Manufacturing Project Manager

Advastar, Inc. | Recruiting & Staffing; Kansas City (MO); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental & Vision insurance

401K with match

PTO & holidays

Job summary

Advastar, Inc. is seeking a Project Manager to lead mission-critical, data center and engineered-to-order projects for a fast-growing client base.

You will own the customer relationship from order acceptance through engineering, manufacturing, shipment, and closeout, coordinating across engineering, manufacturing, and quality to keep the critical path on track. The role requires 3+ years managing technical, schedule-driven projects in industrial settings.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 3+ years managing technical, schedule-driven projects in an industrial, manufacturing, construction, or engineered-to-order environment.
• PMP certification or equivalent formal project-management training.
• Experience delivering mission-critical or data center projects.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and submittals, and to spot discrepancies and missing information.
• Track record managing RFIs, submittals, change orders, and customer approvals through project closeout.
• Experience coordinating across engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, shipping, and construction to protect the critical path.
• Comfort working directly with general contractors, engineering firms, owners, and large commercial customers.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD or similar drawing-review software, plus ERP, CRM, and project scheduling/document-management systems.
• High ownership, urgency, and follow-through, with the ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Own customer projects end to end, from sales handoff through closeout, as the single point of accountability.
• Build and actively manage schedules, milestones, and critical-path activities to hit committed customer delivery dates.
• Catch scope gaps, drawing discrepancies, and project risks early — before they hit the schedule — and drive them to resolution.
• Move engineering submittals, RFIs, customer comments, and change orders through to closure without letting anything stall.
• Keep engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, shipping, finance, and construction aligned and moving.
• Give customers and internal stakeholders clear, current status: risks, decisions, action items, and recovery plans.
• Run several concurrent projects at once without losing accuracy or follow-through.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional coordination

Schedule management

Reading engineering drawings

RFI management

Change orders management

Communication with stakeholders

AutoCAD familiarity

ERP proficiency

CRM proficiency

PMP certification

Leadership without formal authority

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or related technical field

Tools

AutoCAD

ERP

CRM

Job description

An established manufacturer of engineered-to-order equipment is adding a Mission Critical Project Manager to support its fast-growing data center and mission-critical customer base. This is a commercial project management role: you own the customer relationship and drive each project from order acceptance through engineering, manufacturing, shipment, and closeout — not a field or construction role. You will be the person customers, engineering, and the plant all count on to keep complex, schedule-driven projects on their critical path. For a project manager who likes owning the whole thread and catching problems before they cost a milestone, this is a high-visibility seat on a small, growing team serving one of the hottest end-markets in the country.

• Anticipated $100K–$115K base, plus SIP (quarterly bonus), based on experience
• Benefits include: Health, Dental, Vision, 401K w/ match, PTO, holidays
• Hybrid schedule — 3 days per week onsite in the Kansas City metro; approximately 10% travel

OVERVIEW

• Own customer projects end to end, from sales handoff through closeout, as the single point of accountability
• Build and actively manage schedules, milestones, and critical-path activities to hit committed customer delivery dates
• Catch scope gaps, drawing discrepancies, and project risks early — before they hit the schedule — and drive them to resolution
• Move engineering submittals, RFIs, customer comments, and change orders through to closure without letting anything stall
• Keep engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, shipping, finance, and construction aligned and moving
• Give customers and internal stakeholders clear, current status: risks, decisions, action items, and recovery plans
• Run several concurrent projects at once without losing accuracy or follow-through

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience
• 3+ years managing technical, schedule-driven projects in an industrial, manufacturing, construction, or engineered-to-order environment
• Strongly Preferred — PMP certification or equivalent formal project-management training
• Strongly Preferred — Experience delivering mission-critical or data center projects
• Proven ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and submittals, and to spot discrepancies and missing information others miss
• Track record managing RFIs, submittals, change orders, and customer approvals through project closeout
• Experience coordinating across engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, shipping, and construction to protect the critical path
• Comfort working directly with general contractors, engineering firms, owners, and large commercial customers
• Working familiarity with AutoCAD or similar drawing-review software, plus ERP, CRM, and project scheduling/document-management systems
• High ownership, urgency, and follow-through, with the ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority

KEYWORDS

project manager, mission critical, data center, engineered-to-order, ETO, manufacturing project management, construction project management, technical project manager, project engineer, engineering submittals, RFI, change orders, project scheduling, critical path, schedule management, AutoCAD, ERP, CRM, customer project management, submittal management, project closeout, cross-functional coordination, industrial manufacturing, PMP