Program Manager - Special Projects

Aprilaire; Town of Sun Prairie (WI); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Aprilaire in Sun Prairie, WI seeks an experienced Program Manager to lead large-scale, cross-functional strategic initiatives spanning engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, IT, finance, sales, marketing and human resources.

The role partners with senior leadership to drive initiatives, manage complex dependencies, facilitate executive decision-making, mitigate risks, and deliver business outcomes on time and within scope using PM tools and processes supported by the Project Management

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Operations Management, Project Management or a related field.
• 10+ years of project management experience.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives.
• PMI-PMP or equivalent experience.
• Experience working directly with executive leadership teams.
• Experience managing strategic business initiatives.
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Project Leadership: Lead enterprise-wide projects from initiation through implementation and benefit realization.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate activities and interdependencies across multiple departments or units.
• Executive Communication and Decision Support: Prepare executive-level presentations and decision materials.
• Project Planning and Controls: Develop integrated schedules, KPI reporting, and budget monitoring.
• Risk & Issue Management: Identify risks and develop mitigation strategies.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Strategic project leadership

Risk management

Stakeholder coordination

Influence without authority

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Engineering/Operations/PM

Tools

PMI-PMP or equivalent

Job description

Overview

We are currently seeking an experienced Program Manager to join us at our Sun Prairie Innovation Center! The employee will be responsible for leading large-scale, cross-functional strategic initiatives that are critical to achieving corporate objectives. This role partners with senior leadership to drive initiatives that may span engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, IT, finance, sales, marketing, and human resources.

This individual will also serve as the central point of coordination, ensuring alignment across stakeholders, managing complex dependencies, facilitating executive decision-making, mitigating risks, and delivering business outcomes on time and within scope while utilizing the tools and processes supported by the Project Management department.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Project Leadership: Lead enterprise-wide projects from initiation through implementation and benefit realization. Translate executive objectives into actionable plans and measurable outcomes. Develop project charters, schedules, governance structures and communication plans right sized to the complexity of each initiative.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate activities and interdependencies across multiple departments, business units or companies. Drive and document decisions, resolve conflicts and remove barriers that could impact project success.
• Executive Communication and Decision Support: Prepare executive-level presentations, status reports and decision materials. Provide data driven recommendations to support informed decision making. Escalate risks and issues requiring executive intervention.
• Project Planning and Controls: Develop integrated project schedules and milestone plans. Establish project KPI’s and reporting mechanisms. Monitor project scope, schedule, budget, risks and resources. Implement corrective actions when projects deviate from approved plans. Ensure accountability for commitments across participating teams.
• Risk & Issue Management: Identify project risks, dependencies, assumptions and constraints. Develop mitigation strategies and contingency plans. Maintain risk and issue logs and drive timely resolution. Anticipate organizational impacts and proactively address challenges.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Operations Management, Project Management or a related field
• 10+ years of project management experience
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives
• PMI-PMP or equivalent experience
• Experience working directly with executive leadership teams
• Experience managing strategic business initiatives
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority
• Excellent written and verbal communication, professional social skills, as well as organizational and project planning skills are essential.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience leading projects with complex cross functional teams

LinkedIn Tag

Keyan Stremikis #LI-KS1