Project Manager – Robotics Programs (Kick-off to Launch)
Company: Unbox Robotics Labs Pvt. Ltd.
Experience: 5–8 years
Education (Mandatory): B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical, Electronics, Robotics, or Mechatronics Engineering
Role Type: Full-time, individual contributor with cross-functional ownership
About Unbox Robotics
Unbox Robotics builds next-generation mobile robotic sortation systems that transform parcel and e-commerce fulfillment operations. Our solutions are deployed across India and international markets, helping logistics and supply-chain leaders achieve faster throughput in smaller footprints. We are looking for a Project Manager who can own customer programs end-to-end — from kick-off through site deployment and go-live — across geographies.
Role Summary
The Project Manager will be the single point of accountability for delivering robotics deployment projects on time, on budget, and to spec. The role spans the full project lifecycle — requirements freeze, engineering coordination, manufacturing, logistics, site readiness, installation, commissioning, customer acceptance, and handover to operations. You will work closely with Sales, Engineering (Mech / Electrical / Software / Controls), Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Field Service, and external customer stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Program Ownership (Kick-off to Launch)
- Lead end-to-end execution of customer projects from contract signoff to operational go-live and warranty handover.
- Define project charter, scope, deliverables, milestones, RACI, and acceptance criteria with internal and customer stakeholders.
- Drive Site Acceptance Tests (SAT), Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT), commissioning, and ramp-up plans.
Planning & Execution
- Build and maintain detailed project plans, critical path, resource loading, risk register, and dependency tracking.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams across mechanical, electrical, controls, software, manufacturing, and supply chain to meet integrated milestones.
- Manage change requests, scope creep, and engineering change orders with impact analysis on cost, schedule, and quality.
Customer & Stakeholder Management
- Serve as the primary customer-facing PM during execution; run weekly status reviews, steering committee updates, and escalations.
- Manage international customers and partners across time zones — including travel to project sites for kick-off, FAT, installation, and go-live as required.
Risk, Cost & Quality
- Track project P&L, budget burn, and margin protection; flag deviations early.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate technical, schedule, supply, and site-related risks.
- Ensure compliance with safety, quality, and regulatory standards relevant to the deployment geography.
Reporting & Governance
- Maintain project dashboards, MIS, and executive reports for internal leadership and customer leadership.
- Drive lessons-learned reviews and feed improvements back into the playbook.
Must-Have Qualifications
- Education: B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical / Electronics / Robotics / Mechatronics Engineering.
- Experience: 5–8 years managing engineering or product-deployment projects, with a clear track record of owning projects from kick-off through launch.
- International exposure : Hands-on experience delivering at least one project for an international customer or site — including managing cross-border logistics, time-zone coordination, customer cultural nuances, and on-site execution abroad.
- Domain: Experience in robotics, industrial automation, warehouse automation, material handling, capital equipment, EV, or comparable hardware-plus-software systems where mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines converge.
- PM tooling: Working proficiency in project management and collaboration tools — MS Project / Primavera P6 / Smartsheet, Jira, Confluence, MS Excel (advanced), Power BI or equivalent dashboards. Familiarity with PLM/ERP touchpoints is a plus.
- PM methodology: Strong grounding in project management frameworks (Waterfall, Agile/Hybrid, Stage-Gate). PMP / PRINCE2 / Agile certification preferred.
- Engineering literacy: Ability to read mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, and system architecture documents well enough to challenge engineering teams and unblock the customer.
Soft Skills & Behavioral Competencies
- Communication: Crisp written and verbal English; able to switch register between shop-floor technicians, customer CXOs, and internal engineering leads. Comfortable presenting to international senior stakeholders.
- Ownership & Bias for Action: Treats the project as their own business; drives closure rather than tracking status.
- Stakeholder Influence: Manages by influence across functions where you don't have direct authority.
- Problem-Solving Under Pressure: Stays composed during commissioning, go-live, and escalation scenarios.
- Customer Empathy: Understands that the customer's success is the project's success; manages expectations honestly.
- Cultural Intelligence: Works effectively across geographies and cultures.
- Detail Orientation with Big-Picture Judgement: Knows what to escalate, what to absorb, and what to delegate.
Good to Have
- Experience with mobile robots, AMRs, AGVs, conveyor or sortation systems.
- Exposure to warehouse / 3PL / e-commerce / parcel & post customers.
- Experience with hardware NPI (New Product Introduction) and pilot-to-scale transitions.
- Working knowledge of safety standards (CE, UL, ISO 13849, IEC 60204) relevant to industrial automation.
