Mission Critical Project Manager

Company Overview

Upchurch is a rapidly growing, full-service building engineering company providing mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical services across the southeastern United States. Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Horn Lake, MS, Upchurch has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong reputation for quality, reliability, and service excellence. We offer end-to-end solutions—from design and installation to ongoing maintenance and emergency support—helping clients maximize building performance, energy efficiency, and equipment lifespan.

Position Summary

The Critical Environments Service Project Manager is responsible for the planning, coordination, execution, financial management, and successful delivery of service projects supporting mission-critical data center infrastructure. This position serves as the primary point of contact for customers, internal service teams, vendors, subcontractors, and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.

The Service Project Manager owns project financial performance, customer communication, schedules, procurement activities, forecasting, change order management, and overall project execution while ensuring all work is performed safely and in accordance with customer requirements, company standards, and mission-critical operational procedures.

The ideal candidate possesses strong project management skills, customer-facing experience, and the ability to successfully manage projects in live operational environments where uptime, reliability, and risk mitigation are essential.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning & Execution

• Plan, initiate, and manage service projects from kickoff through final closeout.

• Define project scope, objectives, milestones, deliverables, resource requirements, and execution strategies.

• Develop and maintain project schedules that align with customer requirements, maintenance windows, and operational constraints.

• Lead project execution while ensuring work progresses within approved schedules, budgets, and quality expectations.

• Identify project risks, obstacles, and resource constraints and implement corrective actions to mitigate impact.

• Coordinate project startup meetings, internal planning sessions, and customer progress reviews.

• Ensure project documentation remains current and accurately reflects project status and commitments.

Mission-Critical Service and Construction Delivery

• Coordinate service and/or construction projects within live operational or under construction data center environments where uptime and reliability are critical.

• Support customer change-management processes, maintenance activities, equipment upgrades, retrofits, corrective maintenance, commissioning, and emergency service projects.

• Ensure all work is planned and executed in accordance with approved MOPs, SOPs, Commissioning scripts, permits, customer requirements, and site-specific operational procedures.

• Facilitate outage planning and coordination with customers, service managers, technicians, and operational stakeholders.

• Maintain awareness of electrical and mechanical system redundancy configurations, equipment dependencies, and operational risk during project execution.

• Coordinate project activities to minimize customer impact and maintain safe operational conditions.

Customer Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary customer-facing representative for assigned projects.

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with customer stakeholders and site operations teams.

• Lead customer progress meetings, project reviews, outage planning discussions, and execution updates.

• Provide timely communication regarding project status, risks, schedule impacts, material lead times, and change requests.

• Address customer concerns professionally and work collaboratively toward successful resolutions.

• Support long-term customer satisfaction and account growth through proactive project management and communication.

Financial & Commercial Management

• Own project financial performance from project award through final invoicing.

• Develop and maintain project budgets, forecasts, cost-to-complete projections, and profitability analyses.

• Monitor labor productivity, material expenditures, subcontractor costs, and overall project performance.

• Review project financial metrics and identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and profitability.

• Participate in Work-In-Progress reviews, backlog reviews, billing reviews, and forecasting activities.

• Manage project cash flow and support timely invoicing and collections activities.

• Escalate financial risks and develop recovery plans when required.

Change Order & Scope Management

• Identify, document, price, track, and negotiate change orders.

• Ensure customer approval is obtained prior to execution of out-of-scope work whenever possible.

• Monitor project scope and proactively manage scope changes to protect project profitability.

• Coordinate with operations, estimating, procurement, and accounting teams regarding project modifications.

Procurement & Vendor Management

• Coordinate procurement activities to support successful project execution.

• Manage material purchasing, lead-time tracking, vendor communication, and delivery schedules.

• Expedite critical materials and equipment as necessary to support customer schedules.

• Work with vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors to ensure quality, performance, and timely delivery.

• Coordinate purchase orders and ensure procurement activities remain aligned with project budgets.

Resource Coordination

• Coordinate internal resources including service technicians, field leadership, subcontractors, vendors, and support personnel.

• Work closely with Service Managers to align manpower, schedules, and project priorities.

• Support workforce planning activities by identifying future labor and resource requirements.

• Maintain visibility into project staffing needs and communicate anticipated changes proactively.

Safety, Quality & Risk Management

• Promote a culture of safety, professionalism, and operational excellence.

• Participate in project risk assessments and develop mitigation plans.

• Ensure compliance with company safety standards, customer safety requirements, OSHA regulations, and applicable procedures.

• Verify quality expectations are communicated and achieved throughout project execution.

• Support incident investigations, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives when required.

• Encourage procedural compliance and documentation accuracy.

Reporting, Documentation & Closeout

• Prepare project status reports, executive summaries, customer updates, and closeout documentation.

• Maintain accurate project records, schedules, financial reports, procurement logs, and change order documentation.

• Coordinate project turnover, final customer acceptance, warranty requirements, and project closeout activities.

• Capture lessons learned and support continuous improvement efforts across the Critical Environments organization.

• Assist in developing and standardizing project management tools, procedures, and reporting methodologies.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of project management experience supporting service operations, mechanical construction, HVAC, electrical systems, industrial facilities, mission-critical environments, or related technical industries.

• Proven experience managing multiple projects simultaneously.

• Demonstrated understanding of project planning, budget management, forecasting, procurement, scheduling, and risk management.

• Strong customer relationship management and communication skills.

• Ability to operate effectively in fast-paced environments with competing priorities.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, ERP systems, project management software, and scheduling tools.

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, Engineering, Business Administration, Project Management, or related field preferred.

• PMP certification or equivalent project management training preferred.

• Experience supporting data center operations, mission-critical facilities, commissioning projects, maintenance programs, or high-availability environments preferred.

• Experience managing outage planning, maintenance windows, change-management activities, or mission-critical service projects preferred.

• Familiarity with MOPs, SOPs, LOTO procedures, OSHA requirements, and mission-critical operational practices preferred.

• Understanding of data center mechanical and electrical infrastructure including cooling systems, power distribution systems, controls systems, and related support equipment preferred.

Preferred Background & Skillset

• Experience supporting data center service operations, upgrades, retrofits, commissioning activities, reliability initiatives, corrective maintenance projects, and customer-driven capital improvements.

• Strong understanding of customer service delivery and service organization processes.

• Ability to translate project requirements into actionable schedules, resource plans, procurement activities, and execution strategies.

• Strong analytical and financial management capabilities.

• Comfortable interacting with executive leadership, customers, technicians, subcontractors, and vendors.

• High attention to detail with exceptional organizational skills and follow-through.

• Customer-focused mindset emphasizing responsiveness, accountability, and operational excellence.

Physical & Work Environment

• Work is performed in office settings, customer sites, live operational, and/or under construction data centers.

• Ability to travel as required to support customer projects and business needs.

• Must be capable of participating in field observations, customer meetings, project walks, and operational reviews.

• May occasionally be required to support after-hours project activities, maintenance windows, and outage coordination efforts.

Role Impact

• Ensures successful delivery of mission-critical service projects.

• Protects customer uptime and operational reliability through effective planning and coordination.

• Drives project profitability through strong financial management, forecasting, procurement, and scope control.

• Improves customer satisfaction through proactive communication and professional project leadership.

• Supports the growth and scalability of Upchurch's Critical Environments business.

• Strengthens execution consistency, operational excellence, and long-term customer relationships.

Benefits:

• Competitive pay based on experience.

• Health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Paid time off and holiday pay.

• Opportunities for professional development and certification assistance.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Upchurch Companies provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type based on race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.