Senior Project Manager

The following position is located at our Headquarters in Belcamp, MD (Harford County):

Summary:

Sr. Project Manager is primarily responsible for the leadership of New Product Introduction (NPI) projects that transition technology from SafeNet Engineering to manufacturing readiness.  This individual will be the primary point of contact for Design Engineering and Product Management (PLM) functions for all aspects of Operations activities during NPI.  In this role, the candidate will need to understand the product line strategy and objectives, the engineering development plan, and the initial customer engagement opportunities and assures, through coordination with the Operations Staff members that operational resources and product availability are consistent with these plans.  This role requires an influential leader, with business and technical knowledge of the products and processes necessary to assist the product line, and must excel at facilitating teamwork and communication between operational groups within Safenet, across functions and geographies.  In addition to traditional internal product development support, the candidate shall also provide management and oversight of external OEMs involved in development programs, as well as occasional project management support for sustaining issues requiring cross-functional support. 

Qualification Requirements:

Education:   
• BS in engineering or BA in Business, or equivalent experience in a related field, required
• MBA a plus
• PMI Certification a plus

Experience:  
• At least 7 years of product experience in technology oriented industries, including comparable roles in companies of 1500 employees or more.
• At least 5 years of experience in project management, or management of significant business processes is required.
• Experience in product manufacturing, testing and quality is a plus.
• Experience in supply chain management disciplines, including the use of ERP systems, is a plus.

Skills:
• Displays a high level of personal integrity and honesty.
• Traditional project management skills, such as organizing and planning projects, establishing goals and monitoring performance, assessing risks, and anticipating and efficiently resolving problems. 
• Demonstrated success in NPI project environment and able to bring products through to manufacturing
• Experience in handling concurrent design/development projects
• Flexibility and creativity to identify improved ways of doing things and accepting new ideas.
• Focus on results – drives self and project team members to achieve stretch goals.  Displays initiative to do whatever it takes to achieve these goals.
• Strong written and oral communication skills to interface effectively with subordinates, peers and senior management.
• Ability to listen, persuade and achieve win-win negotiation results with SafeNet functional groups. 
• Team building skills – builds effective relationships, displays empathy and motivates/inspires cross-functional team members to common goal; displays persistence, vision and positive attitude, and ability to influence without direct authority.
• Ability and experience in leading and working with international teams across time zones, across multiple areas of expertise
• Effective at resolving conflict in a constructive manner.
• Is able to deal with change and can frame their position and projects with the overall corporate strategic priorities.  Is willing and able to become a champion for change initiatives within and across organizations.
• Proficiency in PC, Microsoft Office applications, especially MS Project, and Oracle ERP 

 

Essential Duties Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following: 

Product Line Strategic Planning
• Operations’ representative working with Product Management to understand the respective product roadmap and assuring the integration of this plan with Operations support plans, while addressing areas of concern or gaps with both management teams.
• Understands Operations capacities and constraints and is able to provide guidance to the Business Unit during their planning process. Presents gaps to both Management teams in order to fill voids.

NPI Project Planning and Execution
• Overall project planning and execution responsibility for all aspects of Operations NPI activities for both internal development and OEM new product launches. 
• Understands and communicates new product and feature requests to the Operations team and works to generate support plans for Operations.
• Develop and coordinate Operations project schedule/action plan leading to on time completion of production manufacturing readiness, to support initial customer engagement commitments. 
• Team leadership to assure all parties maintain close communication and coordination regarding project status and milestones.
• Participate in weekly meetings tracking schedule, deliverables and actions. Mobilize internal team where is necessary to drive closure on issues.
• Monitor completion of PLC and NPI Gate checklist deliverables.
• Define NPI build plan for prototype through pilot;  link with PDs/PLM and Operations Product Line Team to ensure pre-production builds are in the plan and are being driven by demand in the system
• Ensure that SafeNet’s Strategic Sourcing Team and Design Engineering are working together to develop a mature supply chain/AVL for manufacturing readiness

Initial Customer Engagement Management
• Interface with Product Management/Program Management to ensure the initial customer engagement forecast and production ramp requirements are defined and valid.
• Work with Supply Chain to make certain on time delivery goals can be achieved and inventories are aligned with tactical and strategic objectives for product launch.

Status Reporting
• Report progress/issues to Engineering/Program Management during weekly Program Reviews, as needed.  This should include feedback on how product is tracking to production cost goal.
• Document and communicate project status, obstacles and resolutions to Ops management.

Special Project Engagement (cross-functional sustaining)
• Lead problem solving exercises and coordinates cross-functional resources to drive resolution of sustaining product or process issues to reach quarterly goals.
• Project planning and execution for larger scale one-time Operations projects – e.g. Contract Manufacturing transfer project.

Process Improvement
• Propose and participate in PLC/NPI related process and system improvement projects
• Other duties/projects as assigned

If interested in this opportunity, Click Here To Apply.  To learn more about SafeNet and our career opportunities, please visit our website at www.safenet-inc.com

SafeNet is an Equal Opportunity Employer