Senior Project Manager

Cognex Corporation; Ohio; On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognex Corporation in the United States seeks a Senior Project Manager with external customer facing experience to lead automation projects and coordinate internal/external resources. You will manage scope, risks, and schedules while ensuring quality and profitability across the project lifecycle.

The role requires 5+ years of project management experience in high-tech environments, strong communication, and the ability to travel as needed to meet customer needs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience as a project manager in high-tech/services
• Excellent written and verbal communication with customers
• Knowledge of automation technology for manufacturability, assembly, test and production
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex projects
• Strong time management and organizational skills in fast-paced environments
• Understanding of project cost estimation and profitability analysis
• Ability to plan complex schedules and prevent scope creep
• Decision making and problem solving under pressure
• Knowledge of business processes and order handling
• Experience handling escalations and customer emergencies

Responsibilities

• Actively plan, organize and align resources to meet project schedules
• Maintain relationships with customers pre- and post-sale
• Develop project schedules and track progress with milestones and status updates
• Define project scope and communicate changes; negotiate and identify up-selling opportunities
• Manage all project documentation and hand it to service or customer teams

Skills

PMI standards

Communication skills

Automation tech knowledge

Interpersonal skills

Time management

Data analysis

Cost estimation

Risk management

Scheduling

Decision making

Business processes

MS Projects

Learning new tech

Education

BA degree in technical discipline

Tools

Microsoft Projects

Job description

Cognex is searching for a Senior Project Manager with external customer facing experience who will flourish in our “Work Hard, Play Hard, Move Fast” culture. The Senior Project Manager will be interacting and directing resources on projects involving the integration of Cognex designed solutions. Engaging within the pre-sales phase of potential project lifecycle’s, you’ll be responsible to prepare accurately, assess risks, and subsequently deliver the hottest technology in this market, ensuring we meet customer expectations for quality, delivery, and service, while delivering Cognex high standards for growth and profitability.

Essential Functions:

• Actively plan, organize, and align resources, both internal and external, in a cost-effective manner to win and execute against the project schedule.
• Maintain and develop effective relationship with customers both pre- and post-sale.
• Develop project schedules and track project progress against milestones while ensuring timely communications to internal and external stakeholders on project status.
• Create complete and identify project scope documentation. Communicate scope changes to all key stakeholders and own regular escalation and conflict situations. Present pre-defined commercial strategies with all involved parties to negotiate resolution and identify up-selling opportunities. Verify project completion and demonstrate pro-active customer acceptance, via all providers to the project.
• Manage all project documentation through the lifecycle including providing all details on documentation to either the service team or customer to set them up for success.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong experience with Project management processes and PMI standards
• Possesses advanced written and verbal communication skills and someone who exhibits strong customer relationship maintenance skills with the ability to influence, through facts and fast action.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of appropriate industry segment and automation technology including the knowledge of design for the manufacturability, assembly, test and manufacturing test development on industrial, electro-mechanical products
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate, collaborate, and influence both internal and external stakeholders to achieve project objectives.
• Possesses advanced time management and organizational skills to manage multiple projects with quality and efficiently in a dynamic, fact-based fast paced environment.
• Strong understanding of complicated data analysis theory, project cost estimation, and profitability analysis.
• Capable of planning complex schedules by breaking down tasks in efforts to avoid scope creep.
• Strong decision making and problem-solving skills with the ability to sort through competing priorities, anticipate and manage risks, an develop effective mitigation actions to produce effective solutions in unexpected situations
• Strong understanding of business process, order proceeding and solid project-finance knowledge.
• Ability to handle difficult customer situations and has the proper discernment to elevate when necessary. Likely to receive escalation issues from less experience personal.
• Experienced using Project Management tools such as Microsoft Projects
• Ability to rapidly learn new technology and understand new markets

Minimum Education and Work Experience Required:

• BA degree in a technical discipline(preferred) or relevant equivalent professional experience
• Typically requires a minimum of 5+ years’ experience as a project manager within the service high-tech industry or for projects in a related field
• Ability to be on-call and respond to customer emergencies. Availability to work evening and weekend hours or varying work patterns depending on project needs.
• Ability to travel between 20-50% of the time. Travel will vary depending on region, time of year, and customer needs.
• Must possess English language proficiency as a minimum for the role.