Senior Project Manager (CAPEX | Process Engineering)

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Senior Project Manager (CAPEX | Process Engineering)

Location: Dayton, OH area
Hire Type: Direct Hire
Target Salary: $150,000/year
Travel: Up to 40%

Benefits: PTO, paid holidays, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401(k) plan

Company Overview:

Our client is a global industrial engineering and construction company that designs and delivers process systems for the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and brewing industries.

Job Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager to lead capital engineering projects for customers across the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and brewing industries. This is a highly technical project management role responsible for the full execution of customer CAPEX projects, from proposal and initial planning through engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation, commissioning, startup, and final customer handoff.

The ideal candidate is a technically strong project manager who can own customer CAPEX projects from proposal through startup and handoff, combining strong project and commercial skills with the technical expertise to work confidently with engineers, P&IDs, process equipment, piping, vendors, contractors, budgets, schedules, and change orders.

Job Duties:

• Lead CAPEX projects from project initiation through final completion and customer acceptance.
• Manage project scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, and overall project performance.
• Develop project schedules, monitor critical milestones, identify risks, and implement corrective actions.
• Own project budgets, forecasts, Estimate to Complete (ETC), and Estimate at Completion (EAC).
• Prepare and support quotations, proposals, technical alignments, and project kickoff activities.
• Identify scope changes and develop estimates and change requests.
• Coordinate engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, and commissioning resources.
• Manage customer communication and expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
• Coordinate vendors, suppliers, contractors, and customer representatives.
• Participate in supplier selection, RFQs, technical bid evaluations, and procurement activities.
• Review and validate P&IDs, equipment lists, drawings, specifications, and 3D design deliverables.
• Develop technical specifications and bid packages for process equipment, piping, platforms, pipe racks, and related industrial systems.
• Coordinate shop fabrication and onsite mechanical installation.
• Plan and support FAT, SAT, commissioning, startup, and qualification activities.
• Maintain project risk registers, issue logs, KPIs, non-conformities, and action plans.
• Manage project punch lists, customer handover, acceptance documentation, claims/reserves, and final closeout.
• Conduct project postmortems and document lessons learned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Food Process, Agricultural Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 10+ years of relevant engineering and project experience within a process manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years of demonstrated experience personally managing CAPEX projects.
• Experience within Food & Beverage, Dairy, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, Brewing, or another hygienic/sanitary process industry.
• Experience managing projects involving process equipment, skids, tanks, pumps, piping, instrumentation, and related systems.
• Strong understanding of P&IDs and engineering design documentation.
• Experience managing projects through multiple phases, including design, procurement, fabrication, installation, commissioning, startup, and closeout.
• Demonstrated ownership of project budgets, schedules, forecasting, vendors, contractors, and change orders.
• Strong customer-facing communication, leadership, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to travel up to 40%.

Preferred Experience:

• Hygienic or sanitary process systems.
• Food, dairy, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, or brewery capital projects.
• Process skids and packaged equipment.
• CIP/SIP systems.
• FAT/SAT and commissioning/startup.
• EPC, systems integration, OEM, or design/build project environments.
• Multi-million-dollar capital projects.
• Customer-facing project ownership from proposal through final handoff.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.