Heavy Duty New Unit Multi Projects - Director
GE Vernova · Atlanta · $154,800–$258,000 (stated in the posting)
Job Description Summary
GE Vernova’s Gas Power business engineers advanced, efficient natural gas-powered technologies and services, along with decarbonization solutions that help enable a lower-carbon future. As a global leader in gas turbines and power plant technologies and services, we are seeking a project Director to lead the execution of Simple and Combined Cycle projects within our Heavy Duty Gas Power business.The Project Director (PD) is responsible for the overall execution of a mega project or multiple projects with a key Customer. Acting as the primary point of contact for the customer, the PD is responsible for the project lifecycle from contract inception through final closure. This role provides the strategic vision required to align complex delivery models with long-term business objectives. By integrating deep operational acumen with a focus on portfolio-level outcomes, the PD influences financial performance, mitigates systemic risks, and serves as a lead mentor, fostering a pipeline of future project leaders and high-performing team members. In addition, in some cases the Project Director serves as a people leader with direct supervisory responsibility for Project Managers, including coaching, performance management, development planning, and team capability building.
Job Description
Strategic Vision & Portfolio Management
- Portfolio-Level Outcomes: Manage the interconnected health of multiple projects, ensuring that resources, risks, and performance targets are balanced across the portfolio to drive aggregate business value.
- Strategic Execution: Define and iterate on long-term project strategies. Shift focus from reactive management to proactive anticipation of market, technical, and customer-driven challenges.
- Complex Problem-Solving: Serve as the ultimate escalation point for cross-functional bottlenecks. Deploy advanced analytical techniques to resolve high-complexity issues that span engineering, manufacturing, and field execution.
- Stakeholder Influence: Navigate complex organizational matrices to align diverse internal and external stakeholders toward a unified, long-term vision.
- Customer Ownership: Develop strong executive relationships to facilitate an open and candid dialogue. Leverage to drive positive outcomes on cross portfolio issue resolution, claims management, and project execution.
- People Leadership: Directly lead and develop a team of Project Managers. Provide clear priorities, ongoing coaching, performance feedback, development planning, and talent assessment to ensure strong project execution and a robust leadership pipeline. Support employee engagement, accountability, and retention through active people leadership
Coaching, Mentorship & Team Development
- Talent Development: Actively identify and mentor high-potential Project Managers and functional leads. Provide ongoing feedback and career coaching to build a sustainable leadership pipeline. For direct reports, conduct regular performance discussions, assess readiness for expanded scope, and create targeted development actions.
- Culture of Excellence: Champion a culture of continuous learning and growth. Facilitate knowledge sharing across the project organization to ensure best practices are codified and scaled.
- Team Empowerment: Coach teams on "influence without authority" and soft-skill development, empowering individuals to take ownership and solve complex problems at their level.
- Resilience & Well-being: Proactively manage team health by fostering psychological safety and emotional intelligence, ensuring the team remains energized and resilient through high-pressure delivery phases.
Financial & Operational Influence
- Value Stream Optimization: Champion LEAN and Kaizen principles to redesign value streams, eliminating waste and enhancing project efficiency at scale.
- Financial Stewardship: Proactively influence financial outcomes by optimizing Estimates at Completion (EAC) and Cost-to-Come (CTC) projections. Lead margin maximization efforts through precise control of cash, revenue, and invoicing cycles.
- Contractual & Claims Strategy: Lead negotiations on complex change orders and vendor claims, utilizing a strategic approach to protect project interests while maintaining robust customer relationships.
Risk, EHS & Integration
- Risk & Opportunity Architecture: Own the portfolio Risk & Opportunity register. Quantify risks not just for individual tasks, but for the overall project outcome.
- EHS & Quality Leadership: Enforce a "zero-compromise" culture regarding EHS and quality standards, regardless of pressure to accelerate schedules.
Qualifications & Competencies
- Education: Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university.
- Experience: 10+ years of experience leading mega-projects or complex portfolios within the Energy or large-scale infrastructure sectors.
- Strategic Acumen: Demonstrated ability to translate complex business challenges into clear, actionable, and sustainable project strategies.
- People Leadership / Mentorship Record: Proven experience in developing talent, coaching project teams, and building a high-performance culture within a matrixed organization. Experience with performance management, employee development, and leading Project Managers or comparable professional roles is preferred.
- Problem-Solving Mastery: Proven record of identifying systemic issues and implementing solutions across interdependent workstreams.
- Executive Presence: Advanced ability to represent the organization at the C-Suite level, facilitating high-stakes negotiations and managing sensitive customer communications.
Additional Information
GE Vernova offers a great work environment, professional development, challenging careers, and competitive compensation. GE Vernova is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.
GE Vernova will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen (as applicable).
Relocation Assistance Provided: No