PMO Manager

ITAR REQUIREMENTS: This position requires use of information which is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a U.S. person as a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e., 'Green Card Holder'), Political Asylee, or Refugee.

This role is onsite in Gray, Maine. Candidates who are motivated to relocate are welcome to apply - assistance is available.

KORE1, a nationwide provider of staffing and recruiting solutions, has an immediate opening for a
PMO Manager - NPD/NPI Electronics & Embedded Systems Projects (Engineering Background Preferred); med device a preferred

As PMO Manager, you will lead and develop our team of Project Managers (PMs), ensuring predictable delivery, cost control, and on-time execution for multidisciplinary electronics-based NPD and NPI projects-primarily for medical devices but also supporting aftermarket automotive, industrial, and other regulated electronics programs. You will build a high-performing, technically fluent PM team, oversee project execution, and represent the project management function in key customer interactions. You will directly manage your team-including hiring, performance reviews, resource planning, and career development. You will remain engaged at the project level to provide technical judgment, coaching, and escalation support, ensuring informed decisions and successful outcomes across a diverse portfolio.

Responsibilities:

• You will manage a team of PMs (currently 4 FTE 2 contract PMs), including hiring, workload balancing, staffing strategy, performance reviews, and career development.
• You will lead and mentor project managers in planning, execution, technical decision-making, and customer-facing program leadership.
• You will demonstrate hands-on leadership-willing to work on the front lines with PMs to resolve issues, guide decision-making, and coach them through customer management challenges.
• You will build and implement PMO processes, tools, templates, and standards that ensure regulatory compliance, technical rigor, and predictable project delivery.
• You will drive standardization while recognizing that projects vary significantly; you will help the organization define scalable, consistent project delivery processes.
• You will oversee the planning and execution of multiple concurrent projects, ensuring adherence to scope, schedule, budget, and quality requirements.
• You will coach PMs in developing technically sound project plans, anticipating compliance, design, DFM/DFT, procurement, and manufacturing challenges.
• You will collaborate with engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and quality teams to remove blockers and ensure smooth, well-coordinated project execution.
• You will support PMs in managing customer expectations, scope changes, change management, and risk, ensuring clear communication of impacts and trade-offs.
• You will partner with Account Managers-who own customer portfolios-to ensure alignment between project execution and ongoing customer strategies.
• You will support Sales with technically informed project planning input for proposals and quotes for NPD, NPI, and sustaining engineering projects.
• You will foster a culture of accountability, technical curiosity, and continuous improvement within the PM team.
• You will identify opportunities to add value for customers and the company beyond baseline scope, strengthening customer relationships and supporting business growth.
• You will help PMs navigate hybrid development models that blend waterfall (hardware/firmware) and agile (software/Jira-based) practices.
• You will support implementation of resource planning and reporting processes in Microsoft Project Online and shared resource management tools, which are currently evolving.
• You will work closely with engineering leadership to further formalize project planning, schedule structures, project templates, and reporting standards.
• You will help the organization mature its PMO operations, with early success metrics centered on establishing consistent processes, improving schedule discipline, and driving better customer scope/cadence management.

Qualifications & Experience Needed to Succeed

• Engineering degree in electronics, systems integration, or manufacturing engineering strongly preferred.
• PMP, Lean/Six Sigma, or similar process improvement certifications are desirable but not required.
• Experience working in regulated product environments, ideally medical devices (ISO 13485, FDA, EU MDR); experience in automotive, defense, industrial, or other complex electronics sectors is also valued.
• 5-10 years of project management experience in electronics product development or contract manufacturing, including leading a PM team or similar leadership responsibilities.
• Strong technical understanding of electronics, embedded systems, firmware, and multidisciplinary NPD/NPI processes; prior hands-on experience as an engineer, technical lead, or systems integrator is highly beneficial.
• Deep familiarity with electronics-based manufacturing and NPI workflows, including DFM/DFT, test development, production process development, procurement coordination, and validation.
• Demonstrated leadership experience developing, mentoring, and managing PMs, including hiring, performance management, resource planning, and career development.
• Proven success guiding multi-disciplinary teams through design, verification, regulatory approval, and transfer-to-manufacturing across project timelines typically ranging from 12-16 months to 2 years for complex medical device programs.
• Ability to translate complex technical requirements into actionable project plans while balancing scope, technical feasibility, customer expectations, and resource constraints.
• Strong ability to manage and negotiate scope, communicate changes, articulate trade-offs, and maintain customer relationships throughout the lifecycle of NPD/NPI programs
• Proficiency with project planning and scheduling tools-Microsoft Project (including MS Project Online) preferred; familiarity with Jira for engineering workflows desirable.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with experience resolving issues across engineering, procurement, manufacturing, quality, and customer stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills for both technical and business audiences, including account managers, engineering teams, executives, and customer program leaders.

Compensation depends on experience but is typically $175-200K plus an undefined bonus based on company & individual performance. However, we are willing to send qualified candidates over budget.