Engineering Project Manager (Peoria, IL)

Engineering Project Manager

Project Management | Peoria, IL | Full-Time | Relocation Assistance Provided

Base Salary: $90,000 – $125,000

Variable Compensation: You receive a percentage of gross margin dollars for projects you manage.

Role Summary:

Every project we take on is a promise to a customer. A promise to deliver an end product or system that is on time, on budget, and built right. Someone has to own that promise. If you’re the kind of person who thrives on keeping the moving pieces of projects aligned and refuses to let a commitment slip, keep reading.

Rheo Engineering designs and manufactures advanced powder handling equipment and integrated systems for the pharmaceutical industry. Our equipment is used in the direct manufacture of life-saving medicine — the work we do matters. We design and build everything on-site, from highly engineered containment systems to fully automated material handling lines.

This role sits at the center of the organization. As an Engineering Project Manager, you are the face of Rheo to our customers and the connective tissue across sales, engineering, manufacturing, and testing. You carry primary responsibility for project success — owning the budget, the schedule, and the problem-solving it takes to hit every delivery and financial target. We’ve built a team of highly competent engineers and craftsmen to support you; your job is to take ownership of your assigned projects and drive them across the finish line.

We’re looking for a project manager who leads from the front — running the kickoff, building the plan, managing the budget, and being the person the customer and the team both count on and respect.

What You’ll Do

• Own the full lifecycle of your assigned projects — from proposal and kickoff through delivery, testing, and final sign-off
• Build and manage detailed project plans and timelines, and hold internal teams to critical-path commitments
• Manage project budgets and financial performance, ensuring projects hit their delivery and cost targets, using Rheo’s ERP system
• Manage scope changes and solve the problems that threaten schedule, budget, or quality
• Create project proposals — cost estimates, timelines, and technical specifications — using Rheo’s ERP and other tools
• Coordinate design feasibility reviews with Application Engineers, Design Engineers, and Product Managers
• Assemble approval submittal packages and coordinate customer, sales, and engineering sign-off
• Create project hand-off documents for the Product Design Team and drive task completion
• Host customers for Factory Acceptance Testing and coordinate project testing at our facility
• Serve as the primary point of contact for customers — leading kickoff meetings, presenting project plans, and communicating consistently and proactively
• Coordinate Site Acceptance Testing, commissioning and qualification, and final customer sign-off after shipment

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years of project management experience with demonstrated ownership of projects from start to finish
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field
• Proven ability to manage budgets and schedules and keep projects on target
• Superb communication — clear, respectful, and proactive with both customers and internal teams
• High attention to detail and strong organizational skills
• Proven ability to delegate tasks and track them to completion
• Extreme ownership — the drive to see a project through, no matter the obstacle
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)
• Familiarity with project management software
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 10% of the time
• Adherence to and alignment with our core values:
  • Initiative: instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver.
  • Collaboration: proactive communication with your stakeholders.
  • Competence: ability to do your job well.
  • Reliability: persistent follow-through on commitments.
  • Bold Humility: courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP Certification
• Proficiency with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software
• Proficiency with Microsoft Project
• Familiarity with 3D CAD software — Autodesk Inventor preferred
• Experience in the pharmaceutical or other regulated manufacturing industries

Why Rheo

• Privately owned and operated for 30 years and counting
• Excellent benefits - see section below
• Smaller team (~100 team members) with a strong, in-person work culture
• Unique, impactful work - direct influence over the safe, reliable, and efficient production of medicine throughout the world
• Real ownership - you carry primary responsibility for project success and see every project through end to end
• Direct customer interaction - you’ll be the face of Rheo and build lasting relationships
• Cross-functional influence - work with nearly every team in the company, without the bureaucracy
• A growing company in a stable, regulated, high impact industry where precision and on-time delivery matter

Benefits

• Leading medical insurance — consistently low rates compared to other businesses in the area
• Health Savings Account with employer contributions (plan-dependent)
• Dental, vision, and life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Identity theft insurance
• 401(k) with 4% employer match
• Generous PTO
• Paid paternity and maternity leave
• Paid cell phone plan with stipend for a new phone every 2 years
• Employee referral program

Working Conditions

Office-based with regular time on the manufacturing floor and at client sites, including during project testing. Prolonged periods sitting or standing at a desk; must be able to traverse the manufacturing facility and lift up to 15 pounds at times. Travel up to approximately 10% of the time. Standard 8-hour workday; occasional overtime as needed.

Rheo Engineering is an equal opportunity employer.