering, suppliers, and packaging partners on bills of material, purchase orders, production releases, integrated designs, inspections, and testing.
Apply Caterpillar application and installation guidelines when reviewing generator-set room and enclosure designs, including airflow, heat rejection, exhaust, fuel, cooling, electrical protection, controls, service clearances, and equipment integration.
Use and coach others in Caterpillar electric power applications and information systems, including CSQ, GenSizer, TMI, PowerNet, and related tools.
Build customer relationships through concise, proactive communication and provide Sales with credible execution input during negotiations, changes, and customer recovery situations.
Manage project financial performance, including budgets, cost forecasts, margin exposure, billing milestones, supplier impacts, and change-order control.
Define and improve formal processes and disciplined handoffs, including checklists, dashboards, lessons learned, approved drawings, equipment and serial-number information, O&M documentation, factory test records, shipment readiness, open issues, commercial status, delivery assumptions, test requirements, and customer commitments.
Promote safety, honesty, humility, compassion, teamwork, integrity, and direct communication.

Benefits

Health insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Disability insurance
Life insurance
401(k)
Paid holidays
Paid parental leave
Funeral leave
Paid time off: prorated 80 hours plus one floating holiday
Education assistance
Personal tool insurance
Safety equipment reimbursement
Voluntary supplemental, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance
Legal assistance
Identity and fraud protection