Project Manager - IT

Position Overview

The Project Manager, IT & Business Systems is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing Information Technology, business systems, reporting, and process improvement projects across Wanzl North America. The primary focus of this role is project management, including project planning, schedule coordination, resource alignment, budget tracking, risk management, stakeholder communication, and successful delivery of assigned initiatives.

This role will also support business systems improvement efforts involving SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Power BI, Microsoft 365, and other core platforms. The position will partner with business leaders and functional teams to understand requirements, improve reporting visibility, support system adoption, and ensure projects deliver measurable business value.

This position will be located at the corporate headquarters for Wanzl North America (WNA) in Denver, NC with frequent travel to Plant 1, Newton, NC.

Company and Opportunity Overview

WNA’s vision is to be a leading entrepreneurial player in terms of market share, agility, and game-changing solutions. WNA is a solution provider, creating value along the supply chain of our customers, from online purchase to their customers.

WNA is headquartered in the Charlotte Metro Area, North Carolina. With around 500 employees and ~$200M of sales, WNA focuses on the retail and distribution market segments with marquee customers such as Walmart, Amazon, and the majority of large grocers and retailers.

In addition to being the largest manufacturer of shopping carts in North America, WNA has three additional main product segments as well as a Service business, providing turnkey solutions for customer guidance (Access Systems), Shelving & Fixtures, and Material Handling products.

Access Solutions provides sophisticated customer guidance and loss prevention systems for major retailers. With German-engineered products and a strong installed base, this segment focuses on protecting existing market share while expanding into adjacent opportunities in smart retail, autonomous store technology, and digital integration.

Additionally, WNA offers a range of digital solutions integrated into our products, including advanced shopping cart containment systems, smart exit gate technology, and innovations for autonomous and semi-autonomous retail stores. We are continuously expanding and enhancing our digital offerings to meet evolving customer needs and drive industry advancement.

WNA is part of the Wanzl Group, headquartered in Germany, and has 12 plants in 8 countries, providing comprehensive, solutions-driven service and expert knowledge of local markets for customers across the globe through their 360° service.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage IT, business systems, reporting, and process improvement projects from initiation through completion.
• Develop project plans, schedules, milestones, deliverables, budgets, and resource plans to ensure projects are completed on time and within scope.
• Direct and coordinate activities of internal teams, business stakeholders, consultants, and third-party partners to ensure project progress and accountability.
• Monitor project schedules, risks, issues, dependencies, costs, and resource constraints, escalating concerns as needed.
• Prepare and maintain project documentation, including project plans, status reports, action logs, issue logs, risk registers, meeting notes, and executive updates.
• Facilitate project meetings, discovery sessions, requirements reviews, and cross-functional workshops.
• Partner with business functions such as Sales, Customer Service, Supply Chain, Operations, Product Management, Accounting, and IT to define project scope, requirements, responsibilities, and success criteria.
• Use appropriate change control and verification techniques to manage changes in project scope, schedule, cost, and deliverables.
• Oversee the performance of consultants and contractors to ensure project specifications and business requirements are delivered.
• Support SAP S/4HANA Cloud and related business system projects by coordinating requirements, testing, implementation activities, training, and post-go-live support.
• Partner with functional teams to identify process gaps, reporting needs, and system improvement opportunities, with emphasis on practical execution rather than broad transformation strategy.
• Support Power BI reporting initiatives, including requirements gathering, report development coordination, dashboard enhancement, data validation, user adoption, and ongoing report improvement.
• Work with business users to improve Power BI dashboards, KPIs, data visibility, and decision-support reporting across departments.
• Help ensure data accuracy, report consistency, and appropriate governance for Power BI content, including workspace organization, access coordination, and report documentation.
• Monitor project and reporting outcomes to ensure business value, adoption, and operational improvement.
• Support user communication, training, and change readiness activities related to new systems, reports, dashboards, and process changes.
• Perform risk management to minimize project risks and ensure quality results.

Skills and Experience:

• 5 to 10 years of project management experience, ideally with an Information Technology, business systems, manufacturing, or ERP focus.
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
• PMP certification or formal project management training preferred.
• Experience managing multiple projects with competing priorities, limited resources, defined budgets, and tight timelines.
• Working knowledge of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, ERP systems, business applications, or manufacturing systems preferred.
• Experience with Power BI, including report requirements gathering, dashboard design concepts, KPI development, report validation, and user support.
• Ability to work with business users to translate operational needs into project requirements, reporting requirements, and actionable deliverables.
• Proficient in Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and the Microsoft 365 suite.
• Strong understanding of project documentation, SOWs, procedures, meeting facilitation, action tracking, and executive status reporting.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical documents, financial reports, system specifications, process maps, and legal or vendor documents.
• Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, identify root causes, and recommend solutions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including group presentations and executive-level updates.
• Strong teamwork, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable managing multiple tasks and responding to changing business priorities.
• Strong attention to detail, follow-through, and accountability for commitments.