Project Manager- New Product Development - Chillers
About The Position
The Project Manager – New Product Development – Chillers leads new product development projects within Gradian’s Product Development team, focusing on air-cooled and water-cooled chiller platforms. The role owns projects from concept initiation through design validation and product launch, delivering on time and within budget while maintaining alignment with engineering standards and strategic objectives. The Project Manager develops project plans, coordinates cross-functional execution, monitors performance, manages risks and budgets, and communicates status to stakeholders and Advanced Development leadership. The role partners with the PMO to maintain consistent project management practices and documentation, facilitates stage-gate reviews, and supports continuous improvement of the NPD process. The position also serves as the primary communication hub for assigned projects, coordinating with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, marketing, and external suppliers. It ensures design-for-manufacturability considerations are addressed early and collaborates with Quality to support applicable performance, safety, and regulatory requirements, including relevant AHRI rating standards.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
- PMP certification, equivalent formal project management education, or equivalent relevant experience.
- At least 5 years of progressive project management experience, including at least 3 years leading NPD or product development projects in a manufacturing or engineering environment.
- Demonstrated proficiency with project scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, or equivalent.
- Strong understanding of stage-gate product development processes.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to engage meaningfully with engineering teams on chiller product design, testing, and performance trade-offs.
- Strong sense of ownership and a bias toward action and on-time delivery.
- Ability to manage complexity, prioritize competing demands, and keep projects organized under ambiguity.
- Skill in leading cross-functional teams without direct authority.
- Clear and concise written and verbal communication, with the ability to tailor messages to technical and executive audiences.
- Commitment to continually improving processes, tools, and team effectiveness.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in chillers, HVAC, thermal management, or related mechanical systems industries.
- Familiarity with chiller equipment and terminology, including air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, compressors, refrigeration circuits, tonnage sizing, and heat rejection equipment such as cooling towers, dry coolers, and adiabatic coolers.
- Experience working within or alongside a PMO structure.
- Background in design-for-manufacturability or design-for-quality methodologies.
- Proficiency with PLM or ERP systems.
- Six Sigma or Lean certification.
- Working proficiency in Spanish.
Responsibilities
- Lead cross-functional new product development projects for air-cooled and water-cooled chiller technologies from concept through commercialization using a structured stage-gate or agile process.
- Develop project plans covering scope, schedules, resource plans, risk registers, and budget forecasts.
- Coordinate project activities across Engineering, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Marketing.
- Monitor project performance, identify risks, develop mitigation strategies, and escalate blockers as appropriate.
- Conduct regular project status reviews and present updates to stakeholders and Advanced Development leadership.
- Partner with the PMO to adopt and maintain consistent project management practices, templates, and reporting standards.
- Maintain accurate project documentation throughout the project lifecycle.
- Facilitate stage-gate reviews and verify deliverables, including compressor selection, refrigeration circuit design, and heat rejection equipment performance, before projects advance.
- Support continuous improvement of Gradian’s NPD process based on lessons learned and industry best practices.
- Serve as the primary point of contact and communication hub for assigned NPD projects.
- Build working relationships with R&D engineers, product managers, manufacturing engineers, and external suppliers or partners, particularly suppliers of compressors, refrigeration circuits, and heat rejection components.
- Coordinate with Supply Chain and Operations to address design-for-manufacturability considerations early in development.
- Collaborate with Quality to ensure products meet applicable performance, safety, and regulatory requirements, including relevant AHRI rating standards.
- Manage project budgets, track expenditures, provide financial forecasts, and explain variances.
- Coordinate project resource allocation, surface resource conflicts, and work with functional managers to resolve them.
Benefits
- Medical, vision, and dental plans.
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
- Group term life insurance coverage.
- HSA, FSA, and Dependent Care plans available.
- Eight paid holidays, four floating holidays, and a generous PTO policy.
- 401(k) matching.
- Annual safety shoe allowance.
- Education assistance program.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
