Customer Program Manager

THE OPPORTUNITY: Align Production Systems designs and manufacture custom capital equipment and heavy-load material handling systems — AGVs, heavy transporters, turntables, and integrated automation — for Fortune 1000 manufacturers and government programs in aerospace, space, heavy equipment, agriculture, and transportation. The Customer Program Manager owns delivery of every engineer-to-order program from signed purchase order through customer acceptance. This is the single accountable owner the customer sees — leading two engineering teams, protecting margin, and driving on-time delivery on complex, one-of-a-kind machines.

What We Are Looking For: 10+ years in engineer-to-order, custom machinery, industrial automation, or capital equipment environments 5+ years leading customer programs and managing engineers or designers directly, including hiring, coaching, and performance management Proven record of delivering complex custom projects on schedule and at margin with ownership of commercial outcomes Experience managing schedules and capacity across multiple concurrent programs with a disciplined, metrics-based operating rhythm Strong customer-facing presence; comfortable running program reviews with customer engineering and executive leadership Working knowledge of ERP and project scheduling tools; sufficient technical fluency in mechanical and controls systems to lead engineers credibly Bachelor's degree required; engineering degree preferred Preferred PMP or equivalent project management credential Experience leading teams across multiple sites, including offshore or global engineering teams Background in material handling, AGVs or mobile automation, heavy-load equipment, or industrial automation Experience with aerospace, defense and space, heavy equipment, agriculture, or transportation manufacturers Background in a growing, privately held manufacturer What You Will Own End-to-end program delivery — kickoff through design, build, test, installation, and customer acceptance Customer relationship — single point of contact for Fortune 1000 customers from order handoff through closeout Program economics — manage every program against as-sold scope, engineering hours, BOM cost, and margin Mission Control — keep the program schedule current, accurate, and trusted as the company's operating backbone Engineering teams — hire, coach, develop, and lead engineers across the organization Location & Travel Based in St. Louis, Missouri (Chesterfield headquarters) Occasional time at the Decatur, IL manufacturing plant based on business needs Travel to customer sites for program reviews, installations, and acceptance It is required to complete the Predictive Index Assessment to be considered for this position: https://assessment.predictiveindex.com/bo/D7NP/CustomerProgramManager_Aug2026_143222