Business Title: Project Manager
Reports to: Director of Information Services
Leadership Scope: Individual Leader
Company Info: With a heritage of nearly 120 years, we aren’t just a company; we are a brand of trust. But more than anything, we are a collection of individuals who, together, give Grote Industries a decisive competitive advantage. At Grote, our shared vision is clear – to meet the needs of the customers we serve. We accomplish that mission every day by following a set of core values that makes us who we are.
Innovation has been the hallmark of Grote Industries from the start. From durable, easy to see stop lights to the latest in LED lighting technology, Grote has been leading the way in advanced vehicle system solutions from early in the last century right up to today. With these innovations, Grote has helped millions of people throughout North America and the world benefit from the innovation and design excellence of Grote products.
Position Summary: We are looking for an experienced and driven Project Manager to plan, execute, and deliver projects on time, within scope, and on budget at the intersection of technology and manufacturing. In this role, you will serve as the central point of coordination across cross-functional engineering, production, and technology teams, ensuring clear communication, proactive risk management, and alignment with organizational goals. The ideal candidate brings a solid understanding of both manufacturing processes and technology-driven workflows, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and knows how to turn ambiguity into action.
Position Duties: - Own project outcomes across scope, schedule, budget, and quality.
- Lead project planning, including scope, schedule, resources, budget baselines, and sponsor approval.
- Direct execution, monitor progress, and track deliverables, milestones, and KPIs.
- Lead cross-functional teams by defining roles, motivating team members, and fostering collaboration.
- Manage stakeholders through clear communication on status, risks, decisions, and escalations
- Identify, assess, prioritize, and mitigate project risks
- Enforce change control for scope, schedule, and budget.
- Manage budgets, track actuals vs. forecasts, and report variances.
- Use structured problem-solving and quality methods to resolve issues.
- Apply PM best practices and lessons learned to improve processes.
- Maintain lifecycle documentation and lead project closeout, handoff, and post-project review.
Requirements: B.S. degree in Business, Computer Science, Management Information Systems or related field of study and 7-10+ years of experience leading large, cross functional projects. Strong knowledge of project management principles, methodologies, and best practices (PMI/PMBOK), including predictive, agile, and hybrid delivery approaches. Experienced in managing the full project lifecycle, including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closeout, along with associated deliverables and gate reviews. Skilled in scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, risk, communications, procurement, and stakeholder management. Proficient in work breakdown structure (WBS) development, critical path scheduling, earned value management (EVM), and risk management processes including identification, analysis, response planning, mitigation, and risk register maintenance. Knowledgeable in change control and configuration management processes for scope, schedule, and budget baselines. Experienced with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, and Jira, as well as standard reporting and dashboarding practices. Familiar with manufacturing, warehousing, and engineering business processes and the IT systems that support them, along with software development lifecycle (SDLC) and enterprise application implementation methodologies, particularly for ERP projects.
