Program Manager - St Petersburg, FL (Plastic Injection Molding & Tooling)

Position Summary 

The Program Manager plays a key leadership role in driving customer satisfaction and project success. In this position, you will translate strategic priorities into actionable plans that elevate the customer experience across assigned accounts. You will provide end‑to‑end leadership of customer programs and tooling projects, ensuring predictable, high‑quality delivery from project initiation through qualification. Serving as the primary liaison between customers, suppliers, engineering, manufacturing, and internal teams, you will ensure strong alignment, accountability, and execution excellence throughout the entire tooling lifecycle. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned customer accounts, providing clear, accurate, and timely communication.
  
• Proactively manage customer issues and needs through resolution with coordinated internal support.
  
• Maintain commitments and escalate risks early to prevent delays or quality concerns.
  
• Communicate professionally and handle sensitive matters with discretion and care.
  
• Strengthen customer trust by providing consistent, reliable, and fact‑based updates.
  
• Document and consistently apply each customer’s preferred communication method, frequency, and format.
  
• Use real‑time communication when preferred, with written follow‑up for alignment.
  
• Deliver predictable updates on the agreed cadence.
  
• Communicate changes proactively, including root cause and revised timing.
  
• Lead end‑to‑end project delivery across scope, schedule, budget, and quality.
  
• Develop detailed project plans with critical paths, dependencies, and risk mitigation strategies.
  
• Confirm purchase orders within 24 hours and maintain all documentation accuracy.
  
• Provide weekly updates, maintain dashboards/trackers, and ensure Salesforce accuracy.
  
• Identify risks early and implement corrective actions or escalate as needed.
  
• Partner closely with engineering on DFM reviews, mold/tooling design, and manufacturability considerations.
  
• Oversee the full tooling lifecycle, including design, machining, polishing, assembly, sampling, and modifications.
  
• Serve as the liaison for tooling updates, risks, and requirements across customers, engineering, and suppliers.
  
• Ensure all drawings, approvals, documentation, and tooling deliverables meet standards and timelines.
  
• Lead validation cycles including T1/T2 trials, debugging, measurement reviews, and corrective actions.
  
• Ensure capability targets, acceptance standards, and deliverables are met with minimal rework.
  
• Own project and tooling budgets, including cost tracking, variance analysis, and forecasting.
  
• Manage engineering changes and customer change orders through defined approval processes.
  
• Ensure timely and accurate financial documentation and change order reconciliation.
  

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Project Management, or related field preferred
  
• 3-5 years of project/program management experience; injection molding or tooling industry experience strongly preferred
  
• Strong communication, cross‑functional coordination, and customer‑facing experience
  
• Proven risk management, problem‑solving, and leadership skills
  
• Experience with ERP and CRM platforms (Salesforce preferred)
  

Education Requirements – B.S. in Engineering or Business or equivalent work experience within the industrial manufacturing, preferrable thermoplastic injection molding.