Strategic Associate Project Manager - Utility Capital Projects

Motive Power; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Motive Power is seeking an experienced Associate Project Manager to support a leading power and utilities client, focusing on large capital projects in Transmission & Distribution. You will engage directly with client leadership and cross-functional teams to strengthen execution and deliver results.

The role requires 5+ years in project management within utilities, with the ability to work onsite in Portland 2–3 days per week and to manage complex projects independently.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive project management experience supporting large capital projects.
• Experience within the power and utilities industry, preferably supporting Transmission & Distribution initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex project deliverables and coordinate multiple stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of capital project execution, scheduling, budgeting, risk management, and project controls.
• Experience working directly with utility owners, engineering organizations, contractors, or consulting firms.
• Strong communication, analytical, problem-solving, and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Ability to quickly assess project challenges, establish priorities, and execute with limited oversight.
• Comfortable working in a client-facing consulting environment.
• Ability to work onsite in the Portland area 2 to 3 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day execution of large-scale utility capital projects, with an anticipated focus on Transmission & Distribution infrastructure.
• Provide direct project management oversight for one or more complex capital projects.
• Develop and maintain project execution plans, schedules, milestones, and deliverables.
• Monitor project performance against established scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations.
• Identify project risks, constraints, and dependencies, implementing corrective actions to maintain delivery commitments.
• Assess project health and develop actionable recovery strategies for projects experiencing execution challenges.
• Coordinate engineering, construction, procurement, operations, and project controls activities to maintain project alignment.
• Serve as a trusted project management advisor to utility client stakeholders.
• Partner with client leadership to align project execution with broader portfolio objectives.
• Lead project meetings, stakeholder updates, and cross-functional coordination activities.
• Translate complex project challenges into actionable recommendations and practical solutions.
• Build strong working relationships with engineering teams, contractors, project controls professionals, and executive stakeholders.
• Provide objective assessments of project performance and recommend opportunities to strengthen delivery.
• Support portfolio-level planning, reporting, governance, and project prioritization.
• Establish clear visibility into project progress, critical milestones, and emerging risks.
• Evaluate existing project management processes and recommend improvements to execution efficiency.
• Collaborate with project controls teams to monitor schedules, forecasts, budgets, and change management activities.
• Develop consistent project reporting and performance accountability.
• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery consistency across the broader capital portfolio.

Skills

Project management

Power & utilities

Stakeholder management

Scheduling

Budgeting

Risk management

Client-facing

Onsite Portland

Tools

Primavera P6

Microsoft Project

Power BI

Job description

Motive Power is seeking an experienced Associate Project Manager to support a leading power and utilities client, focusing on large capital projects in Transmission & Distribution. You will engage directly with client leadership and cross-functional teams to strengthen execution and deliver results.

The role requires 5+ years in project management within utilities, with the ability to work onsite in Portland 2–3 days per week and to manage complex projects independently.