Current positions in the electrical industry

My client is one of the largest independent, family-owned electrical distributors in the country, with a history that reaches back more than 50 years and a reputation built around service, responsiveness and doing what it takes to support the customer. The company has grown from its roots in the Philadelphia market into a major electrical distribution organization serving customers across much of the United States, with a significant branch and warehouse presence throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

This is not simply a company that moves electrical products from a warehouse to a jobsite. They have built a substantial project organization around complex construction projects. Their project teams work closely with electrical contractors, manufacturers, and technical specialists from the blueprint stage through delivery, and they have supplied switchgear and electrical equipment for major commercial, industrial, healthcare and mission critical projects.

They are growing, investing in the business, and looking for people who understand that great project management is ultimately about ownership.

We are searching for a Project Manager, Switchgear who can take control of a project after the order is committed and make sure everything that was promised actually happens.

Switchgear projects have a lot of moving parts. Drawings change. Approvals take longer than expected. Manufacturers have questions. Customers have questions. Lead times move. Equipment changes. Pricing changes. Shipping dates matter. One missed detail early in a project can become a very expensive problem months later. The Project Manager sits in the middle of all of it.

Think of this person as the conductor of the orchestra. You aren’t expected to play every instrument, but you absolutely need to know what everyone is doing, when they are supposed to be doing it and when something doesn’t sound right.

You will coordinate the people responsible for quotations, technical interpretation, bills of material, product submittals, approvals, manufacturers, logistics and delivery. You will also be one of the primary faces of the company to the customer once the project moves forward. That requires someone who follows through. And follows through again.

You will own switchgear projects from the point of order commitment through completion. That means understanding the specifications, drawings, scope, equipment, schedule, and commercial requirements well enough to know where the project stands and what needs to happen next.

You will read and review switchgear specifications, plans, and drawing packages. You will work with manufacturers and their representatives to obtain pricing, product information, and realistic lead times. You will prepare comprehensive proposals, develop accurate project costs and make sure quotations reflect both the technical requirements of the job and the realities of the marketplace.

There is a commercial side to this role as well. The best Project Managers understand that protecting the customer relationship and protecting profitability are not competing objectives. You need to understand the market, recognize where value is being created and help the organization establish the strongest competitive selling price it can reasonably achieve. Once a project is moving, you become the person keeping all of the pieces connected.

We are looking for someone who takes responsibility personally. You notice details other people miss. You can look at a drawing, specification, quotation and manufacturer information and recognize when something doesn’t match. You are comfortable working with technical products and aren’t intimidated by learning equipment you haven’t seen before. You communicate well, but more importantly, you communicate consistently.

There is a healthy impatience to the way you work. When something needs an answer, you want the answer. When a customer is waiting, you don’t assume somebody else is handling it. When a manufacturer owes you information, you stay on it. You understand that silence is rarely a project management strategy.

At the same time, customers need to enjoy working with you. You can be persistent without becoming difficult. You build relationships with contractors, manufacturers, salespeople and internal teams because you understand that those relationships make projects run better. Organization matters tremendously. There can be dozens of details moving simultaneously across several projects, and each one has a customer expecting you to know exactly where things stand.

You should be comfortable using technology and learning proprietary systems. You will need the ability to understand technical product specifications and electrical drawings, maintain project accounting information, enter information accurately and keep documentation current. Leadership in this role doesn’t necessarily mean having people reporting to you. It means taking ownership.

Experience with switchgear, power distribution equipment, electrical construction, estimating, or project management is required. Strong problem-solving ability is essential, as is the willingness to dig into technical information and figure things out rather than immediately passing the problem to someone else.

Salary is based on experience level.

If you understand switchgear, enjoy managing complex projects and get a strange amount of satisfaction from making sure every detail lands where it belongs, I’d like to talk with you.