Project Manager- Product Development - Chillers

Position: Project Manager- New Product Development - Chillers
Gradian is an engineering-led, full-line thermal solutions partner serving data center and other mission-critical, commercial, and industrial markets. Headquartered in Maple Grove, MN, with additional facilities across North America, we design and manufacture liquid cooling systems, air handling equipment, heat rejection units, and modular, factory-assembled thermal management solutions.

Gradian was founded through the unification of four complementary, established brands: MAS HVAC, Daedex, DeepCoolAI, and Eco Chillers. Together, we act as a single-source provider, deploying cooling technologies as scalable systems optimized for efficiency, spatial constraints, and overall performance. With a vertically integrated engineering and manufacturing model, we pair rapid design turnaround with precision fabrication, so customers can move faster on complex projects where reliability, timeline, and quality all matter.

Why work here

At Gradian, you'll work alongside others who get genuinely fired up by complex problems, see your work go from first sketch to job site in weeks, not years, and know that while we're developing the technologies critical for AI infrastructure to scale, our culture remains people-first by design.

It is core to our identity that we operate as one team — driving to win together, energizing others, and building lasting relationships that make the work fun and rewarding.

Position Summary:

The NPD Project Manager – Chillers leads new product development (NPD) projects within the Product Development team, with a focus on innovative chiller solutions, including air-cooled and water-cooled platforms. This role owns the full project lifecycle, from concept initiation through design validation and product launch, ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery while maintaining alignment with Gradian's engineering standards and strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities Project Leadership & Execution Lead cross-functional NPD projects for new chiller technology (air-cooled and water-cooled platforms) from concept through commercialization, using a structured stage-gate or agile development process

Develop comprehensive project plans, including scope definition, schedules, resource plans, risk registers, and budget forecasts

Drive project execution by coordinating activities across Engineering, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Marketing Monitor project performance against plan; proactively identify risks, develop mitigation strategies, and escalate blockers as appropriate

Conduct regular project status reviews with stakeholders and present updates to Advanced Development leadership

Process & Governance Partner with the PMO to adopt and maintain consistent project management practices, templates, and reporting standards across NPD efforts

Maintain accurate, up-to-date project documentation throughout the project lifecycle

Facilitate stage-gate reviews, ensuring deliverables meet defined criteria (including compressor selection, refrigeration circuit design, and heat rejection equipment performance) before progressing to the next phase

Support continuous improvement of Gradian's NPD process based on lessons learned and industry best practices

Collaboration

Serve as the primary point of contact and communication hub for assigned NPD projects

Build strong working relationships with R&D engineers, product managers, manufacturing engineers, and external suppliers or partners, with particular attention to compressor, refrigeration circuit, and heat rejection (cooling tower and dry cooler) component suppliers

Coordinate with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure design-for-manufacturability (DFM) considerations are addressed early in the development process

Collaborate with Quality to…