Sr. Project Manager- USA

Nordex Group; West Branch (IA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

401(k) matching

Job summary

Nordex is seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager to lead large wind projects across the United States and Canada. You will guide end-to-end execution from sales handover through service handover, coordinating cross-functional teams and maintaining top-tier safety, quality, and commercial performance.

You will interact with customer executives and internal leaders, manage contract and schedule risks, and mentor project teams to deliver on time and within budget while protecting margins.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Business, Project Management, or related discipline required.
• 10+ years of experience managing complex energy, infrastructure, or large-scale construction projects.
• Experience in wind project management and interacting with customer executives and leaders.
• Experience mentoring or leading project teams is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead governance across the full project lifecycle from Sales-to-PM handover to Service handover.
• Own integrated project performance balancing HSE, quality, schedule, cost, and cash collection.
• Serve as primary customer interface with executives, engineers, contractors, and Nordex leadership.
• Establish and maintain project controls including schedule, risk registers, and change control.
• Coordinate contractual obligations, change orders, claims, and extensions of time with stakeholders.
• Ensure execution readiness: team structure, resources, site readiness, logistics, and tools.
• Coordinate technical solutions with Engineering and global functions; escalate issues with options.
• Lead safety, compliance with Nordex QHSE policies and regulatory obligations.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Risk management

Contract administration

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related discipline

Job description

Do you want to be part of an agile team where colleagueship truly matters?

As a global company, we interact with a variety of people and cultures. Integrity, Respect, Colleagueship and Ownership are the unifying force for all departments and regions around the world. It’s the individual that defines the team. And it’s the team that makes the difference. Join the #TEAMNORDEX and shape the future of energy with us.

Position Summary

The role of Senior Project Manager, PM directly supports the company’s mission to develop and deliver clean power plants that make 100% renewable energy a reality for the world. The Senior Project Manager is accountable for leading the end-to-end execution of large, complex, and strategically important wind projects in the United States and Canada, from Sales-to-PM handover and execution readiness through installation, commissioning, customer handover, and transition to Service. This role is the primary customer-facing project/projects leader and internal integrator across Commercial Project Management, Site Management, Engineering, Logistics, Construction, Quality, HSE, Sourcing, Legal/Contracts, Finance, and Service. The successful candidate brings deep North American wind-projects execution experience, strong commercial and contractual discipline, disciplined schedule and risk management, and the leadership maturity to influence senior customer executives, contractors, and global Nordex stakeholders while protecting safety, quality, margin, cash, and customer satisfaction.

What You’ll Do

• Lead projects execution governance across the full project lifecycle, including Sales-to-PM handover, contract review, execution readiness, project team launch, weekly project meetings, operational plan reviews, customer reporting, commissioning, punch-list closure, customer handover, and PM-to-Service handover.
• Own integrated project performance for assigned projects, balancing HSE, quality, schedule, cost, margin, cash collection, contract compliance, customer satisfaction, and risk mitigation; ensure HSE has priority over quality, cost, and schedule when decisions are required.
• Serve as the primary customer interface for assigned projects, building trusted relationships with customer executives, construction leadership, owners engineers, contractors, and internal Nordex leadership; communicate status, risks, decisions, and escalations clearly and proactively.
• Establish and maintain project controls, including baseline schedule, critical path, milestone tracking, action logs, risk and opportunity registers, project forecast reviews, change control, claims strategy, cash collection plan, and documentation governance.
• Lead project forecast reviews focused on commercial management changes, risks and opportunities, liquidated damages exposure, contingencies, cash collection, tax/VAT considerations where applicable, and project cost-category assignment.
• Partner with Commercial Project Management, Legal/Contracts, Sourcing, and Finance to manage contractual obligations, change orders, claims and counterclaims, extensions of time, invoicing, additional payments, back-to-back subcontractor positions, and dispute avoidance/resolution.
• Support execution readiness by coordinating the PM Ops reporting to the project/projects, by confirming project team structure, resource needs, site and construction readiness, logistics/material availability, contractor readiness, crane and installation planning, quality plan readiness, and required Nordex systems/tools setup.
• Coordinate the definition and implementation of technical solutions with Engineering and relevant global functions; escalate design, grid, commissioning, SCADA, quality, or technical issues with fact-based options and clear recommendations.
• Ensure robust schedule management, including weekly operational plan updates, monthly operational plan release, critical-path analysis, delay reporting, recovery planning, and early identification of threats to BoP, logistics, installation, commissioning, COD, TOC, and project handover milestones.
• Ensure all managed activities comply with Nordex QHSE policies, project-specific health and safety plans, local statutory requirements, quality control plans, ServiceNow/NCR processes, customer requirements, and applicable regulatory or contractual obligations.
• Exercise authority to intervene, stop, or prohibit work when an immediate HSE risk or improper handling of wind turbine components is identified; ensure timely reporting and closure of hazards, near misses, incidents, and corrective actions.
• Lead internal and external escalation of small, medium, and large project deviations using structured problem-solving, factual impact analysis, mitigation options, accountability assignment, and management communication.
• Coordinate project document management and digital project environments, including Teams/folder structure, PM tools, schedule files, Upvise/database inputs, contract summaries, lessons learned, handover documentation, punch lists, commissioning documentation, and evidence for contractual milestones.
• Support negotiation strategy with subcontractors, contractors, engineering, construction, transportation, cranes, and logistics providers to protect project deliverables, improve competitiveness, and enhance margins.
• Mentor Project Managers, Site Managers, PQM, PMOps, LPM, TPMs, and project team members; coach teams on project governance, customer communication, risk management, commercial discipline, and Nordex processes.
• Represent Nordex professionally with customers, contractors, industry stakeholders, and global counterparts; reinforce Nordex values, ethical conduct, and a collaborative customer-service mindset.
• Travel to project sites, customer offices, contractor locations, and Nordex offices as required to support project delivery, escalations, safety leadership, customer engagement, and major milestones.
• Perform other responsibilities as assigned, including temporary coverage of Project Manager responsibilities for critical projects or absences when business needs are required.

Decision Authority & Escalation

• Authority to lead project-level governance, assign actions within the project team, request functional support, and escalate resource gaps or cross-functional blockers.
• Authority to stop work or escalate immediate HSE or quality risks in accordance with Nordex QHSE policy and project/site requirements.
• Responsible for recommending mitigation, recovery plans, change-order strategy, claims positioning, contingency usage, and customer communication approaches for management approval as required.
• Expected to identify and escalate deviations affecting critical path, major cost impact, contractual exposure, site team availability, quality standstill, or HSE severity using Nordex escalation protocols.

What You Have

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Business, Project Management, or related discipline required; equivalent extensive industry experience may be considered.
• 10+ years of relevant experience managing complex energy, infrastructure, industrial, or large-scale construction projects, with preference for candidates having 15-20 years and substantial utility-scale wind execution experience in the United States and/or Canada.
• Minimum 8+ years in wind project management, wind construction, project operations, installation, logistics, commissioning, or comparable renewable-energy project execution leadership.
• Proven track record managing multiple large-scale projects or a portfolio of major project workstreams, including customer governance, contractor management, contract administration, financial forecasting, claims/change management, and execution recovery.
• Prior experience interacting successfully with customer executives, developers, owners’ engineers, construction management teams, senior internal leadership, and global functional stakeholders.
• Experience in mentoring or leading project managers and cross-functional project teams is strongly preferred.
• Driving is an essential function of the job. Must possess a full valid driver’s license and be insurable under our auto insurance policy. This position will be subject to periodic driver’s abstract checks to confirm continued insurability.

Nordex Places The Highest Priority On The Safe Operations Of Its Business. As Such, We Are Seeking a Candidate Who Is Committed To Maintaining And Promoting Safety Standards At All Times. The Ideal Candidate Must

• Demonstrate a strong understanding of and commitment to safety protocols and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with all safety regulations and company policies.
• Proactively identify and mitigate potential safety hazards.
• Properly use applicable safety equipment, including but not limited to eye protection, hearing protectors, steel-toe boots, and hard hats. Loose-fitting clothes and jewelry are not permitted.
• Communicate effectively with team members and management to ensure a safe working environment.
• Speak and understand English fluently to effectively communicate safety and job-related information, follow safety instructions, and collaborate with English-speaking supervisors and team members.

The pay for this role is exempt at $160k - $180k USD salary with up to a 15% bonus. Individual compensation packages are based on various factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.

We believe our employees are our greatest assets at Nordex. In addition to the opportunity to make our world a little more sustainable we offer you a total rewards program designed to recognize and reward the dedication, hard work, and commitment of our team members. We are proud to offer a comprehensive package that aligns with our core values of Respect, Integrity, Colleagueship, and Ownership.

Financial Benefits

• Paid Time Off - Three (3) weeks accrued (120 hours)
• Medical & Pharmacy Insurance with multiple options to best meet your needs
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with Employer Contribution
• Flex Spending Account (FSA)
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Short-Term / Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Life and AD&D Insurance
• 401(k) with Employer Match
• Student Debt Repayment
• Tuition Reimbursement

Wellbeing, Family Planning, And Voluntary Benefits

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Parental Leave
• Calm Subscription
• Gym Membership Reimbursement
• Accident Insurance
• Legal Plans
• Spot Pet Insurance
• Auto and Home Insurance
• And much more…
• Offers may vary by location and eligibility.

Equal Opportunity
Nordex adheres to a policy of equal employment opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to 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.

Dei
We are committed to creating an environment and culture in which Diversity and Inclusion is recognized as a true opportunity and value for the organization. We welcome you to learn more by visiting this link: Diversity & Inclusion - Nordex SE