Project Manager I

Location: Troy, Michigan | Employee Type: Full-time

Position Summary

First level of full project leadership. PM I owns total project responsibility; schedule, budget, quality, safety, owner relationship, and team for one project at a time. The role is accountable for self-perform productivity and margin as well as the performance of the subcontractor base, and partners with the project superintendent as a co-equal leader of the project team. PM I owns business development on the project's client account and ensures the team consistently surfaces sales opportunities across the company's full range of business lines.

Reporting & Scope

Reports To (Organizational): Project Director

Reports To (Functional): Self-directed as project lead on assigned projects; reports functionally to the Senior Project Manager when serving on a project under that leader's oversight

Typical Project Scope: Single project up to $40M, or two smaller projects with combined revenue up to $20M.

Qualifications - Dual Career Path

College Track: Bachelor's degree plus 7–10 years of construction experience, including time as APM. OSHA 30 required.

Trades Track: 15+ years of combined field and office experience, including time at the APM level. OSHA 30 required. Demonstrated mastery of contracts, finance, and scheduling.

Self-Perform Responsibilities

• Own self-perform labor and equipment margin on the project; sign off on weekly productivity reviews and corrective action plans.

• Approve all self-perform change order pricing to the owner; lead negotiations on material commercial items.

• Make final means-and-methods decisions with the superintendent for self-perform scopes when they carry material cost, schedule, or risk implications.

• Approve self-perform crew composition and equipment plan; coordinate cross-project resource allocation with operations leadership.

Subcontractor / Prime Contractor Responsibilities

• Own subcontractor strategy: prequalification, package structuring, buyout sequencing, and contract terms.

• Approve all subcontractor change orders within delegated authority limits; escalate above-threshold items to SPM/PD.

• Lead resolution of subcontractor disputes, including notice and claim management.

• Drive subcontractor performance: enforce default and cure procedures when warranted; coordinate with legal on bond and termination actions.

Common Project Leadership Responsibilities

• Own the monthly project forecast (PFR), including risk and opportunity tracking, with full accountability for forecast accuracy.

• Own the owner relationship and contract administration: notices, schedule updates, pay applications, change order log, closeout.

• Lead the project team, salaried staff and field leadership, including hiring input, performance management, and development plans.

• Lead OAC meetings; communicate project status to internal leadership through weekly project reviews.

• Drive safety culture in partnership with the superintendent and corporate safety; own incident response and reporting.

• Own business development on the project's client account: cultivate the relationship at multiple levels of the client organization, identify and pursue follow-on and adjacent work, present in interviews for similar opportunities, and ensure the client understands the full range of company capabilities across self-perform trades and supporting business lines.

• Lead a sales mindset on the project: actively grow the project through add work and scope expansion, partner with BD to convert identified opportunities into pursuits, and contribute leads from the project's network to opportunities elsewhere in the company.

• Between project assignments, lead segments of preconstruction and pursuit efforts: serve as a named team member on major pursuits, lead bid-package and subcontract development, develop schedule and logistics inputs for proposals, and present in client interviews when asked.

Key Competencies

• Full P&L ownership and forecasting discipline.

• Owner relationship management and contract negotiation.

• Leadership of multi-disciplinary teams under sustained pressure.

• Risk management - identifying, pricing, and mitigating risk across the project lifecycle.

• Leading a multi-disciplinary project team; effective communication with owners, designers, subcontractors, and internal leadership; building an engaged, high-performing team culture on the project.

Travel Requirement

Yes

Job Requirements

• OSHA 30
• Leadership
• Contract Negotiation
• P&L Ownership
• Risk Management

Division

Kaiser Industrial