Manager, Project Management AME

About the Role

Sulzer is seeking a Head of Project Management, Americas to lead and standardize project execution across MTCS Americas under the One Americas operating model. Reporting to the Head of Product Operations Americas and the General Manager Mexico, this role serves as the regional Project Management Office (PMO) leader, accountable for project execution excellence, customer satisfaction, profitability, cash collection performance, risk mitigation, resource utilization, and governance across the Americas. The position establishes a consistent project execution framework, ensuring projects are delivered safely, on time, within budget, and aligned with MTCS growth and profitability objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Management Leadership
  • Lead the Americas Project Management organization under a One Americas operating model.
  • Establish and maintain project management standards, governance processes, methodologies, tools, and reporting systems across the region.
  • Develop a scalable PMO capable of supporting future business growth and increasing project complexity.
  • Promote execution consistency across the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Latin America.
  • Set departmental objectives, KPIs, development plans, and succession planning activities.
  • Recruit, develop, coach, and retain project management talent throughout the region.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and execution excellence.
• Project Acceptance & Execution Governance
  • Establish project acceptance and order review processes across the Americas.
  • Ensure customer purchase orders align with approved quotations, scope, pricing assumptions, and contractual terms.
  • Oversee project transfer from Sales to Operations and ensure execution readiness prior to launch.
  • Lead project kick‑off governance and define execution strategies based on project complexity.
  • Define scope, schedule, resource requirements, risks, and financial objectives at project initiation.
  • Set governance requirements for strategic, high‑risk, and mega‑project opportunities.
• Project Portfolio Management
  • Maintain visibility and oversight of the regional project portfolio.
  • Lead portfolio review meetings and regional governance forums.
  • Drive prioritization and allocation of project management resources across the Americas.
  • Identify risks, execution bottlenecks, capacity constraints, and resource conflicts.
  • Support proactive mitigation strategies and escalation of critical issues.
  • Monitor backlog health, execution capacity, and future resource requirements.
  • Provide executive reporting on portfolio performance.
• Customer Project Execution
  • Ensure projects are executed safely, on time, within budget, and in compliance with contractual requirements.
  • Oversee planning, execution, monitoring, and close‑out activities.
  • Establish consistent communication and reporting standards across the region.
  • Serve as executive sponsor and escalation point for strategic customer projects.
  • Communicate schedule performance, risks, scope changes, and corrective actions to customers.
  • Drive customer satisfaction through disciplined execution and proactive issue resolution.
  • Support resolution of commercial, technical, contractual, and schedule‑related issues.
• Commercial & Financial Leadership
  • Own project gross margin performance across the Americas portfolio.
  • Identify and mitigate project cost overruns proactively.
  • Monitor financial performance including revenue, margin, cost, cash flow, billing, and collections.
  • Partner with Finance to improve forecasting accuracy and financial visibility.
  • Encourage project managers to identify margin enhancement and cost‑reduction opportunities.
  • Lead financial reviews with Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement, and Finance.
  • Support contract review and commercial risk management activities.
• Change Order & Risk Management
  • Standardize change order management processes across the Americas.
  • Evaluate, price, document, and approve customer‑driven changes.
  • Drive timely recovery of commercial opportunities from scope changes.
  • Monitor change order conversion performance and project recovery actions.
  • Lead risk review processes and mitigation planning.
  • Develop governance mechanisms to proactively identify execution and contractual risks.
  • Incorporate lessons learned from risks into future practices.
• Cash Collection & Working Capital Management
  • Partner with Finance to ensure timely milestone billing and invoicing.
  • Monitor cash flow performance throughout execution.
  • Support collection of milestone and final payments; escalate delays impacting profitability.
  • Improve cash conversion and working capital performance across the portfolio.
  • Ensure project closure activities support prompt final invoicing and account settlement.
• Cross‑Functional Leadership
  • Coordinate execution activities between Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement, Supply Chain, Quality, Service Operations, Sales, Finance, and QESH.
  • Ensure alignment between customer commitments and operational capabilities.
  • Facilitate collaboration across multiple sites and regional teams.
  • Drive accountability for milestone achievement and project performance.
  • Support successful handoff from Sales through execution to close‑out.
• Operational Excellence
  • Establish project management KPIs, dashboards, and review processes.
  • Standardize stage‑gate processes, escalation protocols, and reporting structures.
  • Implement project management systems and digital tools.
  • Lead lessons‑learned reviews and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Identify opportunities to improve execution efficiency, productivity, forecasting, and customer experience.
  • Develop best practices and standard work across the PM organization.
• Talent Development
  • Develop project management career paths and competency frameworks.
  • Mentor Project Managers, Senior Project Managers, Project Coordinators, and future PM leaders.
  • Promote knowledge sharing and best‑practice deployment throughout the region.
  • Establish training plans covering project management, customer engagement, commercial acumen, risk management, and leadership development.
  • Build organizational capability to support growth in large and complex projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, Business Administration, Industrial Management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of project management experience in industrial manufacturing, engineering, refining, petrochemical, chemical, energy, or related industries.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing Project Managers or PMO organizations.
• Experience managing engineered‑to‑order products, capital equipment, manufacturing projects, or industrial systems.
• Strong understanding of project financials, contract management, risk management, and change order management.
• Proven customer‑facing project leadership experience.
• Experience working within regional or multinational organizations.
• Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• English required; Spanish preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification.
• Experience in refining, petrochemical, chemical processing, LNG, carbon capture, clean fuels, or industrial manufacturing.
• Experience managing cross‑border projects and multicultural teams.
• Experience implementing PMO governance structures and project management methodologies.
• Familiarity with SAP, Primavera, Microsoft Project, Power BI, and project reporting systems.
• Experience supporting both products and services businesses.

Benefits

• Salary commensurate with experience.
• Life insurance.
• Savings fund.
• Major medical expenses insurance.
• Interaction with an international team.
• Career growth opportunities.