Vice President of Project Management

Orion Talent; Williamsburg (VA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading project management firm in Virginia seeks a Senior Project Manager to oversee complex electrical switchgear projects for global clients. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience, a strong technical background, and exceptional leadership skills. Key responsibilities include managing project delivery, maintaining client relationships, and ensuring financial accountability. A Bachelor's degree in engineering and relevant certifications are essential, along with a proven track record in project management.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a senior leadership role managing technical teams.
• 10+ years of senior level PM experience with engineered projects.
• Strong background in low-voltage switchgear or power distribution.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end project delivery across multiple projects.
• Balance strategic goals with immediate business needs.
• Act as a senior point of contact for key clients.

Skills

Project Management Systems

Relationship Development

Financial Acumen

Analytical Skills

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field

PMP, PRINCE2 or similar certification

Tools

MS Project

Primavera

Job description

The position is a key member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) responsible for leading a team of Program and Project Managers ensuring the professional delivery of complex electrical switchgear projects to our global data centre clients. This strategic leadership role ensures that all projects are delivered on time, within budget and to the highest QA and H&S standards.

Maintaining excellent client relationships and acting as a point of escalation is a critical aspect of the role. This role requires a strong technical understanding of Project Management Systems and Techniques, exceptional relationship development skills and a very high degree of financial and commercial acumen.

What You'll Be Doing

• Develop and implement a Project Management Process, ensuring alignment between US and IRL systems.
• Balance strategic goals with immediate business needs, ensuring projects align with company objectives.
• Provide strategic direction and strong leadership, ensuring your team deliver professionally / consistently.
• Foster a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration and excellence.
• Collaborate with HR to ensure workforce planning, training and succession development.
• Align your resource / capacity planning with our SIOPS process.
• Promote professional development and knowledge sharing across the team.
• Ensure rigorous financial and commercial management through all phases of the project lifecycle.
• Implement and maintain department-level governance, reporting and documentation standards.
• Regularly review project performance, verify financial targets and contractual obligations are achieved with rational to explain as required.
• Implement early warning KPIs to identify a project which is not achieving its performance goals.
• Developing mitigation strategies to correct non-performing projects with peer teams as required.
• Monitor general Project Management KPI’s, ensuring trends are monitored / corrected as required.
• Provide accurate reports which provide clarity of alignment of performance to the business strategy.

Project Delivery

Oversee the end-to-end delivery of multiple concurrent electrical switchgear / internal CEL projects.

• Implement and utilize Master Scheduling / SIOPS processes to ensure alignment across all functions.
• Ensure adherence to project scope, timelines, budgets and quality standards.
• Implement robust project governance, risk management and reporting structures.
• Provide clear, accurate and regular reports on all active projects.
• Proactively identify, monitor and mitigate project risks and issues (internal or external).
• Develop mitigation strategies and escalate to ensure project momentum and successful outcomes.
• Utilize regular Lessons Learned activities to ensure identified risks are not repeated.

Client Engagement

• Act as a senior point of contact and escalation for key clients.
• Maintain strong client relationships, manage expectations, ensure satisfaction and repeat business.
• Ensure all commercial and contract management negotiations are carried out in line with CEL policies.
• Ability to travel in the region of 30% - 40% of standard hours.
• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery processes, project tools and team performance.
• Drive standardization and best practices across the Project Management function.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Engineering, Manufacturing and Supply Chain.
• Strategic and analytical thinker with a hands-on, results-driven mindset.
• Strong leadership presence and ability to inspire cross-functional teams.
• Financially and commercially astute with sound business judgment.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making capabilities.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management abilities.
• High level of integrity, professionalism and resilience.

Must-Have Skills, Experience, and Education

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Project Management or related field with a PMP, PRINCE2 or similar project management certification being essential.
• 5+ years in a senior leadership role (VP or similar) managing technical / engineering teams.
• 10+ years of senior level PM experience, including leadership of complex, engineered-to-order projects.
• Strong background in low-voltage switchgear, power distribution, or electrical infrastructure sectors.
• Proven ability to manage highly complex, large project portfolios with full financial accountability.
• Expert in project planning tools (MS Project, Primavera, or equivalent) and project financial analysis.
• Demonstrated success in stakeholder management, risk mitigation and performance improvement.
• Excellent leadership, communication, interpersonal and change-management skills.

Demonstrated commitment to ensure our business goals and your functional goals are met / exceeded.

• Strategic thinker with a hands-on approach, with strong analytical skills which drive decision making.
• Ability to travel are required – approx. 30% - 40%.