Senior Mechanical Project Manager

At Salas O’Brien we tell our clients that we’re engineered for impact. This passion for making a difference applies just as much to our team as it does to our projects. That’s why we’re committed to living our values every day: inspiring, achieving, and connecting as shared owners of our success with a focus on a sustainable future.

Building for the long-term means that all of our team members can expect to work on amazing projects with a people-first approach to problem solving. It also means that each member of our team has truly limitless potential to build a unique, meaningful, and high-impact career—and they’ll receive great total rewards along the way.

About Us:

Founded in 1975, Salas O'Brien is an employee-owned engineering and professional services firm focused on achieving impact for our clients, our team, and the world. Our Process and Manufacturing (P&M) business unit delivers transformative solutions for industrial processes from concept to implementation across markets including chemical/petrochemical, food and beverage, consumer products, pharmaceutical, power and utilities, agribusiness, and material handling — all through a \"local everywhere\" approach backed by the resources of a multidisciplinary engineering and architecture firm.

Job Summary

We are seeking a Senior Mechanical Project Manager to lead industrial and process facility projects out of our Decatur, AL office. This role pairs mechanical and piping engineering leadership with full project-management responsibility — leading projects from concept through design, procurement, construction, and startup while coordinating multidisciplinary teams, managing scope, schedule, and budget, and serving as the primary client contact. The successful candidate is resourceful, communicates clearly in writing and in presentations, and is equally effective in delegating to and being delegated by a collaborative team.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Project Manager or lead discipline engineer on industrial and multidiscipline process projects, from inception through completion of construction.
• Manage scope, schedules, budgets, deliverables, and resource coordination across multiple projects and clients; monitor progress, resolve problems, and report regularly on status and risks.
• Recognize and communicate scope and design changes to clients in a timely manner.
• Coordinate engineers and designers across disciplines to ensure safe, timely, efficient designs that comply with client requirements, company procedures, and applicable codes and standards.
• Direct designers, review deliverables and initiate corrective actions, and mentor junior engineers as a technical resource.
• Produce clear, accurate scopes of work, technical documents, and reports, and support proposal development for multi-discipline projects.
• Estimate material, labor, and engineering costs; prepare specifications, obtain quotations, and prepare contractor bid packages.
• Direct mechanical and piping designs for new facilities and modifications, develop conceptual layouts and cost studies, and perform design reviews for compliance with specifications, codes, and quality standards.
• Travel to project sites for field investigation, construction support, startup, troubleshooting, and commissioning; verify installations conform to design intent and safety standards.
• Build and maintain client relationships and develop business with existing and prospective clients.

Typical projects: piping systems; pressure vessel and process equipment installations; heat exchanger systems; pump and compressor sizing and selection; steam and utility systems; relief valve and thermal stress calculations; flow modeling; HVAC and industrial ventilation; and material handling systems.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from an ABET-accredited institution.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license in the State of Alabama, or ability to obtain reciprocity within 90 days of hire.
• 7+ years of mechanical/piping engineering and project management experience in industrial or process facilities (consulting experience preferred).
• Demonstrated experience leading projects, coordinating multidisciplinary teams, and managing client-facing work.
• Working knowledge of pressure vessels, piping, pumps, heat exchangers, and process equipment, and of applicable codes such as ASME (incl. B31.3/B31.1), ANSI, API, ASTM, TEMA, and CEMA.
• Ability to read and interpret PFDs and P&IDs.
• Preferred: NCEES record for multi-state licensure; prior industrial/plant consulting experience; field construction experience.

Skills & Tools

• Project management of multiple concurrent projects, clients, and resources.
• Design/review tools: Autodesk Plant 3D, AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam; proficient with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Strong written and verbal communication; high personal integrity and the ability to independently manage competing priorities under deadline pressure.

Location & Travel

Location: Decatur, AL (on-site) | Travel: Up to 5% to client and project sites

Qualifications

Education

Required

Bachelors or better in Mechanical Engineering.

Experience

Required

7 years:

7+ years of mechanical/piping engineering and project management experience in industrial or process facilities (consulting experience preferred).

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
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