Job Overview
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Project Manager to lead complex projects across diverse business units. Expanding our industrial refrigeration construction portfolio requires experienced project leadership capable of managing complex mechanical systems at scale. As project volume and complexity grow, the organization requires Senior Project Managers who can:
- Protect project margin
- Maintain disciplined execution plans
- Coordinate engineering and construction activities
- Deliver fully commissioned refrigeration systems to clients
In this pivotal role, you will lead $1M-$30M ammonia refrigeration construction projects for food processing, cold storage, and industrial manufacturing facilities across the United States. This role owns project margins, schedule, and client relationships from contract award through commissioning and final turnover, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and organizational standards.
The Senior Project Manager serves as the single point of accountability integrating engineering, procurement, subcontractors, and field construction into a disciplined execution plan. Your expertise in project management methodologies, team leadership, and process improvement will empower you to deliver high-impact solutions that propel our organization forward. This project leadership role offers an exciting opportunity to influence key initiatives, foster collaboration, and implement best practices in a fast-paced environment.
Typical Project Scope
Projects managed by this role include:
- Industrial ammonia (NH3) refrigeration systems for food processing facilities
- Cold storage distribution refrigeration plants
- Refrigeration system retrofits, expansions, and capacity upgrades
- Industrial process cooling systems
- Design-build mechanical construction packages delivered within integrated project teams
- Typical project value: $1M – $10M
This role typically manages 2–3 projects at a time, depending on project size and complexity.
Lifecycle Ownership Requirement
The Senior Project Manager owns projects from contract award through commissioning and final client turnover.
Responsibilities include:
- Project planning and execution strategy
- Procurement and subcontractor coordination
- Construction execution
- Commissioning coordination
- Financial forecasting and change order capture
Core Responsibilities
- Project Integration - Develop and maintain a unified project execution plan integrating engineering, procurement, and field construction
- Serve as the primary point of accountability for project delivery outcomes.
- Project planning - Build construction schedules aligned with engineering deliverables and procurement milestones
- Scheduling - Identify schedule risks and adjust sequencing to maintain critical path
- Cost Control - own project financial performance including cost forecasting and margin protection
- Forecasting - maintain forecast-at-completion updates throughout project execution
- Change Order Management - Identify scope changes early and price change orders before work proceeds and manage subcontractor performance and invoice approval.
- Change Order Tracking - Maintain a detailed change order log and track approval status.
- Subcontractor Management -Execute subcontractor buyout strategies aligned with budget and schedule requirements, manage subcontractor performance, and invoice approval
- Client Communication - Lead project status meetings and maintain proactive communication on schedule and cost status
- Risk management - Identify project risk early, maintain a live risk register and escalate material risks to leadership with mitigation strategies.
- Project Closeout - Coordinate Commissioning and mechanical completion, manage punch list resolution and final documentation turnover
Engineering Coordination
The Senior Project Manager maintains alignment between engineering design and field execution.
Key coordination responsibilities include:
- Equipment selection and procurement decisions affecting cost and schedule
- Piping layout constructability reviews prior to fabrication
- Engineering change management during construction
- Commissioning planning and system startup coordination
- Resolution of RFIs and technical discrepancies
Candidates must possess sufficient technical literacy to participate in engineering discussions, not simply relay information.
Performance Accountability
Senior Project Managers are evaluated on:
Performance Metric:
- Project Margin Performance
- Cost Forecast Accuracy
- Schedule Performance
- Change Order Capture Rate
- Client Satisfaction
- Safety Performance
Measurement
- Projects delivered at or above contracted margin
- Forecast-at-completion variance within defined tolerance
- Milestone and completion date adherence
- Percentage of scope changes converted to approved change orders
- Owner relationship quality; repeat business and references
- Compliance with project safety requirements
Required Experience
- 5+ years of industrial mechanical construction experience
- Demonstrated experience managing ammonia refrigeration construction projects
- Proven P&L ownership, including cost forecasting and change order management
- Experience delivering projects from contract award through commissioning
- Ability to coordinate engineering, procurement, and construction teams
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Construction Management
- Equivalent field experience considered
Preferred Experience
- Industrial ammonia refrigeration in food processing or cold storage environments
- Background as a refrigeration engineer or field engineer prior to project management
- Experience managing $5M–$30M construction projects
- Familiarity with IIAR standards, PSM/RMP regulatory requirements, and ammonia system commissioning protocols
- RETA certification (CARO, CRES, or similar)
Travel
- Travel Across United States required
- Location - project dependent
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $130,000.00 - $160,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
