Project Manager (Sr. - Staff) | NEW GENERATION (Project Development & Acquisition -- natural gas, renewables, BESS) multiple opportunities

American Electric Power•Columbus, OH

5d•$98,993 - $177,503•Onsite

About The Position

American Electric Power is hiring Project Managers at multiple grade levels for project development and acquisition work involving natural gas, renewables, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The role manages one or more intermediate or complex projects in a matrix-team environment, providing leadership, direction, coordination, training, and communication through project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closeout. Projects are to be managed safely, efficiently, economically, and with balanced attention to risk and customer satisfaction. The Project Manager promotes transparency and develops effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including customers, team members, suppliers, contractors, vendors, and industry peers. The role supports continuous improvement, applies project management methods such as Waterfall and Agile, and works to meet project and company financial goals. This posting covers multiple grades; the stated minimum qualifications apply to the Project Manager Sr. level, with higher-level positions requiring increased education, skills, or experience. The position may involve work at home, office, power plant, and construction-site locations, including nuclear sites and sites for Distribution, Transmission, Generation, and Telecom infrastructure. Nuclear-site work may involve hazardous areas and possible radiation exposure within NRC limits. Travel is typically 25% or less, though greater travel may be required for specific assignments. The role includes light physical duties such as site walkdowns on unstable surfaces and climbing ladders.

Requirements

For the Project Manager Sr. level, one of the following education and experience combinations: bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business, Project Management, Computer Science, or a related field dependent on business-unit requirements, plus five years of qualified experience; associate’s degree in the same required disciplines plus seven years of qualified experience; high school diploma or GED plus nine years of qualified experience; or two years as a Project Manager (Grade 7), or demonstrated competencies, knowledge, and skills through achieved results in a shorter timeline.
Qualified experience may include project management, major construction field experience, project estimating, project controls, project engineering, or comparable internal or external experience in a competitive production environment.
Experience must demonstrate progressively increasing project management and business acumen and responsibility for most certifying-body knowledge areas.
Demonstrated preparedness for journey-level project management knowledge in construction safety, negotiations, scope development and control, cost estimating, construction contracting, project controls and reporting, quality control, and risk management.
Valid state driver’s license.
Effective leadership, team-building, meeting-management, communication, listening, and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to apply economic analysis and business acumen to project decisions and align project and company financial goals.
Working knowledge of project management tools and techniques, scope management, technical options, project risks and mitigation, contract development, and contract management.
Ability to organize project work, delegate assignments, set expectations, manage deliverables, provide constructive feedback, resolve conflicts, and make timely decisions.
Ability to work at various AEP locations and perform light physical duties, including construction-site walkdowns on unstable surfaces and climbing ladders.
Ability to travel, typically 25% or less, with greater travel potentially required for specific assignments.

Nice To Haves

Experience in utilities, commercial nuclear power, and/or IT systems is favorable.
PMP certification is preferred but not required for the Project Manager Sr. level.
PMP certification is required for Project Manager Staff unless the organization’s SVP or OPCO President approves a waiver.

Responsibilities

Plan, organize, direct, coordinate, and supervise assigned project activities, using project management principles and techniques such as Waterfall and Agile.
Support and hold employees and contractors accountable for the AEP System Safety Process and a safe working environment focused on Zero Harm.
Develop, review, coordinate, and manage project or outage plans, schedules, budgets, costs, and funding reallocations.
Communicate project details and status, lead planning meetings and stakeholder updates, and provide clear written and oral reports.
Build and manage working relationships with project teams, plant and operating company staff, customers, partners, contractors, vendors, and suppliers; promote teamwork and customer satisfaction.
Provide guidance, instruction, and training to improve project design, systems, procedures, processes, schedules, and costs; challenge project work using informed understanding.
Deliver effective and efficient project work at intermediate project level or higher and pursue maximum customer satisfaction.
Mentor project managers and direct or supervise sub-team project managers as assigned.
Develop and manage procurement plans and outside-service contracts, including requests for proposals, bid evaluation, vendor selection, contract negotiations, performance and quality oversight, and compliance with contract terms.
Conduct and supervise project closeout, including assessing achievement of objectives and realization of project benefits.
Learn and apply AEP project management organizational standards; assist with managing projects to those standards.
Manage programs as assigned.
Apply economic analysis and business judgment to project decisions and align project and company financial goals.
Influence engineering, design, procurement, contracting, estimating, and construction processes to optimize execution and ensure teams use current business-unit guidelines and requirements.
Plan and prioritize project activities, assess and mitigate risks, make sound decisions, delegate tasks, set expectations, manage deliverables, and hold team members accountable.
Manage conflict and issues constructively, take timely independent action, and elevate issues when appropriate.
Promote continuous improvement, maintain a questioning attitude, seek subject-matter-expert input, and identify opportunities to improve business processes within project scope.
Evaluate team members’ skills and capabilities and make recommendations to support project success.
Safely perform light physical duties and work at varying AEP locations and conditions.
Understand and support AEP policies, values, principles, structure, and behavior.