Project Manager

Synagro; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 149,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

15 days paid time off

10 holidays

Medical/Dental/Vision

Job summary

Synagro in the United States is seeking a Project Manager to lead operational improvement, capital, maintenance, and compliance projects across wastewater facilities. You will coordinate engineering, procurement, contractors, and stakeholders to deliver projects safely, on schedule, within budget, and with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

The role requires strong knowledge of project management principles, ability to manage multiple concurrent projects, and travel up to 50%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; related experience may be considered.
• Progressive project management experience in wastewater, biosolids, water treatment, utilities, industrial processing, or similar environments.
• Experience coordinating outages, construction, safety, and production activities.
• Experience managing scope, schedules, budgets, contractors, change orders, commissioning, and handover.
• Knowledge of pumps, piping, tanks, conveyors, dewatering, electrical systems, instrumentation, and controls preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop project charters with scope, objectives, budgets, schedules, risks, and success metrics.
• Create and maintain work plans, milestone schedules, risk registers, cost forecasts, and status reports.
• Lead kickoff, design reviews, construction readiness, progress, commissioning, handover and closeout.
• Coordinate engineering, procurement, contractors, vendors, operations, maintenance, environment, health and safety, and customers.
• Deliver projects safely, on schedule, within budget, with minimal disruption to operations.
• Identify and mitigate risks; implement recovery plans.
• Develop startup and commissioning plans; verify testing, training, and documentation before handover.
• Provide leadership updates to facility teams and stakeholders.

Skills

Project management principles

Strong communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Planning and scheduling

Budgeting and cost control

Risk management

Change control

Procurement coordination

Commissioning and handover

MS Office & project tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, environmental science, operations management, business, or related discipline

Tools

Project management software

Job description

Synagro is North America's premier, award-winning, biosolids management firm offering a competitive salary for highly motivated, self-starter with strong work ethic, in a supportive work environment. Synagro partners with stakeholders to clean our water, protect our environment and serve our communities by generating worth from what others call waste. We work to protect the health of our water, our Earth, and those who depend on them now and in the future.

What good is a job without great benefits to reward your hard work? Here are some highlights of what Synagro has to offer:

• 15 days paid time off
• 10 holidays
• Medical/Dental/Vision (within 30 days of hire)
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with company match
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• 401(k) with company match, (fully vested upon hire)
• Career growth and promotional opportunities
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Bonus Incentive Program

JOB SUMMARY

The Project Manager leads operational improvement, capital, maintenance, transition, and compliance-related projects across wastewater and biosolids facilities. This position coordinates facility operations, engineering, maintenance, contractors, vendors, compliance, procurement, and customer representatives to deliver projects safely, on schedule, within budget, and with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop project charters defining scope, objectives, responsibilities, budget, schedule, assumptions, risks, and measures of success.
• Create and maintain project work plans, milestone schedules, action logs, risk registers, decision logs, cost forecasts, and status reports.
• Lead project kickoff, design review, construction readiness, progress, commissioning, handover, and closeout activities.
• Coordinate engineering, procurement, contractors, vendors, operations, maintenance, environmental, health and safety, and customer activities.
• Integrate project execution with continuous wastewater and biosolids operations, including equipment outages, shutdowns, temporary systems, tie-ins, bypass conditions, startup, and commissioning.
• Evaluate project impacts on process capacity, dewatering, sludge handling, drying and pelletizing, centrate or filtrate return, odor control, chemical systems, utilities, material handling, and facility reliability.
• Ensure operators and maintenance personnel participate in planning, design reviews, constructability reviews, and operational-readiness assessments.
• Establish and administer project budgets; track commitments, purchase orders, invoices, accruals, change orders, actual costs, and forecast at completion.
• Develop clear scopes of work; support competitive bidding, contractor selection, mobilization, scheduling, field execution, and performance management.
• Review proposed scope and cost changes, document the business and operational basis, and maintain disciplined change control.
• Identify and elevate safety, compliance, operational, commercial, schedule, and critical-path risks; implement mitigation and recovery plans.
• Develop startup and commissioning plans and verify completion of testing, training, spare parts, operating procedures, drawings, manuals, punch-list items, and required documentation before handover.
• Build collaborative relationships with facility teams, customers, contractors, and internal stakeholders and provide concise leadership-level updates.
• Conduct project closeout and lessons-learned reviews and incorporate improvements into future project planning and execution.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES

• Strong knowledge of project management principles, including scope, schedule, cost, risk, procurement, change control, commissioning, and closeout.
• Working understanding of wastewater treatment, biosolids processing, industrial utilities, and operating plant constraints.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects in dispersed, fast-paced operating environments.
• Strong written, verbal, facilitation, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with operators, technical personnel, customers, contractors, and executive leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to organize cross-functional work, establish accountability, resolve issues, and drive commitments to completion.
• Financial acumen sufficient to manage project budgets, forecasts, purchase orders, invoices, accruals, and change orders.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and project planning, reporting, and collaboration tools.
• Ability to travel up to 50% and work at wastewater, biosolids, and industrial facilities, including during planned outages or critical project activities.
• Ability to obtain required site, state, or regulatory certifications and licenses

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, environmental science, operations management, business, or related discipline required; equivalent directly related experience may be considered.

• Progressive project management experience in wastewater treatment, biosolids, water treatment, utilities, industrial processing, manufacturing, or a comparable operating environment.
• Demonstrated experience executing projects within active operating facilities where outages, construction, safety, and production activities must be coordinated.
• Experience managing project scope, schedules, budgets, contractors, change orders, commissioning, and operational handover.
• Working knowledge of process equipment such as pumps, piping, tanks, conveyors, dewatering equipment, electrical systems, instrumentation, and controls preferred.
• Experience with biosolids dewatering, drying, pelletizing, thermal processing, or material handling preferred.
• PMP, CAPM, Professional Engineer license, wastewater operator certification, or OSHA 30-hour training preferred.

WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Talking, Hearing, and Seeing. Sitting, Standing, Walking.
• The worker is subject to inside and outside environmental conditions.
• The worker is subject atmospheric conditions: One or more of the following conditions that affect the respiratory system of the skin: Fumes, odors, dusts, mists, gases, or poor ventilation.
• The worker is subject to hazards: Includes a variety of physical conditions such as proximity to moving mechanical parts, moving vehicles, electrical current, working on scaffolding and high places, exposure to high heat or exposure to bio-solids.
• This position requires travel and overtime

Salary Range: $165,000.00 annually (commensurate with experience)

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all essential job functions, knowledge, skills, abilities, efforts, and physical or working conditions associated with a position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.