Digital Initiatives Project Manager

Job Description

Job Title: Digital Initiatives Project Manager

FLSA Status: Exempt

Department: Project Management

Reports to: Director, Project Management

GENERAL DESCRIPTION / PURPOSE:

Senior level P.M. accountable to Plan, direct, and coordinate all assigned Projects, including customer-facing projects, IT projects, enterprise business projects, and strategic initiatives. Project Manager is accountable for the management of all activities to ensure projects are delivered on-time, on-budget, scope management, meet quality expectations, and ensures the project team is following procedures and policies; along with meeting or exceeding customer requirements and expectations. Owns project strategy and execution from customer tender or initiative intake through acceptance, implementation, and benefit realization, including stakeholder alignment, escalation management, and financial outcomes. Provides concise executive-ready communication of status, risks, trade-offs, and decision requests.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Functional and Technical Skills

• Responsible for all aspects of the entire project life cycle (initiate, plan, execute, control, close) for multiple complex projects and sophisticated project schedules from customer tender through delivery and customer acceptance.
• Lead IT projects and strategic initiatives through defined intake, prioritization, planning, execution, change management, implementation, and post-launch stabilization.
• Ensure projects meet all requirements. (Technical, procedures/policy, scope, budget, and schedule)
• Communicate all variance in the project (budget, scope, schedule, and out of process/policy.
• Support and plan for machine testing, training, commissioning, and customer acceptance. Assist Engineering, Marketing, Production, and Strategic Sourcing on project cost estimates (budgetary and full project quotes) for Contract submission.
• Maintain and manage project action logs.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans for technology deployments, system enhancements, process improvements, and strategic business initiatives.
• Works with cross functional project teams to identify risks up front and develop plans to reduce or eliminate their impact.
• Manage and communicate project cost, P&L management, and project change orders.
• Validate ERP-derived project cost estimates and exemplifies solid ERP skills to drive action.
• Develop project forecasts and communicate any variances to budget
• Participate in the development of project schedules, and leads the team to deliver projects on-time.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain integrated project baselines (scope/schedule/cost), including formal change control, impact analysis, and approvals.
• Proven experience leading multiple concurrent complex projects, balancing resource constraints, and driving prioritization decisions with leadership and customers.

Operational Excellence

• Confers with project staff to outline work plans and to assign duties, responsibilities, the scope of authority, and execution.
• Takes ownership of project performance.
• Assist Engineering, Marketing, Production, and Strategic Sourcing on project cost estimates (budgetary and full project quotes) for Contract submission
• Review status reports prepared by project personnel and modify schedule or plan as required. Prepare project reports for management, client, or others.
• Customer interface to ensure project scope compliance, yet managing project scope creep
• Achieve project Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for all assigned projects
• Stage-gate process champion with strict adherence to process documentation completion
• Accept special assignments as needed
• Leads governance forums (e.g., stage-gate readiness reviews), drives cross-functional decisions, and owns corrective actions when KPI performance is at risk.
• Partner with IT, business leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders to translate strategic priorities into executable project roadmaps with clear milestones, owners, benefits, and decision points.

Leadership and Talent Development

• Ensure that all team members understand all aspects of the project requirements and how their role fits into the successful execution of the project.
• Lead , and train Project Managers, I, II and III on Project Management best practices.
• Challenges teams to meet stretch targets
• Steps in and helps project team when needed.
• Participate in the continuous improvement of the Project Management Office (PMO)
• Direct and coordinate activities of project personnel to ensure projects progress on schedule and within prescribed budgets while following our process and policies.
• Effectively lead cross-functional teams and coordination of team activities, ensuring appropriate and timely issue escalation and member accountability
• Demonstrated experience coaching and developing other PMs and leading PMO standard work / templates / KPI reporting improvements.

BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES:

• Adaptability
• Communication
• Customer Focus
• Decision Making
• Planning and Organizing
• Values-Based Leadership

Qualifications

In order to be successful in this role the candidate will have the following skills.

• Makes safety of our team members and customers a number one priority (even over budget, and schedule)
• Views the role as a “Defender of the Business”
• Possess a natural intellectual curiosity
• Strong emotional intelligence
• Takes accountability and does not shift blame.
• Excellent leadership skills that enable them to lead enterprise-wide multi-functional teams.
• High level of business acumen
• Ability to take on challenges and be the problem solver for all aspects of their projects.
• Ability to read and understand contracts
• Be a polished individual who has the right tact to participate in customer meetings both virtually and face to face.
• Be well spoken and a precise and inclusive communicator to all project stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal skills.
• Excellent level of analytical ability to assess, identify and facilitate appropriate alternative courses of action.
• Attention to detail and able to multi-task with strict deadlines.
• Be a champion of change (new process’s, documentation, etc…)
• Is a professional, humble, empathetic leader
• Executive presence: communicates with Director/VP-level stakeholders, frames trade-offs, and drives timely decisions.
• Strong negotiation and commercial acumen: leads scope/schedule/cost negotiations and change-order discussions to protect project financial outcomes.
• Structured risk management experience (risk register ownership, mitigation/contingency planning, triggers, and escalation).
• Ability to manage ambiguity across IT projects and strategic initiatives, aligning scope, resources, timelines, dependencies, adoption needs, and measurable business outcomes.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Engineering and/or Business.

Experience: 10+ years of Project management experience. Significant experience leading numerous large-scale projects, from inception to completion, within the prescribed budget, Scope of Work and schedule. Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional, customer-facing projects, IT projects, enterprise business projects, and strategic initiatives with formal governance, executive stakeholder reporting, and accountability for schedule, cost, scope, quality, adoption, benefits realization, and margin outcomes.

*Or equivalent combination of 14+ years of education and experience in Engineering, Business or Project Management.

Must maintain railroad safety training and certifications

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Advanced Degree

Licenses/Certifications: Project Management Certification. PMP, PgMP, or equivalent; Lean/Six Sigma certification; experience with ERP-driven cost control, formal change management practices, IT project delivery, and strategic initiative governance.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS:

This position requires successful completion of the following:

• Social Security Verification: The individual’s name must correspond to their Social Security number and date of birth.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing: All applicants must successfully pass a pre-employment drug and alcohol test. Employees in safety-sensitive positions are subject to random, reasonable suspicion, and post-incident drug and/or alcohol testing in compliance with federal regulations and company policy.
• A nationwide, federal, and state criminal background check will be conducted. Up to a seven-year history will be considered, including incarceration or court supervision. Findings will be reviewed relative to the position requirements.
• Employment Verification: Current and prior relevant employment experience will be verified to confirm the candidate meets the minimum required years of experience for the position.
• Education Verification: Post-secondary education at the associate degree level or higher will be verified, including degree(s) earned and dates of completion.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license. A Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check will be conducted upon hire and annually thereafter in accordance with Loram’s Driving Policy.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Office deskwork, requiring sitting, walking, using phone & computer
• May lift up to 30 lbs. occasionally.
• 20% or more travel including international
• Can tolerate variable and sometimes challenging conditions during visits or inspections of company equipment in a railroad environment.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Loram is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and respectful workplace. We make all employment decisions based on qualifications, merit, and business need, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws in the countries where we operate, including the Equality Act 2010 in the UK, relevant U.S. federal, state, and local laws, Brazil’s anti-discrimination provisions under the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) and Federal Constitution, India’s Equal Remuneration Act and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 and applicable state and territory legislation, and Canada’s human rights protections under the Canadian Human Rights Act and applicable provincial or territorial laws.

Benefits:

Benefits for this role include a comprehensive package with company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision insurance; Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options; wellness programs; basic life and AD&D insurance; voluntary life insurance; company paid short-term and long-term disability coverage; 401(k) retirement plan including an employer match of 150% up to the first 6% you contribute to the Plan; Employee Assistance Program (EAP); behavioral health support; and leaves of absence. Additional benefits include tuition reimbursement, payroll charity contributions, adoption assistance and optional plans such as legal, critical illness, and hospitalization.

Compensation:

Loram determines compensation based on factors such as skills, competencies, education, and/or experience. Certain positions may be eligible for an annual bonus and paid time off in addition to base compensation.

Country - ORG: United States Compensation: USD 117000 - USD 175500 - yearly