Point your AI agent at freehire and let it find you a job.

Get the CLI →

MEL Systems and Services

NewBe an early applicant

Project Manager

Posted
Discussion

Summary

Owns end-to-end delivery of MES and digital transformation projects in Chennai — planning, scheduling, customer management, change control, risk tracking, testing and go-live. Coordinates software, PLC/SCADA automation and ERP/SAP integration teams, needing enough technical depth to steer decisions without being the primary engineer.

Key Responsibilities

A. Project Planning & Execution

  • Take complete ownership of assigned digital transformation and MES projects.
  • Conduct project kick-off meetings with internal and customer teams.
  • Understand project scope, technical requirements, deliverables and contractual commitments.
  • Prepare detailed project execution plans and project schedules.
  • Define project milestones, activities, dependencies and resource requirements.
  • Establish project governance and review mechanisms.
  • Track project progress against approved baseline schedules.
  • Ensure timely completion of milestones and deliverables.
  • Identify project delays and implement recovery plans.
  • Coordinate multiple projects simultaneously wherever required.

B. Customer Management

  • Act as the primary project-level contact for customers.
  • Conduct regular project review meetings with customer stakeholders.
  • Understand customer expectations and resolve project-related concerns.
  • Prepare and present project status reports.
  • Manage customer communication related to scope, schedule, risks, issues and dependencies.
  • Maintain strong customer relationships throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Escalate critical customer issues to management at the appropriate time.
  • Ensure customer acceptance and successful project closure.


C. Technical Coordination

  • Coordinate with software development teams for application development.
  • Coordinate with automation teams for PLC, SCADA and machine integration.
  • Coordinate with database and infrastructure teams.
  • Coordinate ERP/SAP integration activities.
  • Review functional and technical specifications.
  • Participate in solution architecture discussions.
  • Ensure technical deliverables meet project requirements.
  • Support technical teams in resolving critical implementation issues.
  • Ensure integration between software, hardware, machines and enterprise systems.

The Project Manager is not expected to be the primary developer or automation engineer, but should possess sufficient technical knowledge to understand, coordinate and challenge technical decisions effectively.


D. Scope & Change Management

  • Establish and maintain the approved project scope.
  • Identify scope deviations during execution.
  • Evaluate change requests from customers.
  • Coordinate technical and commercial impact assessment.
  • Maintain Change Request / Change Order documentation.
  • Ensure additional work is not executed without proper approval.
  • Communicate scope, schedule and cost impacts to stakeholders.
  • Support the sales/commercial team in preparing change-order proposals.


E. Resource Management

  • Prepare project resource plans.
  • Allocate resources based on project priorities.
  • Coordinate software developers, BA, QA, automation engineers, technical writers and commissioning engineers.
  • Monitor resource utilization.
  • Identify resource constraints and resolve conflicts.
  • Plan onsite/offsite resource requirements.
  • Ensure adequate technical resources are available during critical project phases.


F. Risk & Issue Management

  • Identify project risks during planning and execution.
  • Maintain a Project Risk Register.
  • Define mitigation and contingency plans.
  • Monitor technical, commercial, schedule and resource risks.
  • Maintain an Issue Log and ensure timely closure.
  • Escalate critical risks and issues to management.
  • Conduct root-cause analysis for major project problems.
  • Implement preventive actions to avoid recurrence.


G. Project Documentation

Ensure timely preparation and maintenance of:

  • Project Charter
  • Project Plan
  • Requirement Specification
  • Functional Requirement Specification (FRS)
  • Technical Specification
  • Project Schedule
  • Resource Plan
  • Risk Register
  • Issue Register
  • Change Request Register
  • Meeting Minutes
  • Weekly/Monthly Project Reports
  • Test Plans
  • FAT/SAT Documentation
  • UAT Documentation
  • Training Documents
  • Deployment Plan
  • Go-Live Plan
  • Project Closure Report
  • As-built Documentation


H. Testing, Commissioning & Go-Live

  • Plan and coordinate system testing activities.
  • Coordinate SIT, FAT, UAT and SAT activities.
  • Ensure defects are tracked and closed.
  • Coordinate customer validation and acceptance.
  • Prepare deployment and go-live plans.
  • Manage production implementation.
  • Coordinate stabilization/support activities after go-live.
  • Ensure final project handover to support/operations teams.


I. Commercial & Financial Responsibility

  • Monitor project cost against approved budget.
  • Track project profitability and resource utilization.
  • Monitor billing milestones and deliverables.
  • Coordinate with finance/commercial teams for milestone billing.
  • Identify potential cost overruns.
  • Support management in project financial reviews.
  • Ensure project execution remains commercially viable.




Requirements

The candidate should have good working knowledge of:

Software / IT

  • Web-based applications
  • Python/.NET/Java or similar application environments
  • SQL/NoSQL databases
  • API and system integration
  • REST APIs
  • Authentication and user management
  • Application deployment
  • Server and network fundamentals

Industrial Automation

  • PLC concepts
  • SCADA systems
  • OPC UA / OPC DA
  • Industrial communication protocols
  • Machine data acquisition
  • Sensors and industrial devices
  • Industrial Ethernet
  • Edge/data collection systems

Manufacturing Systems

  • MES architecture
  • OEE
  • Traceability
  • Production monitoring
  • Quality systems
  • Maintenance systems
  • Warehouse systems
  • ERP integration
  • SAP integration
  • Manufacturing workflows


Skills

See also

Project Management jobs by country — openings, pay and top skills →

Tailor your CV for this role?

We couldn't check your fit for this role — add a CV to your profile to see it next time.

A new version of freehire is available