HITEC Project Manager

Okay, Bob, thank you so much for getting on camera for our veteran job seekers. Before we get into this project manager role, I think it's important that the veteran learn about you, their would-be supervisor. So if you tell us a little about yourself and what got you to this moment at High-Tech.

All right. My name is Robert Suhant. Everybody calls me Bob, which is fine. I've been with High-Tech off and on in my career for the past 26 years. I started as a project manager with High-Tech in the year 2000, and I worked my way up through the ranks, doing this project management role, also getting into the sales side of the business for a while. I left HITECH, actually formed an entire new company to compete in this same industry, and then approximately 6 years ago, I returned to the HITECH global organization in a new role, and that role is— it's a dual role. One is I am the project director So all project managers, commissioning engineers, project engineers report through to me for the execution of a job. But my dual role is to absolutely support the sales organization to make sure we quote all of the scopes of work correctly. And when they sell one of our complete systems, I know from a project management standpoint, we can actually execute, deliver on time, with the supply chain, so on and so forth. So I'm kind of a middleman within our organization to make sure sales sells what we can deliver, but then my team delivers on those promises we make to our customer. I've been doing this for, like I said, 26+ years in various capacities, but this is my current role from an execution standpoint.

Well, I think it's great because right off the gate you're letting them know, hey, sales and engineering they talk, they communicate, right? And that, because sometimes organizations, people are selling before they can even produce. So I love that you're that conduit between the two. And, you know, you've hired military in the past and you've been this role, right? You've been a project manager in this industry. So what, I guess first let's walk through a day in the life and the responsibilities of the role, and then we'll walk through the type of person you're looking for.

Okay. So our project managers are very diverse. So first you have to understand what it is Hy-Tech sells as a solution. So if I could take just a few seconds to explain. So we are a global company. Our main manufacturing of a power module, that is the diesel engine, the flywheel, the generator, and some control panels are being manufactured by our parent company in the the Netherlands in Europe. So we basically in Hi-Tech USA, we buy and resell that equipment to our customers in North America. Now the value add of the Hi-Tech USA organization is to deliver everything associated with that power module. So we buy, specify— well, we specify, we buy, and we deliver fuel systems. We do the exhaust emissions systems for the diesel engine. We have to, uh, design the cooling system or the radiator for the diesel engine. And then we also provide all of the electrical switchgear to maintain operation in the interaction. Now, those are the basic scopes of supply that every high-tech job that we sell has to incorporate. But we also add further value services because we also provide base fuel tanks upwards of 25,000 gallons of fuel systems. We also can provide fully packaged sound attenuated enclosures, meaning our supply chain has to be able to build insulated enclosures. And these are— 50, 60-foot-long boxes, 13-foot-wide heavy equipment that includes a ventilation system, that includes all the piping of all those auxiliary systems that I talked about from before. So our project managers need to be able to go and do RFQs with all of our supply chain. They need to do bid leveling, select the correct supplier, you work with our engineers to make sure those bids are compliant. Mm-hmm. With our specifications. And then they need to actually write purchase orders, negotiate the final price, and buy the equipment. And then once they buy the equipment, then they are responsible to coordinate all of the drawings from all the suppliers. They all come together to a big submittal package. They have to issue that submittal package to the customer. The customer has to approve it. And then in the reverse direction, the project manager then releases— Yeah. Our suppliers to production or to manufacture the equipment that we bought. Now there's gonna be a low for 6 to 9 months in the project where we're waiting for everything to be built and then delivered to the job site. So the project manager is also the delivery coordinator. They have to buy, schedule the trucking companies to deliver the equipment to the construction site. And then they have to oversee the contractors that are doing the installation. So they're not high-tech contractors, they're customer contractors. They hire—

Mm-hmm.

The customer would hire an electrical contractor, a mechanical contractor. They're the ones that have to pull the pipe and wire and put everything together. So we are a hand— we hold their hand, we guide them through the process. At the end of installation, then the project manager coordinates our team to come in and do the startup and commissioning and bring the system to life, and then they turn it over to service. So that's kind of a—

Yeah.

Overview of what the project manager will be doing, and it all depends on what stage of the project it is. Obviously, at the beginning, it's purchasing. Immediately afterwards, it's design submittals. Then there's the lull. Then it's delivery, installation, commissioning. So there's about 6 stages. We expect our project managers, depending on the volume of job, to be able to handle 2 to 3 of these projects simultaneously. That's what I expect. Start them at the right phase. You can easily do this without having overworked a single individual project manager.

Well, you answered my first question about the number of projects. Second, getting into the installation side, is this project manager almost like a superintendent there where they're on— are they going out there and directing or are they more just oversight while there's a leader doing, making sure—

I'll call it spot checks. So they're going in and out every couple weeks, making sure things are going well. We try to do everything upfront so that when those customers hire a general contractor or electrical contractor, whatever, we do the education with them first.

Okay.

And then with the equipment showing up, obviously wanna make sure the equipment is not damaged, it's being handled the correct way, is put in place. And then we just do spot checks that everybody's doing this. So there is quite a bit of travel at different stages of the project. I don't wanna kid anybody. When it's delivery time through installation and commissioning, it's probably at a 40% travel in the field. But again, it's not solid through the entire time. You're going back and forth to the job sites from home base or to a supplier, you know, whatever it may be.

Are these job sites all in the US, North America? How's that work?

Right now, US and Canada. Is where we have everything working and very few in Canada where we're at right now.

And then as far as project management skills, having that project management experience, the ability to travel, influence people that are not your direct reports, having that ability, but from a technical acumen, you know, what are, what are the experience, the capabilities they need to be a safe, productive hire for you?

Oh, that's a good question. It's— I wish I could put my finger on a specific discipline because, as I mentioned, we talk about fuel systems, radiators, exhaust, electrical switchgears, and then the integration. So for me, there's no really one good discipline that makes it. You just have to have a good technical aptitude because everything can be taught. We're a very special company. We can teach you all of this. We have our own installation manual for— talks about how to design an exhaust system, what it needs to hook together. So we have a lot of that already internally. What I'm really looking for is someone who's got that very well-organized mindset, project road mapping, identifying risks, and what you said before, pulling in all of our supply chain, being able to work with non-high-tech employees to be on the same page, coordinate, talk, understand. I always look at a project manager as an educator. It's truly an educator. He's gotta educate the supplier. How does that product integrate to ours? How does that product— he's gotta work with the contractor. How is that contractor gonna work with the equipment we do? So he doesn't have to be an expert, but after so many years of exposure to this, you just naturally become that, that guy who can talk to it really fluently, explain things throughout the job. But the good thing is you always have a project engineer in your hip pocket through that. So if there's ever a technical—

Good.

—question, the project engineer is really the responsible party to answer the technical answer. So every project that we do has a project manager in the US. That's what we're hiring for. He's the customer face. Project engineer is his right-hand man through the job. But in Europe, because again, that's our parent company, we have a project manager in Europe and a project engineer in Europe that also report back to—

Oh, good.

And then there will be multiple project managers from the suppliers. But, for sure, high-tech technical expertise. There are 4 key players that are always involved with any job that we sell in the United States.

And then they're out of Rosenberg, Texas, right? So that's where you're— so if they're not traveling, they're in the office.

We have actually just moved our office, uh, Justin, on April 1st. We're actually in the Houston zip codes now. All right, great. About 20, 25 miles north of where we used to be, but, uh, we are in Houston, so you can just, uh, okay.

Um, and so when they're not traveling, they're in Houston, they're at the home office.

That's the best way to look at it because the interaction with the rest of the engineering team, the service team, they're all in that Houston area. But I'll be very honest with you, that's not my concern. We have jobs right now that we're potentially going to land in Ohio, Idaho, Washington State. Um, I think I mentioned one in Canada in previous discussions. So our jobs are never in Houston, they're always somewhere else. So as long as I get the team interaction that I'm looking for at some point, the work, I could do this with a remote employee. In fact, I have one remote project manager on our team right now. So I don't want that to be a main qualifier for this job, if that's okay with you.

Yeah, of course. Hey, I think it's gonna be okay with them.

But I just don't wanna— if we end up hiring 3 project managers, 2 project managers, I really like— would have somebody that would like to move or relocate to the Houston area. Like I said, there's so much value in that office with our engineers.

Oh yeah.

They stay—

You get to learn so much from those people, just the osmosis of just being there.

Yeah. And 2 project managers and my inside sales is also in that, that same office. So again, bouncing off ideas, knowing the supply chain we're working with, there, there is huge value to it.

I think we have everything for them to understand. I'm just gonna ask, I'm gonna put you on the spot, one last question.

That's fine.

Why your team? Why you? I know from working with you so long what a great guy you are, how much you care about your guys. Heck, Darryl, who you hired through us, is loving everything. So, but tell them.

Why my team? My focus is always on the customer. As I said, my dual role is to make sure the customer gets what he needs for his installation. And if we're on the front end and I'm on the front end selling this, I'm selling him promises that I know I can back up as a company. So I'm not gonna let it go astray and then say, oh, we'll figure it out. I— we're gonna sell what we know we can deliver. And for my team, we are a team. We pull on— we help each other. Like right now, I know my project manager from California is helping my project manager in Virginia to solve a kind of a situation we had. And again, they work together, they have a great camaraderie.

Yep.

And for me, that's what drives me. My, my motivation is putting together a team and letting them execute on this. I kind of am a guiding force, I would like to say, for myself. I, you know, I've had my employee evaluation. My boss officially sits in Europe as an international project director. So I get a lot of interaction of what we're doing there. And it, you know, the feedback is you just keep watching the dance floor, let your team dance, pick them up if they trip and fall, but let them execute. That's why you hire them. If you have to be doing their job, you failed as a manager.

Yeah.

And I don't wanna do their job. I do wanna hold them accountable, but give them the leeway that if they think this is the best way, hey, go do it. I'll support you. Again, if you trip and fall, I'm there. We are a not a, I'll call it a not a very disciplined, like get your—

Well, the rigidity, right? It's not super rigid. And you give that professional the ability to do what they do best.

Yep.

And I agree 100%.

Yep, sometimes they'll get in hot water 'cause again, they're the face to the customer. Customer starts beating on his desk, All right, let's figure this out. Let's go from there. And it's all about communication, cooperation. And that's like I said, those are my motivations. Keep that customer happy, deliver on the promises that we sold.

Hey, I have everything I need. I'm going to go start delivering this message to the right veterans. As soon as I find them, I'll send them your way.

Wonderful. Thank you very much, Justin.