Senior Research Project Manager Jobs in Appleton, WI

Summary

The Senior Project Manager leads complex industrial equipment projects from kick-off through final customer acceptance, including Site Acceptance Test (SAT) completion and closure of all related action items.

This role owns the end-to-end project strategy, execution plan, stakeholder alignment, risk management, cost control, quality performance, and customer communication.

The Senior Project Manager also provides direct leadership to the Project Manager, ensuring clear priorities, effective delegation, professional development, and consistent project management discipline across the portfolio. The Senior Project Manager is accountable for delivering projects within agreed scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations while proactively driving resolution of issues and continuous improvement across teams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Defines project priorities, assigns responsibilities, delegates effectively, and ensures accountability for progress and deliverables.
• Builds and monitors project schedules with the various departments.
• Leads internal and external project governance, including kick-off meetings, steering reviews, project follow-up meetings, team updates, escalation reviews, and crisis committees.
• Organizes and coordinates test requests from external or internal customers and formalizes them in a database.
• Owns project financial performance, monitors costs and margins, anticipates budget deviations, and escalates corrective actions with clear recommendations.
• Anticipates, assesses, and manages project risks and opportunities, ensuring mitigation plans are implemented early and impacts are minimized.
• Monitors the supply chain, assembly steps, the smooth running of tests as well as the supply of raw materials for testing.
• Organizes the FAT and prepares the SAT.
• Ensures, in conjunction with the Test Facility Team Leader, the resources available for the development and validation/FAT and SAT phases.
• Proactively addresses customer concerns, resolves open issues, and mobilizes internal teams to mitigate potential problems before they impact project execution.
• Delivers complex projects within the commitments established at project launch, including scope, resources, schedule, budget, quality, and customer satisfaction objectives.
• Ensures contractual commitments are executed, manages customer expectations, supports change order discussions, and contributes to securing final payment milestones.
• Provides day-to-day leadership to the Project Manager, setting expectations, reviewing priorities, monitoring workload, and ensuring timely follow-through.
• Coaches and mentors the Project Manager on project planning, customer communication, risk management, escalation preparation, meeting facilitation, and decision-making discipline.
• Develops the Project Manager's capabilities through regular feedback, lessons learned reviews, shared problem-solving, and exposure to increasingly complex project situations.
• Makes occasional on-site trips to build customer relationships and ensure site readiness.
• Builds project management capability within the organization by mentoring the Project Manager, sharing best practices, reinforcing standard tools and processes, and promoting a consistent approach to project execution

Project Kick Off Responsibilities

• Organizes and leads the internal kick-off with all stakeholders, establishes clear ownership across departments, and confirms technical, operational, and customer requirements before execution begins
• Definitively validates the configuration of the equipment and ensures that it complies with the customer's expectations before launching production
• Reviews the contract in detail, identifies commercial, technical, schedule, or operational risks, coordinates escalation to leadership and internal stakeholders, and leads customer clarification when required
• Establishes the validation plan, project governance structure, risk register, communication cadence, and detailed schedule in conjunction with all concerned departments

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor’s degree in business management or equivalent technical education is preferred

Significant experience leading complex industrial projects is required.

Advanced Project Management Certification or equivalent demonstrated expertise is preferred.