Program Manager Contract Jobs in Waconia, MN (NOW HIRING)

Maximize your potential. Minimize your footprint.

Nortek Data Center Cooling builds the systems that keep modern data centers running - from liquid cooling to largescale air solutions. Our work supports some of the world's most demanding AI and hyperscale environments, and we solve those challenges with engineering depth and practical execution.

We keep things simple here. We communicate early, stay close to the details, and follow through. When issues come up, we address them directly, not with layers of process. Customers count on us because we do what we say and we keep projects moving.

Our culture is handson and collaborative. People take ownership, move quickly, and help each other. If you like working with teammates who are straightforward and accountable, you'll feel at home.

With the backing of Madison Air, we have the scale, stability, and manufacturing footprint to support complex, highgrowth programs.

Position Summary

The Program Manager serves as the day-to-day cross-functional integrator and accountability mechanism for customer commitments on assigned programs at Nortek Data Center Cooling. This role drives flawless execution across the full program lifecycle-from opportunity identification through completion of product commissioning.

Reporting to the Vice President of Program Management, the Program Manager coordinates Engineering, Test, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Commercial, Finance, and Service teams to meet schedule, cost, quality, and customer commitments, while these functions continue to own execution within their respective areas. This is a hands-on execution role accountable for program-level P&L execution and customer commitments-delivering revenue, margin, cost, cash, schedule, change orders, and overall program performance. Success requires strong critical-path management, cross-functional influence, and clear communication with both internal stakeholders and external customers. The Program Manager maintains direct customer contact on program execution and is accountable for the financial health of the program, while the Sales Account Executive remains the primary customer contact and owns customer communication, negotiation, and pricing strategy.

Key ResponsibilitiesProgram Execution & Schedule Management

• Own end-to-end execution of assigned customer programs from opportunity identification through completion of product commissioning.
• Build, maintain, and drive the integrated program schedule with a relentless focus on critical-path items and dependencies across engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly, test, shipping, installation, and commissioning.
• Lead recurring program cadence meetings, ensuring clear ownership, decisions, and follow-through on action items.
• Coordinate engineering release, drawing approval cycles, long-lead procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, customer acceptance, installation, and commissioning milestones per the standardized program workflow.
• Escalate schedule risks and cross-functional roadblocks promptly, with proposed mitigation paths.

Customer Coordination & Communication

• Maintain direct customer contact on program execution matters, while the Sales Account Executive remains the primary customer point of contact and owns customer communication and negotiation.
• Provide clear, proactive, and honest program status communications-schedule, milestones, risks, and change orders-to internal leadership and, in coordination with the Sales Account Executive, to the customer.
• Build strong working relationships with customer counterparts; understand their pain points, priorities, and success metrics.
• Represent the voice of the customer inside Nortek DCC and the voice of Nortek DCC to the customer with balance and integrity.

Program-Level P&L and Contract Management

• Accountable for the financial health of the program and for program-level P&L execution and customer commitments-delivering revenue, margin, cost, cash, schedule, change orders, and overall program performance against the approved deal model and budget. Sales remains responsible for pricing strategy.
• Manage change orders end-to-end-identify scope changes, quantify impact, and drive internal approvals and execution-partnering with the Sales Account Executive, who leads customer negotiation.
• Monitor contract obligations, deliverables, and customer commitments; ensure Nortek DCC meets its obligations.
• Proactively identify risks to program profitability and partner with Commercial, Finance, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Service to mitigate them.

Risk Management

• Apply the standardized risk identification, escalation, and mitigation process to every assigned program.
• Maintain a live program risk register with clear ownership, mitigation actions, due dates, and status.
• Drive critical risks to closure on time, targeting 90%+ on-time closure across the program portfolio.
• Escalate top risks to the VP of Program Management with recommended actions; ensure high-risk issues have documented mitigation plans and appropriate visibility.

Installation, Commissioning & Service Coordination

• Ensure Service has visibility to installation schedules and customer requirements.
• Ensure field resources, parts, and support plans are aligned with program commitments.
• Coordinate and escalate warranty issues, field modifications, or customer concerns.
• Track financial and customer impacts associated with post-delivery issues.
• Remain engaged whenever there are material issues impacting customer commitments, schedule, economics, or customer satisfaction; support formal handoff to Service when programs are running smoothly. Service continues to own service execution (contracting, product offering, productivity, reliability, and overall quality), technician deployment and training, spare parts strategy, and long-term aftermarket support (e.g., Re-life).

Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence

• Lead a cross-functional program team without direct reporting authority; drive alignment, accountability, and execution across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Test, Commercial, Finance, and Service.
• Build consensus, resolve conflicts, and drive timely decisions to keep the program on track.
• Communicate transparently and proactively so stakeholders are informed, aligned, and empowered to act.
• Partner with Production Planning and Supply Chain to ensure material readiness and manufacturing capacity for assigned programs.

Continuous Improvement

• Use and reinforce standardized program management processes and templates for execution, program-level P&L management, contract management, and risk management.
• Identify opportunities to improve program execution practices, reduce rework, and minimize delays caused by engineering changes.
• Contribute lessons learned back to the Program Management function to strengthen team-wide capability.

QualificationsRequired

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or related discipline; equivalent experience considered.
• 5+ years of progressive program or project management experience, ideally in an engineer-to-order or complex manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.
• Working command of program management methodologies and tools (e.g., Monday.com, Microsoft Project, PLM systems).
• Experience managing customer relationships and communicating program status directly with external stakeholders.
• Strong critical-path thinking, risk management discipline, and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with shifting priorities and multiple concurrent programs.

Preferred

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent.
• Experience owning program-level P&L execution, change orders, and contract execution.
• Direct experience with engineered-to-order capital equipment or B2B custom manufacturing, including installation and commissioning coordination.
• Experience supporting hyperscale data center customers or other rapidly scaling B2B end markets.