Project Manager – Product Development

About TCG Machines

TCG Machines designs and builds the PhyzBatch-9000, the automated trading-card sorting and identification system that game stores and card businesses use to process their inventory. The PhyzBatch runs in hundreds of stores across the world and has processed over a billion cards. It works with the marketplaces and point-of-sale systems our customers already use. We design and build it all in our Calgary facility: mechanical, electronics, firmware, machine vision and software, then assembly, test and delivery.

The role

Our product development runs across mechanical, electrical, firmware, machine vision and software teams, on a stage-gate process with shared plans, a RACI and a risk register. We need a technical project manager to run our development projects day to day: keep the plans current, keep them moving and land them.

You will report to our Chief Product Officer, who owns product definition. You will work with leads in R&D, engineering, firmware, software and machine vision, purchasing, production, operations and service, and sales and marketing. You won’t manage these people directly. You will lead them through the plan, weekly follow-through and clear escalation.

What you’ll own

Plan and schedule

• Baseline project plans with each lead and keep integrated schedules in Jira with the critical path visible to everyone
• Run weekly core-team meetings and track actions to closure
• Spot slips early, work out recovery options with the owners, and escalate when a date is at risk
• Track project budgets and forecasts against plan

Stage gates and control

• Prepare the evidence package for each stage gate and recommend go or no-go to the leadership team
• Keep the risk register, decision log and change log
• Run scope changes through a simple change-control process
• Keep requirements, specifications and test results under document control, so every team works from the current version

Development and build coordination

• Follow up with external design contractors and suppliers on deliverables, checkpoints and long-lead parts
• Coordinate design reviews, prototype and validation builds, and test results across mechanical, electrical, firmware and software
• Coordinate bill-of-materials releases and engineering changes with engineering, purchasing and production
• Coordinate customer pilots of new features and hardware revisions: units built, shipped, commissioned and reporting back on schedule
• Coordinate product-certification plans for the markets we sell into

Release readiness

• Track readiness across production, service, support, sales and marketing against dated checklists: training, spares, documentation and release materials
• Close out each project with a review and lessons learned that feed the next one

What success looks like in your first year

• Project plans are baselined, every lead trusts them, and they are current every week
• Gate decisions are made on time, from evidence, with no surprises
• Pilots ship, run and report back on schedule
• Releases reach production on plan, with certification in hand and service and sales ready

What you bring

Required

• 5+ years managing projects in hardware product development or manufacturing, including at least one electromechanical product taken from prototype into production
• Experience with stage-gate or new-product-introduction projects: prototype, validation, pilot build, production release
• Working knowledge of bills of materials, engineering change control and document control
• Experience managing contractors and suppliers to dates and deliverables
• Experience on projects where hardware, firmware and software are developed together
• Fluency in Jira (boards, backlogs, epics, dashboards) and in Excel-based schedules and tracking
• Clear writing and speaking, for engineers, production staff and executives alike
• Strong organisation across many workstreams, and calm when they collide

Preferred

• An engineering degree or engineering background (mechanical, electrical, mechatronics or similar)
• PMP or equivalent, or working toward it
• Product certification experience (CSA/UL, FCC/ISED, CE/UKCA or similar)
• Design for manufacture and assembly, production ramp-up, or customer pilot programs
• ERP/MRP experience – Odoo is a strong asset
• Products that use machine vision or machine learning
• Familiarity with trading cards or collectibles retail – It’s a bonus, not a requirement

Why TCG Machines

• Lead the projects that move our products forward, working directly with the CPO and the leadership team
• Real engineering, end to end: design, build, test and service are all under one roof in Calgary
• Small enough to move fast, large enough that your work reaches hundreds of stores on three continents
• Room to grow: as our product team grows, there is a path into product management for people who show they can do it

Pay: $85,000.00-$120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• On-site parking
• Paid time off

Application question(s):

• Are you located in Calgary, Alberta?
• Why are you interested in this position?

Language:

• English (required)

Work Location: In person