ENGINEERING PROJECT LEAD

**Location:** La Vergne, TN – On site with flexible hours **Job ID: 1498** My Client is redefining excellence in the industrial tools and machinery industry. With industry shaping brands leads the way in delivering high quality solutions to professionals worldwide. Join them and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our products and industry. **What You Will Do:** The Project Leader (PL) is responsible for independently leading end\-to\-end execution of NPD projects, ensuring delivery against scope, schedule, cost, and quality targets. This role owns project outcomes and drives cross\-functional alignment while managing technical risk and decision\-making. The PL acts as the “CEO of the project”, defining what it takes to succeed and ensuring alignment across internal teams and external partners. **Position Description:** **End\-to\-End Project Ownership** * Lead projects from concept through launch and post\-launch stabilization * Own project scope, schedule, budget, and execution * Deliver projects on time, within cost targets, and to defined quality standards **Budget Management** * Develop and manage project budgets, ensuring alignment with cost targets * Monitor financial performance and drive corrective actions as needed **Market Research Validation \& Support** * Ensure market research inputs from Product Management are robust and actionable * Support additional market and customer analysis to validate product direction **Requirements Integrity** * Translate Voice of the Customer (VoC) to product and engineering specifications * Lead translation of customer needs into prioritized, testable engineering requirements * Ensure requirements are clearly communicated and maintained across all stakeholders **Concept \& Design Leadership** * Collaborate with internal engineers and external suppliers to develop and refine product concepts * Drive design trade\-offs balancing performance, cost, manufacturability, and timeline * Ensure design solutions meet requirements and business objectives **Technical Risk Management** * Identify, assess, and mitigate technical risks across all project phases * Ensure appropriate level of engineering rigor at key gates (concept, design freeze, pre\-production) * Drive validation strategies to confirm performance, reliability, and compliance **Cross\-Functional Leadership** * Lead alignment across engineering, marketing, supply chain, quality, manufacturing, and suppliers * Influence stakeholders without direct authority to achieve project objectives * Drive accountability and timely decision\-making **Supplier \& Hybrid Development Model Management** * Manage projects involving both internal design teams and external supplier\-led development * Ensure integration, alignment, and technical integrity across all contributors **Quality \& Lifecycle Ownership** * Ensure reliability considerations are addressed early in development * Drive quality validation and readiness prior to tooling release and mass production **Background Required:** **EDUCATION, CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES** * Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field, required **EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES** * 5\-10\+ years of experience in product development/project leadership * PMP or equivalent project management certification, preferred * Familiarity with CAD tools, SolidWorks, preferred * Proven ability to independently manage cross\-functional projects * Strong technical acumen with ability to guide and challenge design decisions * Excellent leadership, communication, and problem\-solving skills ***Miscellaneous:*** Compensation: * $130\-150K \+ Bonus * Full benefit package including medical, dental and 401(k).