Senior Project Manager ETO (51189)

Gradian Thermal Solutions•Maple Grove, MN

2d•$105,000 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

Gradian Thermal Solutions creates custom-engineered thermal management solutions for markets that thrive on flexibility, creativity, and bold ideas. We’ve grown by bringing in great people and empowering them to do great work, tackling challenges, solving problems, and delivering efficient, competitive, and sustainable heating and cooling technologies. At Gradian, we believe innovation happens when everyone contributes, diversity of thought is celebrated, and people feel supported in their growth. We take pride in working hard together, tackling challenges, solving problems, and having fun along the way. As we expand into both emerging and mission-critical industries, we stay committed to delivering efficient, competitive, and sustainable heating and cooling technologies. And throughout your career here, you’ll have the chance to directly shape the foundation for what's next in our industry. The Senior ETO Project Manager is a senior-level owner of our most complex, high-value projects—engaging from high-probability sales opportunity through customer acceptance and closeout. This role partners with Sales and Applications teams during pursuit, leads execution once a project is awarded, and ensures that the MAS Commissioning team receives everything needed to begin field work without delay at time of shipment. The Senior PM also owns a defined product line portfolio and is expected to drive systematic process improvements, team development, and cross-departmental coordination standards across the PMO. The ideal candidate combines deep engineering credibility with proven project management experience in custom-engineered or ETO manufacturing environments, and holds a PMP certification or equivalent formal PM qualification.

Requirements

7+ years of project management experience in ETO, custom-engineered, or complex industrial manufacturing (e.g., HVAC, thermal management, data center cooling).
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering or closely related technical discipline.
PMP certification (PMI) or similar formal project management certification required.
Demonstrated experience managing projects of $5M or greater; proficiency in MS Office Suite and Gantt-style scheduling tools.
Strong cross-functional leadership skills across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and cross-departmental stakeholders including Commissioning.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer (P.Eng. or PE) license or equivalent engineering competency.
Pre-award or proposal-phase PM experience; ability to assess scope and schedule feasibility before contract execution.
MBA or executive management training a plus.
Background in HVAC, data center cooling, or mission-critical thermal management; familiarity with commissioning phases and handoff requirements.
Experience developing PMO frameworks, templates, or standards; ERP/CRM experience (SAP, IFS, Salesforce).
AGILE or hybrid PM methodology experience; bilingual (EN/FR, EN/ES, or EN/DE) a plus.

Responsibilities

Partner with Sales and Applications Engineering on high-probability opportunities to assess scope feasibility, schedule risk, and resource needs before commitments are made.
Ensure commissioning scope, site access constraints, and field-phase prerequisites are identified and communicated to the Director of Commissioning at the time of job award so Cx planning can begin in parallel with production.
Support proposal development and pre-award customer meetings; identify and escalate commercial risks or scope gaps before contract execution.
Serve as the primary customer point of contact from kickoff through customer acceptance on high-priority, complex, or multi-phase programs.
Lead RFI and Submittal processes; drive proactive communication using PMO-standard tools including milestone reports, risk summaries, and decision logs.
Represent MAS HVAC in customer-facing technical meetings, design reviews, and program reviews.
Own scope, schedule, cost, risk, and quality across the full lifecycle for a concurrent portfolio of ETO projects (typical duration: 2–18 months; typical value: $500K–$20M+).
Develop and maintain detailed project schedules; coordinate cross-functional teams across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, QA, and Logistics.
Administer change control; maintain all PMO documentation including RFI Register, Submittal Register, Risk Log, and version-controlled drawings.
Review pre-award proposals for financial risk and margin exposure; own P&L visibility from award through closeout.
Track budgets, manage change order impacts, and report portfolio-level financial risks to leadership.
Own end-to-end factory-to-shipment coordination: production readiness, pre-shipment inspections, FAT/SAT documentation, shipping, and delivery confirmation.
Direct Project Coordinators to verify production readiness milestones and factory commissioning support requirements before equipment ships.
Set the standard for commissioning handoff quality across the product line portfolio, ensure Cx information is captured early, and maintain customer continuity through the field phase.
Establish and enforce handoff standards for the product line: ensure PMs produce complete, accurate commissioning packages—including drawings, equipment documentation, FAT records, open punch items, and site-specific prerequisites—prior to or at time of shipment.
Serve as the primary PMO liaison to the Director of Commissioning: communicate portfolio-level shipment schedules, flag scope or site changes that affect field planning, and escalate resource conflicts or schedule risks proactively.
Maintain customer-level visibility into commissioning milestone progress on complex programs; serve as the senior PMO point of contact for customer escalations during the field phase.
Drive continuous improvement of the PMO’s commissioning handoff process: develop templates, checklists, and coordination standards that reduce friction at the production-to-commissioning transition.
Contribute to PMO growth: improve templates, workflows, KPIs (including On-Time Delivery Rate and schedule slip metrics), and training materials.
Mentor PM staff and Project Coordinators; support onboarding and development within the PMO career path.
Capture lessons learned and translate them into process improvements; partner with leadership to scale the PMO framework.
Own a defined product line portfolio: drive execution consistency, identify systemic risks, and lead product-line-level improvement initiatives.