Senior Manager, Group Real Estate Management (Lake Zurich)

The Senior Manager, Group Real Estate Management (GREM) Engineering – U.S. serves as the senior U.S.-based representative for GREM Engineering, providing owner-side engineering leadership, project governance, and stakeholder oversight for complex real estate, infrastructure, laboratory, and capital projects.

This role serves as a key link between U.S. business stakeholders and Global GREM Engineering, ensuring global standards and governance are effectively implemented while addressing local business and operational needs. The Senior Manager sets strategic direction and oversees internal and external project partners, including PMOs, engineering firms, consultants, and other stakeholders—to enable successful project delivery. Accountable for portfolio of multiple projects across US and broader Americas region with value of $35 million.

The position focuses on senior-level technical judgment, project and program oversight, risk management, stakeholder alignment, and decision support rather than hands-on engineering design or construction management. The role will have influence on CAPEX and indirect management of external consultants, contractors, vendors and service providers.

*This position requires working onsite in Lake Zurich 3 days per week; remaining days may be worked remotely.

*This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship either now or in the future.

• Salary Range: $120,000-150,000.
• Position is eligible to participate in an annual bonus plan with a target of 14% of the base salary.
• Final pay determinations will depend on various factors, including, but not limited to experience level, education, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Our benefits and programs are comprehensive and thoughtfully crafted to ensure our colleagues live healthy lives and have support when it matters most. Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with company contributions, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, employee assistance program, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage.

Job Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior U.S. representative and primary point of contact for GREM Engineering on assigned strategic, complex, and technically demanding projects.
• Represent Fresenius Kabi's engineering interests and provide visible, accountable leadership across U.S. project initiatives.
• Translate global GREM Engineering standards, methodologies, governance requirements, templates, quality gates, and best practices into effective local implementation.
• Provide senior-level technical and program assessments and recommendations to GREM Engineering leadership and appropriate governance bodies.
• Support the continued development and professionalization of GREM Engineering capabilities and project governance across the U.S. portfolio.

Program Governance and External PMO Oversight

• Serve as the senior owner-side engineering counterpart to external PMOs responsible for program and project delivery.
• Provide strategic direction, oversight, and constructive challenge related to integrated project scope, schedules, budgets, forecasts, risks, changes, dependencies, reporting, and decision-making.
• Identify governance gaps, unmanaged interfaces, emerging risks, and significant project concerns and ensure appropriate escalation and resolution.
• Provide owner-side priorities and direction while maintaining a clear distinction between Fresenius Kabi's oversight responsibilities and the external PMO's operational execution responsibilities.

Technical and Project Integration

• Evaluate complex and cross-disciplinary technical issues to determine business relevance, project impact, risk exposure, and the appropriate level of specialist involvement.
• Integrate considerations across office, laboratory, building infrastructure, user requirements, construction, commissioning, operational readiness, relocation, and project handover.
• Ensure technical matters are appropriately directed to qualified internal or external subject matter experts, including engineering, design, construction, validation, HSE, IT, security, and operational specialists.

Stakeholder Leadership and Alignment

• Lead collaboration across complex, cross-functional stakeholder groups, including GREM Engineering, U.S. business leadership, User Representatives, Change Leads, Facility Management, Transaction Management, external PMOs, and project delivery partners.
• Support alignment among office, laboratory, relocation, change management, infrastructure, and other related project workstreams.

Project Controls, Risk Management, and Decision Support

• Provide senior-level oversight and challenge of project scope, schedule, cost, risk, change, quality, and reporting information.
• Identify significant deviations, emerging risks, unresolved technical issues, and governance concerns at an early stage and ensure appropriate assessment and escalation.
• Partner with the external PMO and relevant stakeholders to ensure decisions are appropriately prepared and supported by complete and reliable information.

Project Delivery and Transition

• Promote integrated planning across construction completion, commissioning, documentation, operational readiness, relocation, and final project handover.
• Support successful transition from project delivery into operational use by ensuring appropriate coordination among project teams, business stakeholders, and operational functions.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a relevant discipline preferred.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in senior project management, program management, engineering leadership, or client-side leadership of complex and technically demanding projects.
• Demonstrated experience serving as an owner's representative, client-side project manager, engineering lead, or senior program management counterpart.
• Experience supporting complex building, infrastructure, laboratory, R&D, life sciences, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, or other regulated environments preferred.
• Broad understanding of technical building systems, infrastructure, laboratory environments, user integration, operational requirements, and project delivery interfaces.
• Demonstrated experience managing and influencing external PMOs, engineering firms, consultants, contractors, and other technical service providers.
• Experience working within complex, international, and matrixed organizations, including interaction with both U.S. and global stakeholders.
• Experience supporting large-scale, complex capital or real estate projects strongly preferred. Strong strategic and analytical thinking skills with the ability to evaluate complex technical and business issues and translate them into practical recommendations.
• The Company’s primary business language is English. The successful candidate must be able to effectively speak, read, write, and understand English to perform the essential functions of the position, including independently understanding policies, procedures, training materials, and workplace communications written in English due to our heavily regulated work environment.