Welding Project Manager Jobs in Wisconsin (NOW HIRING)

Chandler designs and manufactures custom retail store fixtures and branded environments for leading national brands. Our projects combine metal, millwork, customer products, finishes, graphics, packaging, logistics, and installation.

We are seeking a Project Manager II who understands how custom products move from concept and engineering through sourcing, fabrication, finishing, assembly, and installation. The ideal candidate has managed projects in a manufacturing, fabrication, architectural millwork, store-fixture, or similarly engineered-to-order environment.

You will lead multiple mid-to-large-scale projects while serving as the connection between the client and our internal design, engineering, purchasing, production, quality, logistics, and installation teams. Success requires both strong client leadership and the ability to understand drawings, materials, manufacturing processes, lead times, and production constraints.

What You’ll Do

Project Planning and Ownership

• Lead assigned projects from kickoff through final delivery and installation, maintaining ownership of scope, schedule, budget, quality, risks, and client expectations.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans that account for design approvals, engineering releases, material procurement, prototyping, fabrication, finishing, assembly, packaging, freight, and installation.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, balancing priorities, production capacity, resources, and deadlines.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, including schedules, budgets, status reports, decisions, changes, risks, and action items.

Manufacturing and Technical Coordination

• Partner with design and engineering to evaluate project requirements for manufacturability, cost, quality, schedule, and installation.
• Review drawings, specifications, bills of materials, prototypes, samples, and finish requirements to confirm alignment with client expectations.
• Coordinate projects involving materials and processes such as sheet metal, tube and structural metal, welding, powder coating, wood and laminate construction, architectural millwork, hardware, plastics, graphics, and purchased components.
• Translate client requirements into clear direction for engineering, purchasing, production, quality, logistics, installation teams, and outside vendors.
• Monitor material availability, vendor lead times, production capacity, fabrication progress, and quality requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
• Participate in production meetings, prototype reviews, first-article inspections, and project handoffs to identify issues before they affect cost, quality, or schedule.
• Work with manufacturing teams to resolve constructability, quality, capacity, and scheduling challenges.

Client and Stakeholder Leadership

• Serve as the primary project-management contact for assigned clients, providing clear and timely communication from kickoff through completion.
• Build strong working relationships with clients, vendors, installers, and internal stakeholders while keeping expectations and responsibilities aligned.
• Prepare and present project updates that clearly communicate progress, upcoming milestones, decisions, risks, and corrective actions.
• Resolve issues professionally and maintain client confidence while balancing design intent, manufacturability, cost, quality, and schedule.

Budget, Materials, and Change Management

• Manage project budgets and financial performance, identifying variances and taking action to protect project goals and margins.
• Partner with purchasing and production to identify long-lead materials, monitor procurement status, address shortages, and ensure materials are available when required by the production schedule.
• Manage design revisions, material substitutions, production changes, and field conditions while documenting their impact on scope, schedule, budget, and quality.
• Ensure changes are evaluated, approved, communicated, and incorporated into the project plan before execution.

Risk, Quality, and Project Closeout

• Proactively identify project risks and develop practical mitigation plans before issues affect delivery.
• Coordinate prototype, first-article, in-process, and final quality reviews to ensure manufactured fixtures meet approved drawings, specifications, finish standards, and client expectations.
• Take corrective action when project performance, quality, cost, or schedule deviates from plan.
• Lead project closeout, confirming that deliverables, documentation, financial requirements, and client expectations have been completed.
• Conduct post-project reviews and apply lessons learned to improve future performance.

Project Team Leadership and Continuous Improvement

• Lead cross-functional project teams by establishing clear responsibilities, priorities, deadlines, and expectations.
• Create a collaborative environment that encourages open communication, accountability, and practical problem-solving.
• Delegate work to project support team members and provide the direction needed for successful execution.
• Mentor project coordinators and project managers, supporting their development and growth.
• Contribute to the refinement of project-management tools, processes, and best practices.

What Success Looks Like

• You are comfortable discussing a client’s expectations in the morning and working through a fabrication or material issue with engineering and production that afternoon.
• You understand that a drawing revision can affect material orders, tooling, labor, quality, packaging, freight, and installation.
• You anticipate production and supply-chain risks before they become missed deadlines.
• You can balance design intent, manufacturability, quality, cost, and schedule.
• You enjoy seeing a custom product progress from initial concept to finished installation.

Required Qualifications

• Three to five years of project-management experience, including responsibility for scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, and client communication.
• Experience managing projects that involve physical products, fabrication, manufacturing, construction, or installation.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate engineering, purchasing, production, vendors, logistics, and field teams.
• Working knowledge of how custom products are engineered and manufactured, including an understanding of material lead times, production sequencing, quality inspections, packaging, freight, and installation.
• Ability to read and interpret shop drawings, architectural drawings, specifications, bills of materials, and finish schedules.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams, resolving conflicts, and driving accountability in a collaborative, results-oriented environment.
• Experience managing budgets, project changes, client relationships, and project risks.
• Proficiency with project-management and business software used for planning, tracking, documentation, and reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in custom manufacturing, store fixtures, architectural millwork, commercial casework, metal fabrication, exhibits, displays, branded environments, or another engineered-to-order industry.
• Familiarity with metal fabrication, welding, powder coating, wood products, laminates, veneers, hardware, finishing processes, and assembly methods.
• Experience managing custom, low-volume, high-variation, or engineered-to-order projects.
• Experience with ERP, MRP, production-scheduling, or manufacturing project-management systems.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in project management, business, engineering, construction management, manufacturing, or a related field preferred. Relevant industry and project-management experience may be considered in place of a degree.

Pay & Benefits

Salary $75,000 to $105,000 (+ profit sharing)

The actual base salary offered will vary based on factors such as relevant skills, prior experience, and education. In addition to your base salary, you will be eligible for our comprehensive and competitive benefits package, which includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Basic life insurance, voluntary life insurance (employee, spouse, and children), short-term and long-term disability insurance, critical care, and accident insurance
• Nice Healthcare: An integrated primary care clinic that provides healthcare services from home, office, or a location convenient to you for a nominal co-pay. Over 550 medications are available at no cost through Nice.
• Company-paid basic life insurance (up to $25,000) and short-term disability insurance
• Generous company contribution to Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• 401(k) with company match
• Profit-sharing program
• Paid time off (PTO) and holidays
• Tuition reimbursement program

Chandler is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.