Project Manager- New Product Development - Liquid Cooling
About The Position
The NPD Project Manager – Liquid Cooling leads new product development projects within the Product Development team, focusing on innovative liquid cooling solutions. The role owns the full project lifecycle, from concept initiation through design validation and product launch, ensuring delivery on time and within budget while aligning with Gradian’s engineering standards and strategic objectives. The Project Manager leads cross-functional teams and coordinates work across Engineering, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Marketing. The position develops project plans, tracks execution and budgets, manages risks and resources, maintains project documentation, facilitates stage-gate reviews, and communicates status to stakeholders and Advanced Development leadership. The role also partners with the PMO and functional teams to support consistent project practices, design for manufacturability, product quality, and continuous improvement. The position is based at Gradian’s Maple Grove, Minnesota office and is full-time on the first shift. Gradian describes itself as an engineering-led thermal solutions partner serving data center and other mission-critical, commercial, and industrial markets. The company designs and manufactures liquid cooling systems, air handling equipment, heat rejection units, and modular thermal management solutions.
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.
- 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 product design, testing, and performance trade-offs.
- Strong ownership and bias toward action and on-time delivery.
- Ability to manage complexity, prioritize competing demands, and keep projects organized under ambiguity.
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority.
- Clear, concise written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to technical and executive audiences.
- Commitment to improving processes, tools, and team effectiveness.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in HVAC, thermal management, or related mechanical systems industries.
- Familiarity with liquid cooling architectures and equipment for data center and high-density applications, such as CDUs and rear door heat exchangers, and with fluid-side heat transfer principles.
- 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.
Responsibilities
- Lead cross-functional new product development projects for liquid cooling technology from concept through commercialization, using a structured stage-gate or agile process.
- Develop project plans covering scope, schedules, resources, risks, 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 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 ensure deliverables meet criteria before projects advance.
- Support continuous improvement of Gradian’s NPD process using lessons learned and industry best practices.
- Serve as the primary contact and communication hub for assigned projects.
- Build working relationships with R&D engineers, product managers, manufacturing engineers, suppliers, and partners.
- 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.
- Manage project budgets, track expenditures, and provide financial forecasts and variance explanations.
- Coordinate project-team 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
