Project Management Consultant, Capital Projects
Description
For more than three decades, premier organizations have trusted IPM to help ensure the successful execution of their strategic portfolios and critically important initiatives. With 90 percent repeat business and a Net Promoter Score in the world-class category, IPM has a reputation that is second to none.
IPM is also a certified “Great Place to Work" company and has been named to the Great Place to Work list of "Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services".
Headquartered in Chicago with offices in Boston, Parsippany, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Los Angeles and San Francisco, IPM has led more than 5,000 projects for over 500 clients in the United States and across continents. Our clientele ranges from Fortune 100 companies to startups.
Our Consultants are full-time employees. They are our most important asset and the competitive advantage that sets us apart from the rest.
Within Operational Excellence, IPM partners with clients across a variety of manufacturing industries. At each new engagement, you’ll leverage the continual exposure and experiences from working in a variety of clients and project types. You’ll collaborate with highly talented IPM colleagues who will share their skills and experiences with you. You’ll need to solve complex problems, as our clients don’t come to us when their business is running smoothly and their challenges are simple. Our clients’ issues include:
- Manufacturing Improvements – (enterprise & local transformations, cost reductions, OEE improvements, targeted assessments such as capacity analysis or operational diligence)
- Supply Chain Optimization – (planning and production scheduling, sales, inventory & operations management (SIOP), network redesign, service level (OTIF) improvements)
- Capital Investment – capacity or technology improvements (vertical start-up, operational readiness, consolidation; facility construction, expansion, or relocation)
We are seeking a Capital Project Management Consultant to support client transformations where capital investment, operational excellence, and business transformation intersect. This role is ideal for a consultant who can lead capital projects while embedding OpEx principles, including improving safety, quality, cost, and delivery. You will work directly with client executives and leaders across engineering, operations, quality, and supply chain in the Life Science, Consumer Products, and Industrial sectors to enable value realization and strategic realization. Our consultants have a reputation for partnering with our clients and their teams to deliver real changes, as well as lasting benefits while exceeding expectations.
JOB DESCRIPTION
In this role your focus will be:
- Ensuring successful delivery outcomes and value realization across end-to-end or phase-driven projects, from initiation and scoping through scale-up and commissioning.
- Management of projects within established scope, schedule, and budget while meeting and exceeding IPM project management standards
- Acting as a trusted advisor to client leaders regarding delivery, translating business strategy into executable capital roadmaps, facilitating steering committees, core teams, and managing vendor relationships, and diagnosing capital and project management pain points and designing practical, scalable solutions
- Leading or supporting end-to-end capital project lifecycle activities including opportunity identification and business case justification, Front-End Planning (FEL), scope definition, and design readiness, and realization across execution, commissioning, and startup
- Embed Lean, OpEx, and Continuous Improvement principles into capital planning and execution while aligning capital projects to manufacturing excellence
- Lead capital initiatives in GMP‑regulated environments and partner with Quality, Validation, and Regulatory teams to ensure compliant, right‑first‑time delivery
- Integrate capital projects into site OpEx and quality maturity models
- Support growth, automation, sustainability, and productivity investments and ensure capital solutions support plant throughput, labor efficiency, and operational stability while minimizing downtime and disruption to ongoing operations
- Establish and manage integrated cost, schedule, scope, and risk controls
- Support or stand-up capital PMO structures, standards, and governance models
- Proactively identify execution risks and lead mitigation planning
- Ensure disciplined change management and benefits tracking
- Drive capability building through coaching client project managers, engineers, and operators, develop capital playbooks, standards, templates, and OpEx‑aligned delivery frameworks, and support organizational readiness for new assets, systems, and processes
- Establishment and leadership of high-performance project teams, serving as the project advocate within the client organization. Lead, coordinate, facilitate, and motivate all associated project resources to gain alignment on project goals and deliverables
- Creation and presentation of both executive-level and detailed updates throughout an engagement and within a final project readout deck
- Development and documentation of high-level strategies for achieving specific objectives or completing activities (hierarchical strategy, budget and scope approvals, process flow, Final Project Summary, etc.).
- Applying consultative skills to identify and prioritize opportunities based on best practices to address client-specific needs, leveraging IPM’s collective experience and ways of working
- Daily project leadership with contractors, procurement, engineering, production, quality, maintenance, safety, supply chain, sanitation, finance, and other key stakeholders.
- Balance strategy and execution in engagements while contributing to capability building
- Professional communication with a broad spectrum of audiences from line operators to senior level executives.
DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
The successful candidate for this position should have the following skills and experience:
- A Bachelor's degree with a preference for Engineering, Construction Management, Operations Management, Project Management or similar (e.g., industrial engineering, supply chain management or analytics)
- At least 8 years of professional experience delivering successful capital projects within consulting or matrixed enterprise environments
- Have a strong foundation in capital project management best practices and be well versed in operational excellence methodologies
- Demonstrated experience across Life Sciences, Consumer, and/or Industrial sectors
- Experience working directly with senior client stakeholders, acting as the Owner’s Representative and trusted advisor
- Demonstrated ability to lead ambiguity, influence without authority, and drive results
- Be passionate about clients, and dedicated to delivering high-quality outcomes focused on scope, budget, and schedule (Project Management Professional, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Professional Engineer, and APICS certifications are a plus)
- Have familiarity with GMP, FDA, OSHA, ISO, and environmental requirements
- Be comfortable applying capital analytics, PMO tools, and digital project controls
- Demonstrate background successfully leading Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement or enterprise transformation initiatives
- Have demonstrated flexibility and the willingness to tailor your approach specifically based on IPM’s methodologies and clients’ needs
- Be comfortable functioning as either an individual consultant or in a team-based role on a broader engagement, with a focus on delivery and implementation.
- Have led multiple activities and resources while maintaining a focus on quality
- Exceptional interpersonal and leadership skills to effectively communicate and build relationships with a broad spectrum of audiences at all organizational levels. Translating technical concepts into broadly understood terms is an essential skill.
- Willingness to travel based on client needs
If you think you can work with high-caliber colleagues on complex and high-profile projects, we'd like to hear from you. In return, we'll provide you with the opportunities, support, and training to develop your career to the fullest of your capabilities; it's not just what you've done that's interesting to us – it's what you are capable of achieving.
Why IPM
- Diverse projects: we take on a wide variety of project work, ensuring significant exposure to a variety of clients and a broad range of opportunities to grow your professional experience
- Collaborative work environment: we have a well-structured system to bring support from managers, internal teams, and our Centers of Excellence (CoE), which serve as resources and SME’s for specific services and industry knowledge, tools, and best practices
- Family with engaging culture: we believe in protecting our greatest asset, our people, with a culture that nurtures a caring environment with a transparent communication approach, culture-building and team-building events, both regional and companywide
- Professional development: we're committed to your training and development. You’ll get a thorough onboarding to ensure you’re prepared while creating the bandwidth you need to further your career at IPM. You are IPM’s future; we only promote from within
- High visibility and direct client impact; you’ll have the opportunity to shape how your clients achieve their network strategies through well planned and executed capital projects
- Comprehensive compensation and benefits program: including 100% employer-paid health, 401(k) matching, business development incentives, and performance bonus amongst many other elements. Salary Range: $120,000 – $140,000
- Passion for the greater good: we are steadfast in our devotion to the communities we serve and in actively promoting employee involvement in community improvement projects. We’ve created Project Mercy to channel and maximize our philanthropic efforts every quarter.
Disclaimer: Where a specific pay range is noted, it is a good faith estimate at the time of this posting. The actual salary offered will be based on experience, skills, qualifications, and market/business considerations.
IPM is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment.
IPM’s hybrid work environment requires a minimum of three days in the office. The specific days are flexible and may vary depending on project schedules and meetings. On-site locations may also vary. In addition, we follow our clients’ guidance on on-site requirements, so the minimum number of days in the office may increase depending on the client and project assignment.