Project Manager – Custom Vehicle Manufacturing
- Location: Middlebury, Indiana
- Type: Full-time, permanent
- Location: Hybrid - On-site at our production facility, with occasional travel to client sites and deliveries. However on-site is not the greatest office set-up you'll have ever seen (it is a workshop) so outside of daily coordination you are free to work from home-office or a cafe/co-working space.
- Reports to: Ownership
- Works closely with: Sales, the Indiana General Manager, design team, vendors, and customers
- Travel: Occasional customer, supplier, inspection, or delivery travel
- Hours: Flexible. Shop schedule runs 06:00-14:00, some overlap is necessary.
About Karpatia Trucks
Karpatia Trucks designs and builds unique mobile hospitality vehicles: custom food trucks, coffee trucks, mobile bars, Airstream conversions, vintage Citroën HYs, Piaggio Apes and other specialty platforms, but we also do regular step vans and concession trailers. .
Our customers range from independent hospitality operators to agencies and major international brands. Our projects combine design, fabrication, commercial kitchen equipment, electrical and plumbing systems, regulatory requirements, logistics, and a large number of details that all have to come together at the right time.
Our design and production teams operate across Middlebury, Indiana and Budapest, Hungary.
The role
Once a customer signs their agreement and pays a deposit, you become the operational owner of the project from kickoff through delivery.
You will turn the sold scope into an executable project plan, keep the customer informed, coordinate design and production, manage procurement timelines, drive decisions, identify risks early, and make sure the entire team is working from current information.
This is not an assistant project manager or status-reporting position; a key differentiator vs other approaches to project management is that you have to add momentum and drive, not just checking what the status is on something and writing it down, but figuring it out. You are accountable for keeping several custom projects moving and for creating clarity when schedule, scope, cost, customer expectations, and technical reality do not immediately align.
You do not need to be the engineer, designer, salesperson, or shop-floor manager. You do need enough technical fluency to read plans and equipment specifications, recognize missing information, ask good questions, and make sure issues get resolved.
What you will own
Own the sales-to-project handoff. Participate in kickoff with sales. Review the agreed design, scope, budget assumptions, target schedule, customer commitments, open decisions, and known risks before accepting operational ownership.
Be the customer’s primary operational contact. Maintain a predictable communication cadence from kickoff through delivery. Answer project questions, communicate progress, set decision deadlines, explain schedule implications, and surface problems before they become surprises. Sales remains involved in pricing, contract changes, and sensitive commercial conversations.Shop GMs will send weekly build progress update mails to customers and you coordinate operational challenges with the respective shop GM and the customer (f.e. A design can not be built because item x is 10 weeks out of stock, is the customer on board with swapping to Y which is available right now).
Maintain the integrated project plan. Build and manage the schedule across customer approvals, design, procurement, vehicle intake, fabrication, electrical and plumbing work, inspections, commissioning, punch-list work, and delivery.
Own the project procurement process. Translate approved specifications and bills of materials into a purchasing schedule. Identify long-lead items, obtain quotes and written lead-time confirmations, coordinate purchase orders, track shipments, follow up with suppliers, resolve delivery discrepancies, and escalate risks early. Expand vendor/supplier network.
Coordinate design and production. Work closely with the Budapest design team and Indiana shop leadership. Make sure questions are answered, revisions are documented, current drawings reach the shop, and design or engineering conflicts are raised before they become rework.
Run the change-control process. Log customer and internal change requests. Coordinate technical feasibility, cost, procurement, and schedule impact. Make sure commercial approval is obtained before changed work proceeds and that drawings, specifications, budgets, and schedules are updated afterward.
Maintain project visibility. Keep the project schedule, purchasing tracker, decision log, risk register, customer approvals, change-order record, finish schedule, specifications, and current drawings organized and accessible.
Coordinate compliance requirements. Maintain the project’s regulatory and permitting checklist and make sure required information, documentation, reviews, and approvals are obtained.
Own delivery and closeout. Coordinate final readiness reviews, customer walkthroughs, punch lists, documentation, payment or approval dependencies, transportation, delivery logistics, and project closeout.
What this role is not
- You are not responsible for selling or closing the original project.
- You are not expected to produce the complete CAD or engineering package.
- You do not manage shop-floor labor
- You are not merely forwarding messages between departments.
- You are not expected to hide bad news until you have a perfect solution.
Your job is to establish ownership, drive decisions, and make sure the right people resolve issues in time.
What success looks like
Within your first several months:
- Every active project has a clear scope, schedule, procurement plan, decision log, risk list, and next milestone.
- Customers receive consistent, proactive updates.
- Long-lead items have clear required-order dates and confirmed delivery status.
- Design and production questions have named owners and deadlines.
- Changes are documented and approved before affected work proceeds.
- Delivery risks are surfaced early enough to do something about them.
- Sales is focused primarily on selling and commercial relationships rather than routine project follow-up.
- Shop leadership receives current, complete information without having to chase multiple people for answers.
Who you are
You will probably have five or more years of project-management experience in one or more of the following:
- Custom or low-volume manufacturing.
- RV, specialty vehicle, trailer, coach, marine, or automotive work.
- Commercial construction or mechanical contracting.
- Commercial kitchen equipment or foodservice installation.
- Architectural millwork or custom interiors.
- Exhibit, event, or branded-environment fabrication.
- Another industry where every project is different and incomplete information becomes expensive.
Directly relevant experience may matter more than your exact number of years.
You should also have:
- Experience managing several (10+) concurrent projects from kickoff through delivery.
- Strong customer-facing communication skills.
- Demonstrated experience with purchasing schedules, vendors, and long-lead materials or equipment.
- The ability to read technical drawings, equipment cut sheets, specifications, and bills of materials.
- The confidence to challenge incomplete information and escalate risks.
- Strong written follow-through and documentation habits.
- The ability to distinguish an urgent issue from a genuinely important project risk.
- Comfort working both in an office environment and around an active fabrication shop.
- A valid driver’s license and the ability to travel occasionally.
- Authorization to work in the United States.
A specific degree or project-management certification is welcome but not required.
Helpful, but not required
- Commercial foodservice equipment experience.
- Familiarity with espresso machines, refrigeration, generators, HVAC, electrical loads, plumbing, tanks, propane, or commercial kitchen layouts.
- RV, trailer, specialty-vehicle, or custom-fabrication experience.
- Experience with permitting, health-department requirements, DOT requirements, or state vehicle codes.
- Experience viewing or marking up CAD drawings.
- Experience with project-management software, CRM systems, Google Workspace, Slack, and purchasing or accounting systems.
How we work
We are a small, international company working on complex, highly visible projects. Communication is direct, decisions matter, and good ideas do not need to travel through several layers of management.
This role has significant ownership. You will be expected to improve the systems you inherit rather than merely operate them.
Compensation
Current market sources place general Indiana project-manager compensation around the $90,000 range. This role falls between a conventional PM and a senior PM because of its client, procurement, and cross-functional ownership.
How to apply
No traditional cover letter is required.
Please submit a resume and short answers to the following:
- Describe the most relevant custom manufacturing, construction, installation, or fabrication project you managed from kickoff through delivery. What went wrong, what did you do, and how did it end?
- Describe a supplier, purchasing, or long-lead issue you prevented or recovered. What specifically alerted you to the risk?
- Describe a time you had to tell a customer or internal leader that the requested scope, budget, or delivery date could not all be maintained. How did you handle it?
Pay: $69,503.00 - $96,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Relocation assistance
Ability to Commute:
- Middlebury, IN 46540 (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Middlebury, IN 46540
