Assistant Project Manager

Company: Accurate Metal Fabricating 4620 19th St, Cicero, IL 60804

Pay: $52k-$55k

Position Summary

We are seeking an energetic, detail-oriented Assistant Project Manager (APM) to join our manufacturing team. This role is a direct career development pathway: we will provide hands-on training on our internal processes, methodologies (such as Work Breakdown Structures), and systems, with the explicit goal of advancing you to a full Project Manager within approximately 9 months.

From day one, you will support the entire project lifecycle-from order intake and ERP transaction to shop floor flow, inventory control, and final delivery. Acting as a key bridge between Engineering, Quality, Purchasing, Shipping/Warehouse, and our clients, you will help keep production on schedule, manage material availability, control costs, and ensure customer requirements are met every time.

Key Responsibilities (Essential duties)

Project Planning, Scope & Scheduling

• End-to-End Ownership: Track custom manufacturing orders from initial gate reviews through shop-floor operations to final shipping and delivery.
• Scope & Lead Time Verification: Review project scopes, travelers, and timelines against original quotes to verify production standards and promise dates align before work begins.
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Learn and apply core WBS frameworks to break complex orders into manageable tasks and milestone tracking.
• Daily Alignment: Participate actively in 15-minute morning stand-up meetings to align daily priorities, boost team morale, and highlight key production wins.

Shop Floor Coordination & Inventory Control

• ERP Management (Epicor): Use Epicor to transact manufacturing orders (release, pick, close), monitor Work in Process (WIP), and track material availability.
• Material & Inventory Flow: Partner with Warehousing, Purchasing, and Production to ensure raw materials and components arrive on time, are positioned properly on the shop floor, and that surplus/obsolete inventory risks are mitigated.
• Expediting & Bottlenecks: Drive and execute expedite orders on the shop floor, identifying potential production roadblocks early and proactively working with department heads to keep jobs moving.
• Cycle Counts & Accuracy: Assist with monitoring inventory levels, participating in cycle count routines, and resolving material discrepancies.

Quality Control, RMAs & Cost Oversight

• Customer Requirements & PPAPs: Ensure special customer requirements (e.g., material certs, PPAP packages, white-glove/aesthetic handling, tight tolerances) are clearly stated in gate review notes, traveler documents, and communicated to Quality Control.
• RMA & Rework Follow-Through: Serve as the client point-of-contact during Return Material Authorizations (RMAs) or non-conformances. Track the product through the shop rework process to ensure rapid turnarounds or prompt credit issuance.
• Cost Creep Mitigation: Monitor jobs during production for added, unquoted operations (e.g., extra grinding, plugging, custom packing) and work to update quote baselines to protect margins on subsequent runs.

Stakeholder & Client Communication

• Proactive Client Communication: Serve as a responsive contact for client engineers, buyers, and project managers. Communicate early regarding print discrepancies, tight tolerances, outside vendor delays, or schedule updates.
• Supplier Follow-Up: Track Purchase Orders with Purchasing for outside services (plating, heat treating, powder coating) to verify vendor delivery dates meet our internal production timeline.
• Change Control (ECNs): Manage Engineering Change Notifications (ECNs) and client design changes. Ensure no scope or drawing changes are implemented without formal customer approval.
• Project Closure & Continuous Improvement: Maintain required tracking logs (such as short-shipment matrices), record shop-floor recommendations for re-runs, and document lessons learned to optimize future production runs.

Qualifications & Key Skills

• Experience: 1-3 years of experience in project coordination, inventory control, material handling, or production support in a custom manufacturing or fabrication environment.
• Systems Expertise: Hands-on experience with ERP systems ( Epicor experience is a strong plus) and proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Manufacturing Knowledge: Familiarity with job planning, inventory cycle counts, blueprint reading, and general shipping/receiving processes.
• Communication & Detail: Excellent written/verbal communication skills; highly organized with strong attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem-solving under deadlines.
• Education: Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, Management, or equivalent practical shop-floor experience.

Work Environment & Culture

• Environment: Active manufacturing plant. Safety is paramount; candidates must be comfortable around moving mechanical parts, fabrication equipment, and shop floor noise with full compliance to PPE and safety standards.
• Schedule & Flexibility: We value clear expectations and open communication. Standard hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (or 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM), with built-in break/lunch structures and supportive team coverage when life happens.
• Growth Commitment: Dedicated mentoring to build your project management toolkit over your first 9 months with clear benchmarks for promotion.