Lead Project Manager

Lead Project Manager – Firestone Airide

Apply for the Lead Project Manager position in Nashville, TN.

Firestone Airide specializes in air spring manufacturing and technology, with over 80 years of research and development. Engineers design air springs and related products for commercial trucks, trailers, cars, sport utility vehicles, light trucks, mini-vans, motor homes, buses, agricultural equipment, rail, and industrial applications.

General Management

At Firestone Industrial Products, we design and develop world‑class air springs for the automotive, commercial vehicle and industrial industries. With the EV market expansion, Firestone is experiencing high growth with major OEMs in Europe and North America. We are seeking a Project Manager to lead cross‑functional global teams in the development and launch of OEM air spring systems, using Stage Gate and APQP methodologies from concept through large‑scale serial production.

Candidates must be local to the Nashville, TN area.

• Utilize and manage a stage‑gate process for project management.
• Create, manage, and lead project plans using the product development process and APQP as required.
• Define project roles and responsibilities, resource requirements, and timelines.
• Form and lead cross‑functional project teams.
• Identify, retain, and manage external resources to achieve project goals.
• Collaborate with product managers and other stakeholders on strategic planning activities.
• Ensure business‑case assumptions are accurate and aligned across the organization.

• Provide direction and support to the project team.
• Communicate project status, requirements, risks, and issues to stakeholders.
• Work with executive project sponsors and stakeholders to drive execution.
• Provide project metrics and KPIs for evaluation and presentation.
• Present project summaries to the executive team and other organization members.

• Ensure on‑time, on‑budget, high‑quality project delivery.
• Manage project resource allocation and delegate responsibilities.
• Lead and hold the project team accountable for commitments.
• Create and maintain project documentation per TS16949 requirements (APQP, PPAP, etc.).
• Pass internal and external quality audits based on TS16949 requirements for product development and project management.

• Estimate costs, determine and manage budgets.
• Create cost baselines and track against actual budget performance.
• Identify cost variances and implement corrective or preventative actions.

• BA/BS degree in engineering, math, or another quantitative field.
• 5+ years of experience; typically a minimum of 8 years related experience with a bachelor’s degree, or 6 years with a master’s degree, or a PhD with 3 years of experience, or equivalent work experience.

• Experience managing project documents, approvals, issues, and decisions using workflow.
• Experience managing multi‑disciplined technical projects and handling multiple projects concurrently.
• Demonstrated success in project management or a customer‑facing role, with talent for leading cross‑functional teams across multiple locations.
• Expertise in Microsoft Project (or similar project management tool).
• Proficiency with presentation and communication tools such as MS Office, Visio, etc.
• Self‑motivation, strong commitment to completing tasks, organization, and time management.
• Team‑oriented personality with excellent customer‑facing skills; eager to learn and take on new challenges.
• Strong organizational, problem‑solving, and analytical skills.
• Ability to communicate scope, expectations, plans, and hold teams accountable for commitments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Thrives in fast‑paced, multi‑tasking environments.
• Ability to travel on short notice up to 20% of the time.

• Engineering or manufacturing experience.
• Strong background in vehicular technologies.
• Experience with SAP or other ERP packages.

• PMP certification, Lean or Six Sigma certification experience in automotive or related industry.
• 7+ years of experience.
• Similarly structured experience…