Sr Project Manager - OT/MES (Ignition)

Title: Senior Project Manager – Ignition / Manufacturing OT Job Type: Contract, 12 month+ Location : Hybrid – Cleveland, OH preferred (remote considered) Onsite/Travel Requirements: Hybrid 2 days/3 days preferred, travel required as needed if remote Eligibility : US Permanent Residency Required. This role is not open to current or future sponsorship, or C2C partnerships Job Description Wright Technical Services is representing an industry-leading advanced manufacturing organization we are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager (contract) to lead the implementation of Ignition across a multi-site manufacturing environment. Ignition will serve as the shop-floor SCADA/historian and contextualization layer capturing telemetry from PLCs, sensors, and production assets, tying it to operational context (order, material, batch, machine, shift), and preparing it for downstream ingestion into the enterprise data platform. This is first and foremost a Project Management role. The successful candidate will bring a strong foundation in Project Management discipline: scope, schedule, budget, risk, and stakeholder management across the full project lifecycle, combined with direct, hands‑on project management experience of Ignition project implementations. The PM will own end‑to‑end execution, working across manufacturing operations, plant engineering, IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, and the external system integrator. The role includes standing up dev, QA, and production environments, coordinating historian selection and deployment, and driving site rollout. The ideal candidate has directly delivered Ignition (or comparable SCADA/MES) implementations on the plant floor and can operate effectively in a matrixed environment without direct authority. Qualifications: Hands‑on experience managing the implementation of Ignition (Inductive Automation) in a manufacturing / plant‑floor environment is required. Proven, foundational project management discipline is required—demonstrated command of scope, schedule, budget, resource, risk, and change management across the full project lifecycle (initiation through closeout) using structured methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, or Hybrid). Track record of running formal PM governance—building and maintaining integrated project plans, critical path, RAID logs, status reporting, and steering/executive communications—not solely serving as a technical or implementation lead. 8–10+ years of IT/OT project management experience, including full‑lifecycle delivery of manufacturing technology implementations. Demonstrated experience delivering SCADA, MES, historian, or shop‑floor data initiatives in a multi‑site industrial environment. Working knowledge of OT/plant‑floor architecture—PLCs, sensors, gateways, historians, and the flow of data from the shop floor through contextualization to analytics. Proven ability to manage system integrators and multiple technical teams to defined scope, schedule, and budget. Strong project planning, scheduling, dependency management, and risk management discipline. Experience driving execution in matrixed organizations without direct authority, coordinating across IT and operations stakeholders. Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate technical detail into business‑relevant reporting. Proficiency with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Azure DevOps, or Planner. Preferred Qualifications: Ability to occasionally travel to Cleveland, Ohio, or other of clients locations, for workshops or critical meetings. Direct experience standing up Ignition dev/QA/prod environments and coordinating historian selection (e.g., Ignition Historian, Canary) and deployment. Familiarity with the ISA‑95 model and OT network segmentation / IT‑OT convergence best practices. Experience integrating shop‑floor data with MES (e.g., Apriso), SAP, and modern data platforms (Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, or similar). Understanding manufacturing operations in heavy industrial, automation, or similar production environments. Awareness of data governance, audit trail, and compliance considerations (e.g., SOX) as they relate to production data flows. PMP, Agile, SAFe, Scrum, or equivalent project management certification. Key Responsibilities: Lead end‑to‑end delivery of the Ignition implementation: from planning and design through build, test, deployment, go‑live, and hypercare across manufacturing sites. Own the development of the project scope, schedule, budget, resourcing, risks, issues, dependencies, and change control, maintaining RAID logs and status reporting aligned to Enterprise PMO standards. Coordinate the design and standup of Ignition dev, QA, and production environments, including gateway architecture, tag structures, and data historian setup. Drive data contextualization at source—ensuring shop‑floor telemetry (PLC, sensor, production, and test data) is tied to relevant operational context before it moves to the data platform. Manage the external system integrator and other vendors to ensure high‑quality, on‑schedule delivery against a clearly defined statement of work. Partner with Manufacturing/Plant Engineering, IT Infrastructure, Networking, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Applications teams to align OT and IT roles, responsibilities, and operating model. Coordinate integration points between Ignition, MES/Apriso, SAP, and the enterprise data platform (Microsoft Fabric), sequencing dependencies with adjacent data‑architecture workstreams. Plan and execute site rollout, including readiness assessments, task assignments, cutover, validation, and operational handoff to support teams. Facilitate working sessions, design reviews, and steering checkpoints; provide clear, concise executive reporting and escalation. Identify and mitigate risks specific to OT deployments—production continuity, network segmentation, and change windows on live manufacturing lines. Drive knowledge transfer, documentation, and a sustainable support model to ensure long‑term operability post go‑live. Coordinate the establishment of ongoing governance processes for change control, exceptions to standards, and citizen development. Wright Technical Services and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. #J-18808-Ljbffr Gilder Search Group