PROJECT MANAGER

Century Arms • West Palm Beach, FL

3h • Onsite

About The Position

The Project Manager, New Product Development leads and coordinates Century Arms’ product development projects from initial concept through production launch. The role manages project scope, schedules, budgets, risks, resources, and deliverables to support on-time launches that meet approved product specifications and cost objectives.

Working with Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, and external partners, the Project Manager guides projects through established development processes and ensures production readiness. The position combines technical understanding, structured project management, and cross-functional leadership to maintain accountability, resolve challenges, and communicate decisions requiring leadership attention. Engineering, Quality, and other designated stakeholders retain responsibility for technical approvals, validation acceptance, and product release authorization.

The role is based onsite in office and manufacturing environments in West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday through Friday. Travel may include other Company locations, including Vermont, and supplier or vendor facilities. Occasional work outside normal business hours may be needed to support pilot builds, product launches, or critical project deadlines.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Project Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant technical experience.
• At least five years of technical project management experience in a manufacturing environment, including experience leading new product development projects through production launch.
• Experience managing projects across design, prototyping, testing, validation, and manufacturing readiness.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams involving Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, and Product Management.
• Experience using stage-gate or other structured product development processes.
• Strong understanding of project scheduling, dependencies, critical path analysis, resource planning, budgeting, risk management, and change control.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing processes, mechanical products, tooling, and production readiness requirements.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Project or comparable project management software for schedule development, milestone tracking, and reporting.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to influence team members, drive accountability, and resolve competing priorities across departments.
• Ability to communicate technical and business tradeoffs clearly to functional leaders and senior management.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent.
• Experience managing projects involving precision manufacturing, mechanical product design, or complex mechanical assemblies.
• Experience in firearms, shooting sports products, or related manufacturing industries.
• Familiarity with engineering drawings, CAD/CAM systems, bills of materials, engineering change processes, and product lifecycle management systems.
• Experience with SolidWorks Manage or comparable product development management platforms.
• Experience coordinating suppliers, tooling, prototype builds, pilot production, and new product introductions.
• Familiarity with ERP systems and their role in material planning and production readiness.
• Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, and quality management practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead new product development projects through concept development, design, prototyping, testing, validation, manufacturing readiness, and production launch.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans covering scope, deliverables, schedules, dependencies, critical paths, budgets, and resource requirements.
• Guide projects through stage-gate processes and ensure required reviews, documentation, decisions, and approvals are completed.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects and maintain visibility into priorities, commitments, and potential conflicts.
• Evaluate proposed changes to project scope or requirements, document their impact, and obtain approvals before updating project commitments.
• Coordinate project activities across Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, and other participating departments.
• Work with functional leaders to establish priorities, confirm resource commitments, and resolve competing demands.
• Lead project meetings, document decisions, and track action items, owners, and completion dates.
• Provide project updates to stakeholders and senior leadership on milestones, budgets, risks, and decisions required.
• Drive accountability for deliverables and escalate unresolved issues affecting project objectives.
• Monitor development spending, tooling costs, product cost estimates, and resource requirements against approved plans.
• Identify budget and schedule variances, assess their impact, and coordinate corrective actions.
• Maintain project risk and issue registers, assign owners, and track mitigation activities through completion.
• Communicate tradeoffs involving cost, schedule, quality, and product performance to support timely decisions.
• Coordinate supplier schedules and deliverables with Procurement and technical teams, identifying external dependencies that could affect execution.
• Coordinate tooling development, prototype builds, testing schedules, and validation activities with responsible departments.
• Support pilot builds and production readiness reviews to confirm materials, tooling, equipment, documentation, and required training are in place.
• Work with Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement to address issues affecting manufacturability, supplier readiness, product quality, and target cost.
• Coordinate the transition from development into production, including launch issue tracking and follow-up.
• Manage significant improvements to existing products and coordinate related engineering changes and production transitions.
• Ensure applicable quality, safety, regulatory, and Company requirements are addressed by responsible departments throughout the project lifecycle.
• Maintain project schedules, budgets, status reports, risk assessments, decision records, and change documentation.
• Establish and report project performance measures, including milestone completion, budget performance, target product cost, and production readiness.
• Lead project closeout and lessons-learned reviews and document opportunities to improve future development and launch activities.
• Recommend improvements to project management practices, stage-gate processes, and cross-functional workflows.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level