Project Mgr - Project Mgr Staff

American Electric Power•Tulsa, OK

1d•$87,633 - $177,503

About The Position

The Project Manager manages or assists with managing base, intermediate, and complex projects, progressively developing toward independent leadership of intermediate projects in a matrix team environment. The role provides leadership, direction, coordination, and communication throughout project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closeout, while balancing safety, efficiency, economy, and risk to achieve project goals and customer satisfaction. The position promotes project transparency, builds effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and supports continuous improvement to increase quality and optimize value delivery. The role may involve coordinating project plans, schedules, budgets, staff, tools, procurement, and contracts; supporting or acting for a lead project manager; communicating project status; and guiding project teams, contractors, and vendors. Employees are progressively assigned project-lead responsibilities based on their knowledge, experience, leadership competency, and certification progress. Work may take place at home, in offices, power plants (including nuclear facilities), and construction sites across Distribution, Transmission, Generation, and Telecom infrastructure. Travel is typically 25% or less, though greater travel may be required for specific assignments. Work at nuclear sites may involve hazardous areas and possible radiation exposure within NRC-prescribed limits. The role includes light physical duties and site walkdowns, which may involve unstable surfaces and climbing ladders.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business, Project Management, Computer Science, or a related field of study appropriate to the business unit, plus three years of qualified experience; or an associate degree in the same disciplines plus five years of qualified experience.
Qualified experience may include outage management, business or financial administration, major construction field experience, project estimating, project controls, project engineering, or comparable internal or external experience in a competitive production environment.
Valid state driver's license.
Develop effective leadership, team-building, meeting-management, and communication skills, including clear, concise, professional communication and effective listening with stakeholders.
Develop understanding and application of economic analysis, cost, schedule, risk, scope, technical options, project controls, and risk mitigation.
Develop understanding of Engineering & Design, Procurement, Contracting, Estimating, Construction, and Startup procedures and processes.
Develop and apply project management tools and techniques, strategic thinking, planning, risk assessment, prioritization, conflict management, and independent judgment, including knowing when to escalate issues.
Develop knowledge of procurement documents, contract components and development, critical project drawings, and document hand-offs between disciplines.
Demonstrate accountability, integrity, willingness to provide constructive feedback, continuous improvement, a questioning attitude, and ability to seek and incorporate subject matter expertise.
Safely perform light physical duties, including walking on unstable surfaces and climbing ladders, and maintain awareness of hazardous site conditions.
Work at various AEP locations and understand that nuclear-site work may involve hazardous areas and possible radiation exposure within NRC-prescribed limits.
Travel typically 25% or less, with greater travel potentially required for specific assignments.

Nice To Haves

Three years of qualified experience as a Project Manager Associate (Grade 6), or demonstrated competencies, knowledge, and skills through achieved results in a shorter timeline.
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification; required for advancement to Project Manager Principal level (Grade 009), but not required for this level.
Knowledge of construction safety, negotiations, scope development and control, cost estimating, construction contracting, project controls and reporting, and quality control.
Experience in utilities, commercial nuclear power, and/or IT systems.
Increased education, skills, experience, and certifications for higher Project Manager levels.

Responsibilities

Conduct or assist with planning, organizing, directing, and coordinating assigned project activities.
Perform coordination and administrative tasks delegated by the lead project manager or supervisor, and act on their behalf when they are unavailable.
Develop and apply project management principles and techniques, including Waterfall and Agile approaches, and work toward compliance with AEP project management standards.
Support and hold employees and contractors accountable for the AEP System Safety Process and a safe working environment focused on Zero Harm.
Develop, review, and coordinate project plans, schedules, budgets, tools, and staffing.
Perform assigned coordination and lead project manager roles to build proficiency across project management knowledge areas.
Communicate project details and status, lead planning meetings and project or outage updates, and support stakeholder presentations.
Prepare clear, concise written and oral reports and communications, and build working relationships with project teams, plant and operating company staff, customers, partners, contractors, vendors, and suppliers.
Foster teamwork and customer satisfaction; provide guidance and feedback to improve designs, systems, procedures, schedules, and costs.
Ensure, or assist the lead project manager in ensuring, efficient and timely performance of project work activities, including leading intermediate projects as assigned.
Coach and develop team members in project management skills and techniques.
Develop and manage procurement plans for outside resources and manage or assist with contracts, including requests for proposals, bid evaluation, vendor selection, negotiations, performance and quality oversight, and contract compliance.
Conduct or assist with project closeout, including evaluating success against project objectives and realization of benefits.
Develop leadership, team-building, meeting management, communication, economic analysis, cost, schedule, risk, scope, and conflict-management capabilities.
Support project organization and delegation, establish team requirements and expectations, hold team members accountable, provide constructive feedback, and escalate issues when appropriate.
Apply or develop knowledge of engineering and design, procurement, contracting, estimating, construction, startup, project controls, project documentation, and discipline hand-offs.
Evaluate team member skills and capabilities and make recommendations to support project success.
Promote continuous improvement, maintain a questioning attitude, challenge assumptions, seek input from subject matter experts, and act with integrity and accountability.
Perform light physical duties safely and effectively, including construction-site walkdowns on unstable surfaces and climbing ladders.
Travel to and work at various AEP locations, including homes, offices, power plants, and construction sites.