Manufacturing project manager

Innovation Starts With You

Propel your career at Belden, where innovation creates possibilities—for our people, our customers, and the communities we serve. We connect people, information, and ideas to solve the world’s most complex connectivity challenges, turning curiosity into meaningful impact. Here, you’ll take on work that challenges you, supports your growth, and empowers you to shape what’s next. You’ll collaborate with global teams, gain diverse perspectives, and contribute to solutions that extend beyond our business—creating value in the world around us.

Together, we are shaping the future of digitization and paving the way for the next generation of innovation.

Manufacturing Project Manager – Budapest Equipment Transfer & Operations

Position Summary

This role leads the technical planning, coordination, and execution of the relocation, restart, stabilization, and long-term optimization of cable manufacturing equipment moving to Budapest. The equipment is primarily extruders, cablers, and braiders. The role combines project management discipline with enough hands-on technical understanding to coordinate engineering, maintenance, operations, quality, safety, IT/OT, contractors, and external suppliers through a complex industrial transition.

The initial focus is delivering the equipment move, process readiness, startup, and production stabilization. Over time, the role will evolve into broader technical project leadership and manufacturing/process engineering. It will support operational performance, process improvement, standardization, equipment projects, and digitalization initiatives as the Budapest operation grows.

Key Responsibilities

Transition and Startup Execution

- Build and manage integrated project plans for equipment transfer, installation, startup, and ramp-up.

- Review equipment condition, process requirements, and readiness gaps before the move and startup.

- Develop and execute startup, commissioning, and stabilization plans for assigned equipment and processes.

- Prioritize and sequence technical tasks tied to equipment moves and startup timing.

- Coordinate startup plans, dependency tracking, and stabilization follow-up after installation.

- Support process validation, troubleshooting, and parameter development for transferred lines.

- Help define standard operating parameters, setup guidance, and process documentation for moved equipment.

Project and Stakeholder Coordination

- Coordinate activities across operations, engineering, maintenance, safety, quality, contractors, and external suppliers.

- Drive action tracking, RAID management, issue escalation, decision management, and schedule control.

- Ensure equipment readiness, resource alignment, and milestone visibility across multiple workstreams.

- Align technical execution with business priorities for production transfer and startup.

- Support vendor and integrator coordination, and follow up on external technical deliverables.

- Surface key project assumptions early and drive open items to closure.

- Give plant leadership and stakeholders practical, execution-focused reporting.

- Escalate critical schedule, scope, quality, safety, or resource risks as needed.

Risk, Safety, and Compliance

- Identify and mitigate process risks that could affect startup timing, safety, quality, or productivity.

- Coordinate CE and machinery safety workstreams with Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and site resources.

- Make sure installation, commissioning, and startup meet EHS requirements and site standards.

Longer-Term Operational Support and Optimization

- Drive process improvement initiatives for quality, throughput, waste reduction, uptime, and OEE.

- Support root cause analysis and corrective actions for process-related quality and productivity issues.

- Standardize best practices across similar equipment and product families.

- Provide technical support for new product introductions, product transfers, and process changes.

- Partner with digitalization and automation resources on data-driven process improvements.

- Capture lessons learned and move project execution knowledge into sustainable plant support processes.

- Lead manufacturing, equipment, and digitalization initiatives, and build scalable, repeatable approaches to project execution.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Project Management, or a related technical or business field. Equivalent practical experience may be considered.

- Experience leading or supporting industrial, manufacturing, equipment, or plant-engineering projects.

- Experience supporting equipment startup, process development, or manufacturing transfers.

- Strong project execution discipline: schedules, action tracking, RAID management, stakeholder coordination, and milestone follow-up.

- Strong troubleshooting skills in production and process environments.

- Experience with cable manufacturing equipment is preferred, especially extruders, cablers, braiders, and cable test equipment.

- Comfortable working hands-on in a plant during startup and stabilization.

- Ability to drive execution amid uncertainty, changing priorities, and aggressive timelines.

- Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills.

- Fluent English required. Hungarian is helpful but not required, depending on candidate profile.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with equipment relocation, industrialization, site transfer, factory transfer, startup/ramp-up, or brownfield projects.

- Experience in wire and cable manufacturing or adjacent industrial sectors.

- Familiarity with CE, machinery safety, industrial compliance, or startup readiness requirements.

- Experience using production data, OEE, or process monitoring tools to drive improvement.

- Experience with controls, automation, manufacturing engineering, or digitalization projects.

- PMP or equivalent, and Lean or Six Sigma knowledge, are a plus.

Travel

- Some travel is expected up front for equipment review, planning, and transition coordination.

- Limited travel is expected longer term.

Leadership and Growth

- Limited direct people leadership initially.

- Strong opportunity to grow into broader technical leadership or manufacturing engineering responsibility as the Budapest operation expands and stabilizes.

Let’s Create Possibilities Together.

Join a global community shaping the future of intelligent connectivity. At Belden, you’ll help push the boundaries of technology and write the next chapter of innovation, creating possibilities for your career, your future, and the world around you.

These statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work involved for this job. It is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of this job.