The Lead Project Manager is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the successful execution of customer projects from order receipt through final delivery. This position serves as the primary liaison between customers, sales, engineering, purchasing, production, warehouse operations, and suppliers to ensure projects are completed on schedule and meet customer expectations.
The Lead Project Manager provides leadership and guidance on project execution, establishes priorities, identifies risks, and drives cross-functional communication to support on-time and profitable project completion.
Essential Functions
- Customer project scheduling
- Control panel build coordination
- Material readiness tracking
- Maintain Change Log for approved requested changes and related costs.
- Engineering release coordination
- ERP production order creation / maintenance
- Production schedule communication
- Customer status updates
- Materials expedite coordination
- Maintain Open Issues Matrix
- Problem solve with other teams to meet customer requirements.
- Shipment coordination
- Project closeout
- On-Time Delivery %
- Budget Maintenance
- Engineering Release Compliance
- Material Availability at Build Start
- Expedite Frequency
- Customer Satisfaction
- Revenue Shipped vs. Schedule
- Open Past-Due Projects
- Post production change minimization
- Systematic order maintenance and accuracy
- Assign Projects to Project Manager Staff
- Call project review meetings.
- Collaborate on production schedule with Production Managers
- Escalate material shortages.
- Escalate engineering delays.
- Recommend production priorities.
- Hold departments accountable to project milestones.
- Directly supervise and support Project Managers and other assigned team members.
- Assign workload and establish priorities to ensure project deadlines are met.
- Provide coaching, training, and performance feedback.
- Conduct performance evaluations and support employee development plans.
- Promote collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement within the project coordination team.
- Assist in recruiting, onboarding, and training new team members as needed.
- Monitor team performance and workload capacity to ensure efficient project execution.
- Team productivity and workload balance
- Employee development and retention
- Accuracy and timeliness of project communication
- Reduction in project delays and escalations
- Continuous improvement initiatives implemented
- Cross-functional collaboration effectiveness
Primary Responsibilities
Key Metrics
The Lead Project Manager has the authority to:
Key Competencies & Skills:
Leadership & Team Development
Additional Success Measures
In addition to project execution metrics, the role should be evaluated on:
Experience, Education and Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Engineering, or a related field
- PMP (Project Management Professional) certification or equivalent is highly desirable
- Preferred 2-5 years minimum of project management experience in a relevant industry
- Proven track record of successfully managing projects from initiation to completion
- Experience with project management methodologies such as Agile, Scrum, or Waterfall
- Demonstrated ability to manage project budgets, timelines, and resources effectively
- Experience in risk management and developing mitigation strategies
Education:
Experience:
Success in This Role
A successful Lead Project Manager consistently delivers projects on schedule, & on budget, communicates effectively across departments, proactively resolves issues, maintains strong customer relationships, and helps create a culture of accountability and operational excellence.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Engineering, or related field
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
- 2-5 years project management experience in a relevant industry
- Proven track record managing projects from initiation to completion
- Experience with Agile, Scrum, or Waterfall project methodologies
- Demonstrated ability to manage project budgets, timelines, and resources
- Experience in risk management and developing mitigation strategies
- Experience with ERP systems including production order creation/maintenance
- Experience supervising project managers and developing team members
- Experience coordinating cross-functional teams (engineering, purchasing, production, warehouse, suppliers)
SunSource Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about SunSource and has not been reviewed or approved by SunSource.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare Strength: Medical, dental, and vision coverage with plan options are offered alongside wellness programs and an EAP. Offerings also include HSA/HRA and FSA choices that broaden the health coverage scope.
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Retirement Support — Retirement Support: A 401(k) with company match is included and called out in employer-provided materials. This provides a clear foundation for long-term savings within the total rewards package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Leave & Time Off Breadth: Paid vacation and holidays are part of the package, with PTO described as decent and vacation potentially capping near four weeks. These time-off elements contribute to a rounded core benefits menu.
SunSource Insights
What We Do
SunSource, a leader in industrial and mobile fluid power distribution for over 85 years, provides customers with innovative solutions that help reduce maintenance costs, lower operating costs and increase productivity. The solutions are part of the SunSource Advantage: a comprehensive program offering design and engineering support; supply chain optimization; productivity solutions; value-added services; and repair capabilities. As a national distributor with local presence, SunSource has a unique and dominant position as a full-service resource for the industrial, OEM, MRO and mobile industrial equipment industries. We distribute a broad range of components, but SunSource is much more than a distributor just supplying fluid power components or systems. Along with high-quality products, we provide a commitment to high-quality customer service and technically sound, cost-effective solutions. SunSource’s history of accomplishment and continued growth means that we give the best condition to energetic, driven people to be effective in their role. We pride ourselves on a culture that provides opportunities for development and advancement of our associates. In addition, we build meaningful relations with our customers, suppliers and internal associates. We are all bound by a pledge to a common mission toward providing the highest quality products and services within our industry and achieving the company’s growth objectives
