TITLE: SR. HARDWARE PROJECT MANAGER
LOCATION: INDIANAPOLIS
COMP: 135,000-150,000 + EQUITY
DESCRIPTION
In this role you will join as a program designer and facilitator for successful and predictable delivery of key product initiatives, especially hardware products. In this role you will help product teams from Architects to Devops manage complex dependencies and aggressive initiative timelines. The position requires working cross-functionally with product leadership as well as product managers and team leads from engineering, architecture, user experience, product marketing, sales, technical field and back-office teams.
REQUIREMENTS:
● Project manage the development of new hardware products
● Build and manage the overall project plan
● Manage communication and facilitate collaboration among the various contributors, stakeholders and teams, across locations, time zones and cultures
● Run regular project status meetings where communication to the team and among team members is the primary purpose
● Hold all team members accountable to do what they said they would do when they said they would do it and with high quality. Promote a ‘commit and achieve’ culture.
● Report out to management and to the Exec Team succinctly, in a standard format, and with a regular cadence
● Develop program assessment protocols for measurement, evaluation and improvement. You know which metrics best inform our progress, and you are calculating them, analyzing them and reporting out.
● Ensure continuous improvement: How can we be more efficient? How can we use our tools better? Are there better tools that we should be using?
● For hardware projects, which will be the focus of this position, build and maintain the detailed Gantt Chart. You will always know what is on the critical path.
● Ensure we follow our stage-gate process with rigor
● Ensure requirements are detailed and comprehensive so that the Engineering team knows what to develop
● Ensure Product and Engineering engage in robust discussion at the beginning of the project plan around requirements so that there is great clarity as to what exactly the product or feature needs to be
● Require well conceived Engineering development estimates
● Pressure test the Engineering schedules, increasing the likelihood of completion on or ahead of schedule, minimizing the likelihood of slippage
● Manage external developers and service providers as well as the internal team
● Ensure the entire team – all roles, not just Engineering and Product Management – are represented in the Project Plan – Sales & Marketing, Operations, Customer Success/Support, Legal
● For hardware projects, ensure components, materials and manufacturers are never a road block
● Develop and vet the budget to ensure staffing and all project expenses are included, nothing overlooked
● Drive clear decision making (process, tools and facilitation) required to balance risk, effort and timelines
PMO Lead additional responsibilities:
● Overall Project Management Office team performance
● Long Term strategy for the PMO function development
● Coaching and mentoring of the team as to approach, PMO tools and methodologies to be be used
● Roll up the status of all projects. Know the status of all projects all the time.
QUALIFICATIONS
● Be proficient with project management tools and methodologies
● Have a PMP certification or equivalent
● Have an Engineering degree, ideally an Electrical Engineering degree, or have substantial electrical engineering experience
● Be familiar with standard project management approaches for hardware and software development as well as modern tools that facilitate such project management.
● Have an MBA (strongly preferred but not strictly necessary)
● Have a success record of introducing new hardware products on-time and on-budget
● Have the ability to competently mediate disagreements and negotiate agreeable resolutions
● Be capable of running a hardware development project with minimal supervision
● Have the diplomatic ability to influence others at all levels of the business
● Have excellent written, verbal and presentation skills
● Be a great decision maker and problem solver
● Have excellent time management and organizational skills
● Be a leader
EXPERIENCE:
● Have managed hardware development projects before and are an expert in managing hardware projects
● Be comfortable with and have experience interacting with the Senior Leadership Team
● Ideally, have also managed software development projects before and are also an expert in managing software projects using Agile methodology
● Have at least 5 years hardware product development management experience, and at least 10 years of applicable work experience overall
● Have project managed at least three different hardware projects from inception through to GA