Project Manager - Operational Excellence

Interstates is an industrial electrical, controls, automation, and operational technology company serving industrial facilities. The Project Manager will lead cross-functional Operational Excellence initiatives from planning through sustainment, improving processes, reducing waste, and strengthening customer-focused outcomes through standardized workflows and performance metrics.

Responsibilities:

• Lead Operational Excellence projects from planning through implementation and sustainment
• Develop project plans, timelines, milestones, resource requirements, and communication strategies
• Partner with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to understand current processes, identify friction points, and define desired outcomes
• Establish and improve standardized processes, workflows, tools, and documentation
• Facilitate continuous improvement activities, including process reviews, and “Make Work Better” initiatives
• Ensure project solutions are practical, scalable, customer-focused, and aligned with the Interstates Way
• Monitor project risks, issues, dependencies, and decisions; develop mitigation plans as needed
• Communicate project status, outcomes, and next steps clearly to project teams, leaders, and other stakeholders
• Support change management, adoption, and sustainment of new processes and standards
• Identify opportunities to reduce waste, rework, delays, defects, and unnecessary complexity
• Capture lessons learned and shared repeatable practices across teams and projects
• Promote accountability, collaboration, and a culture of pursuing a better way

Requirements:

• • Experience leading cross-functional teams and coordinating multiple stakeholders
• • Strong understanding of project planning, risk management, issue resolution, change management, and process improvement
• • Ability to analyze processes, identify improvement opportunities, and translate findings into practical solutions
• • Strong organizational, communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills
• • Ability to use data and performance metrics to evaluate results and guide decisions
• • Proficiency with project management, process mapping, documentation, and collaboration tools
• • Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining attention to detail and follow-through
• • Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or similar
• • Experience with Operational Excellence, Lean, continuous improvement, or business process management
• • Experience developing standard work, process documentation, dashboards, or performance measures
• • Travel less than 5%. Travel for this position is very minimal and generally limited to occasional company events. No regular or frequent travel is expected
• • May be based in Sioux Center, IA | Omaha, NE | Sioux Falls, SD
• • Remote considered with preference given to candidates near an Interstates office
• Education:** Bachelor's degree in project management, business, engineering, operations, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered