Project Manager (Staff – Staff Sr.) | NEW GENERATION (Columbus, OH)

About the role

Manage multiple projects or programs at the highest level of complexity within a matrix team environment. Provide leadership, direction, training, coordination, and effective communication to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close projects in a safe, efficient, economical, risk-balanced approach to achieve short- and long-range goals and to obtain maximum customer satisfaction. Provide project transparency and develop relationships with all stakeholders including internal customers, external customers, team members, suppliers, contractors, vendors, and industry peers, enabling them to make sound business decisions.

Location: AEP Corporate Headquarters - Columbus, OH. Focus: EPC, Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT).

Responsibilities

• Plan, organize, direct, coordinate and manage assigned project activities with expert-level proficiency in all aspects.
• Skillfully and successfully use project management principles and techniques (Waterfall, Agile) for project management.
• Support and hold employees and contractors accountable for the AEP System Safety Process, ensuring a safe working environment focused on Zero Harm.
• Manage, develop, review and coordinate the project plan, schedule, budget, tools, and staff. Effectively and efficiently manage cost and timely reallocate funding.
• Effectively communicate project/outage details and status updates. Lead planning meetings and project updates including detailed and complex stakeholder presentations.
• Develop and actively manage working relationships with project teams, plant and operating company staff, internal and external customers or partners, contractors, vendors, and suppliers. Foster teamwork and achieve customer satisfaction.
• Provide a wide range of detailed guidance, instruction, and training to others to improve design, systems, processes, procedures, schedules, and costs. Confidently challenge others at the highest level of informed understanding in all project work.
• Ensure maximum customer satisfaction and demonstrate performance as a subject matter expert on all responsible projects. Provide clarity, support, and accountability to enable others’ success.
• Represent AEP, as required, with industrial customers, vendors, and regulators as assigned projects dictate.
• Use and help align the organization with the AEP project management organizational standards. Manage projects to those standards.
• Provide clarity, support, and accountability to enable others’ success.
• Apply economic analysis techniques and business acumen in project decision-making and ensure alignment of project and company financial goals.
• Influence the Engineering & Design, Procurement, Contracting, Estimating, Construction, and Startup procedures and processes to optimize a project. Ensure project teams utilize the latest business unit guidelines and requirements.
• Identify opportunities for business process improvement across projects or programs, and drive implementation.
• Apply working knowledge of certifying body Project Management tools and techniques and integrate these into internal procedures and processes.
• Provide strategic thinking, planning, risk assessment, and prioritization of project activities. Globally view the project from all angles such as safety, constructability, sequence, changing conditions, contingencies, contractual, predictability, level of priority, sense of direction, and sense of productivity to quickly identify and mitigate project risks.
• Demonstrate very sound decision-making practices.
• Organize project activities, delegate project task assignments, confidently set team requirements and expectations, manage deliverables, and hold team members accountable. Provide constructive feedback to project team members.
• Effectively prioritize and manage conflict to provide solutions that maximize synergies with an overriding goal to do the "right thing" for the company. Take timely independent action, make recommendations, and assist executive management in resolution of elevated issues.
• Demonstrate proficiency in scope management, evaluation of technical solutions, and project risk management.
• Exhibit proficiency and effectiveness in contract development and management, especially skilled in allocating risk between owner and contractor within terms of the contract. Leverage and build relationships with contractors who have long-term strategic value to AEP.
• Evaluate and determine the skill sets and capabilities of team members, then make recommendations and/or provide constructive feedback to ensure project or program success.
• Act with integrity by demonstrating accountability for project assignments.
• Seek input from other Subject Matter Experts by asking the right questions, understanding the nuances, clarifying, and validating information, and not relying on one’s own knowledge base or assumptions. Sensitize experts to influences they have on project key parameters of budget, scope, schedule, and risk.
• Promote continuous improvement and maintain a strong questioning attitude. Ask intrusive questions and challenge assumptions.
• Safely and effectively perform light physical duties. Duties can involve construction site walkdown on unstable surfaces, climbing ladders, and awareness of hazardous site conditions.
• Perform work at various AEP locations in varying conditions, including home, office, power plants (including nuclear), and construction sites for Distribution, Transmission, Generation, and Telecom infrastructure. Work performed at nuclear power sites may involve work in hazardous areas and possible radiation exposure within the limits prescribed by the NRC.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business, Computer Science, or related field with ten (10) years of qualified experience; OR, Associate’s degree in the same disciplines with twelve (12) years of qualified experience; OR, High School Diploma/GED with fourteen (14) years of qualified experience.
• Three (3) years of experience as a PROJECT MANAGER PRINCIPAL (Grade 9) is preferred, OR demonstrated competencies, knowledge, and skillset through achieved results in a shorter timeline.
• Qualified experience includes work in project management, major construction field experience, project estimating, project controls, project engineering, and/or comparable internal or external experience in a competitive production environment. Experience must include demonstrated subject matter expert-level successful project management duties, business acumen, and proficiency in ALL the certifying body knowledge areas.
• Demonstrated mastery-level PM knowledge capability in areas of construction safety, negotiations, scope development and control, cost estimating, construction contracting, project controls and reporting, quality control, risk management, etc.
• Experience in utilities, commercial nuclear power, and/or IT systems is favorable.
• PMP certification required unless waived by the organization's SVP or OPCO President.
• Valid state driver's license.
• Provide effective leadership, team building, and meeting management as outlined by the certifying body and AEP leadership and values.
• Demonstrate a very high level of ability, motivation, and attitude in leading a team, program, project, and those supervised to success.
• Effective and compelling communication, including the use of effective listening, with all stakeholders including team members, sponsors, management, and senior management.

Pay

Base Salary: $137,000 - $208,000 per year, depending on education, experience, interview, and internal equity. Specific ranges:

• Project Manager Staff Sr. (Grade 11): $161,000 - $208,000
• Project Manager Staff (Grade 10): $137,000 - $177,000

In addition to base salary, AEP offers competitive Total Rewards including discretionary annual/long-term incentives, 401(k), pension, health insurance, vacation, and educational assistance.

Schedule

• Travel typically 25% or less but could be up to 50% of work schedule for short durations.
• Physical Demand Level: Light Work. Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or 10 to 12 pounds of force frequently, and/or greater than negligible up to 5-6 pounds of force constantly to move objects. Includes walking or standing to a significant degree, sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls, or working at a production rate pace.