Project Manager - MES Implementation and Product Readiness

Location: North Chicago, Illinois

Contract: 14 + month contract duration

Schedule: Hybrid | On-site: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; Remote: Monday and Friday

Position Summary

Automated Systems, Inc. (ASI) is seeking a Project Manager to drive the late-stage implementation of POMSnet Aquila, a web-based pharmaceutical manufacturing execution system (MES), at one of our clients pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities located in North Chicago, IL. In this PM role, your goal is to bring new products into the system by coordinating recipe completion, testing, procedure updates, and training. Working exclusively with internal stakeholders, this Project Manager Contractor must secure resources and production time, resolve competing priorities, and keep teams accountable for delivery. Strong project execution, organizational judgment, and influence without direct authority are essential; manufacturing and POMS experience are preferred.

Key Responsibilities

•   Own the integrated completion plan, with clear deliverables, task owners, dependencies, milestones, and readiness criteria for each product.

•   Secure commitments for subject matter experts, reviewers, testers, and operators; negotiate production windows needed to complete testing, training, and implementation.

•   Coordinate internal Manufacturing, MES/IT, Quality, Validation, and Training stakeholders to complete recipes, testing, issue resolution, procedure approvals, and training records.

•   Build relationships across functions, understand competing demands, and use persistent, tactful follow-up to turn commitments into completed work.

•   Identify obstacles early, assess schedule impacts, and drive practical recovery plans; escalate unresolved resource conflicts with clear options and decisions needed.

•   Lead focused working sessions and communicate status, risks, overdue actions, and resource needs clearly to team members and leadership.

•   Adapt sequencing as production priorities change, protect critical milestones, and confirm required approvals and readiness before transition to routine use.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

·       Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Biochemical, or related Engineering discipline.

·       Minimum 7+ years of experience leading projects; pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulated system implementation, or operational readiness projects through execution in a highly regulated environment.

·       Demonstrated success delivering complex, cross-functional implementation projects with competing priorities and shared resources.

·       Strong command of scheduling, dependency management, risk and issue management, action tracking, and project recovery.

·       Proven ability to influence without direct authority, negotiate resource commitments, navigate organizational dynamics, and escalate effectively.

·       Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills; able to challenge missed commitments constructively while maintaining productive relationships.

·       Persistent, adaptable, and accountable for results, with the judgment to know when to negotiate, when to escalate, and how to keep work moving.

Preferred Experience

·       Pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulated system implementation, or operational readiness projects.

·       POMSnet Aquila or another MES; familiarity with electronic recipes, testing/validation, controlled procedures, and operator training.

·       Experience navigating a large matrix organization; AbbVie experience and PMP certification are helpful.