Project Manager
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