Vice President, Program Management

About this role

Maximize your potential. Minimize your footprint.
Nortek Data Center Cooling builds the systems that keep modern data centers running — from liquid cooling to large‑scale air solutions. Our work supports some of the world’s most demanding AI and hyperscale environments, and we solve those challenges with engineering depth and practical execution.
We keep things simple here. We communicate early, stay close to the details, and follow through. When issues come up, we address them directly, not with layers of process. Customers count on us because we do what we say and we keep projects moving.
Our culture is hands‑on and collaborative. People take ownership, move quickly, and help each other. If you like working with teammates who are straightforward and accountable, you’ll feel at home.
With the backing of Madison Air, we have the scale, stability, and manufacturing footprint to support complex, high‑growth programs.
Job Summary
The Vice President of Program Management serves as the cross-functional integrator and accountability mechanism for customer commitments across the entire program lifecycle at Nortek Data Center Cooling. This executive-level role leads custom and configurable development programs, ensuring flawless execution from opportunity identification through completion of product commissioning.
The VP of Program Management coordinates Engineering, Test, Operations, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and Service teams to meet schedule, cost, quality, and customer commitments, while these functions continue to own execution within their respective areas. This position is accountable for the financial health of the program and for program-level P&L execution and customer commitments—delivering revenue, margin, cost, cash, schedule, change orders, and overall program performance; Sales remains responsible for pricing strategy. Program Management maintains direct customer contact, while the Sales Account Executive remains the primary customer contact and owns customer communication and negotiation. Leading a team of customer-assigned Program Managers, the role drives cross-functional alignment, manages contract and program risk, and establishes scalable program management processes that enable consistent execution as the business scales beyond $2B.
Key Responsibilities
Program Delivery & Execution

• Own end-to-end program health from opportunity identification through completion of product commissioning, ensuring all commitments established during the PAR, customer quotation, technical submittal, and budgeting processes are achieved.

• Manage the cross-functional team to schedule with a relentless focus on critical-path items, driving flawless execution of development and production programs that exceed customer expectations for on-time delivery, quality, service, and sustainability.

• Establish structured workflows for project kickoff, engineering release, drawing approval cycles, long-lead procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, customer acceptance, installation, and commissioning.

• Continuously refine program execution practices to reduce rework, minimize delays caused by engineering changes, and improve cross-functional predictability.

• Define program intake and scoping processes that incorporate feasibility assessments, technical requirements, material constraints, and manufacturing capacity considerations.

Program Risk Management

• Implement a robust program risk management process that establishes clear methodologies, governance, and expectations for Program Managers across all programs.

• Deploy a standardized risk identification, escalation, and mitigation process across all major programs, targeting a 90% on-time closure rate for critical risks.

• Maintain executive visibility to top program risks through monthly reviews and prevent significant schedule, cost, quality, or customer impacts resulting from unmanaged risks.

• Ensure every high-risk issue has a documented mitigation plan and appropriate executive visibility.

Program-Level P&L and Contract Management

• Accountable for the financial health of the program and for program-level P&L execution and customer commitments—delivering revenue, margin, cost, cash, schedule, change orders, and overall program performance. Sales remains responsible for pricing strategy.

• Ensure all financial commitments established during the deal model, quotation, contract negotiation, and budgeting processes are achieved, with Sales leading customer negotiation and pricing strategy.

• Manage change orders, warranty exposure, and cash flow throughout the program lifecycle while proactively identifying and mitigating risks to profitability.

• Partner with Commercial, Finance, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Service teams to drive cost, schedule, and scope decisions that maximize both customer satisfaction and business performance.

• Own the contract governance processes that provide visibility to key obligations, risks, change orders, opportunities, and customer commitments to optimize profitability and reduce contractual risk.

Installation, Commissioning & Service Coordination

• Ensure Service has visibility to installation schedules and customer requirements.

• Ensure field resources, parts, and support plans are aligned with program commitments.

• Coordinate and escalate warranty issues, field modifications, or customer concerns.

• Track financial and customer impacts associated with post-delivery issues.

• Remain engaged whenever there are material issues impacting customer commitments, schedule, economics, or customer satisfaction; support formal handoff to Service when programs are running smoothly.

• Service continues to own service execution (contracting, product offering, productivity, reliability, and overall quality), technician deployment and training, spare parts strategy, and long-term aftermarket support (e.g., Re-life).

Portfolio Visibility & Performance Analytics

• Develop…