Amazon is now searching for an innovative and analytically rigorous Sr Manager, Schedule and Risk to lead the planning function within NA GES Start Up. This leader will own the critical bridge between upstream network planning and downstream execution-ensuring every project entering the Start Up pipeline has been validated for timeline achievability, resource readiness, vendor bandwidth, cross-functional alignment, and schedule integration before execution commitments are locked. Simultaneously, this role owns integrated schedule management across the active portfolio, ensuring regional programs are coordinated, resourced, and sequenced to deliver on time and on budget.

As the leader for Schedule and Risk Management, you will build and lead the team responsible for translating network capacity decisions into executable project plans. You operate at the intersection of strategic planning and program execution-conducting feasibility analysis, managing integrated schedules, driving cross-functional alignment, and ensuring Start Up execution realities are reflected in upstream capacity discussions. Your team ensures that execution teams inherit projects with validated baselines, realistic timelines, and fully coordinated resource plans rather than planning gaps that generate downstream churn.

Successful candidates are strategic thinkers who combine deep program management expertise with financial acumen and operational credibility. You must be comfortable operating in ambiguity, influencing senior stakeholders across multiple organizations, managing complex multi-project portfolios, and driving alignment across Finance, Capacity Planning, WWDE, Design & Construction, Operations Engineering, and Start Up execution teams.

As a senior manager, you are responsible for establishing the right team structure, planning frameworks, and engagement models that connect upstream planning to execution reality. You partner with business leaders across GES, Finance, Capacity Planning, WWDE, GPO, D&C, and Operations to deliver vetted, feasibility-cleared, and schedule-integrated projects that set Start Up execution teams up for success.

You must be responsive, flexible, and able to succeed within an open collaborative environment. Amazon's culture encourages innovation and expects leaders to take a high level of ownership in solving complex, cross-functional problems.

Come help us make history!

This role requires up to 50% regional travel within North America on a yearly basis. When not traveling, you must have availability to work from a corporate office. Candidates should either live near or be willing to relocate within a reasonable commuting distance of one of the corporate office locations listed. Relocation assistance may be provided.

Key job responsibilities

Safety & Compliance

- Ensure planning processes incorporate safety requirements and compliance milestones across all project phases

- Integrate safety coordination timelines into integrated schedules, ensuring vendor mobilization and commissioning activities account for safety program requirements

Strategic Planning & Feasibility

- Own the strategic direction and execution of the Schedule and Risk Management function within NA GES Start Up, building the team and mechanisms that bridge upstream planning to downstream execution

- Lead upstream project feasibility analysis for Start Up scope, including timeline achievability (launch year workback), resource readiness, vendor bandwidth, and cross-functional alignment

- Establish and enforce decision gates that govern planning-to-execution transitions, ensuring no project enters the Start Up pipeline without validated baselines and realistic schedule commitments

- Manage regional and nodal planning facilitation across NA, translating capacity decisions into executable Start Up project plans and resource strategies

- Drive BRS (Business Requirements Specification) facilitation and ensure design progression milestones (LTM3-LTM5) are met with complete inputs for engineering and execution teams

- Own the Plan of Record (POR) integration for Start Up, ensuring execution realities are reflected in upstream capacity discussions and that additions/changes are properly assessed for schedule and resource impact

- Conduct vendor bandwidth and risk feasibility assessments in collaboration with TVM to identify supply-side constraints before they become execution risks

- Present feasibility findings, risk postures, and go/no-go recommendations to GES and cross-functional leadership at key decision milestones

Integrated Schedule & Program Management

- Own integrated schedule management across the regional Start Up portfolio, ensuring projects are coordinated, sequenced, and resourced for on-time delivery

- Develop regional program strategies that optimize resource allocation across projects at varying stages-from pre-planning through vendor mobilization, commissioning, and operational turnover

- Monitor regional program performance metrics (schedule, cost, resource utilization) and drive corrective actions when projects deviate from plan

- Build and maintain financial modeling frameworks that align CapEx requirements with Payback/NPV decision parameters in collaboration with Finance

- Drive cost efficiencies and identify opportunities to reduce startup cycle times through better upstream planning and schedule optimization

- Manage cross-project dependencies and resource conflicts across the regional portfolio, proactively resolving constraints before they impact delivery

Stakeholder Management & Communication

- Facilitate cross-functional alignment between Finance, Capacity Planning, WWDE, D&C, PreCon, TVM, and Start Up execution teams to ensure planning inputs are consistent, timely, and actionable

- Serve as the planning integration point connecting cross-functional stakeholders (D&C, Operations Engineering, Launch, Operations, WWDE, Procurement) to deliver coordinated project baselines

- Write compelling narratives and present complex decisions, feasibility assessments, and strategic trade-offs to leaders up to three tiers above level (Director, VP, SVP)

- Ensure transparent planning-to-execution handoffs where Start Up PMs inherit projects with validated schedules, documented risk registers, and explicit assumptions

- Maintain clear, transparent communication across all regional program stakeholders, translating planning complexity into actionable execution direction

Process Improvement & People Development

- Define and implement the engagement model (SOP/RACI/playbook) that clarifies how Schedule and Risk Management works with Start Up execution teams, SP&F, and cross-functional partners

- Build sustainable, scalable planning mechanisms that prevent premature commitment to projects-eliminating downstream churn caused by inadequate upstream due diligence or unrealistic schedule assumptions

- Drive continuous improvement in planning methodologies, tools, and delivery models that reduce cycle time and improve schedule predictability across the network

- Provide direct management of Schedule and Risk Management team members, including coaching, performance management, and career development

- Build succession plans and grow senior talent in a fast-paced, cross-functional operating model

- Actively recruit and participate in hiring decisions to maintain a high-performance team

A day in the life

The Schedule and Risk Management function operates at the critical intersection of network planning and Start Up execution. A day in the life may involve reviewing a project feasibility assessment before execution commitment, analyzing regional schedule performance and resource utilization, leading a cross-functional alignment session with Capacity Planning and D&C, presenting go/no-go recommendations and schedule trade-offs to GES leadership, or coaching your team through complex stakeholder dynamics. You will engage with partners across the project lifecycle-from pre-conception through active execution-ensuring that planning rigor eliminates downstream disruption while maintaining the execution awareness that only comes from deep partnership with the field.

Amazon Benefits:

Amazon offers a full range of benefits that support you and eligible family members, including domestic partners and their children. Benefits can vary by location, the number of regularly scheduled hours you work, length of employment, and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment. The benefits that generally apply to regular, full-time employees include:

1. Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage

2. Maternity and Parental Leave Options

3. Paid Time Off (PTO)

4. 401(k) Plan

If you are not sure that every qualification on the list above describes you exactly, we'd still love to hear from you! At Amazon, we value people with unique backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. If you're passionate about this role and want to make an impact on a global scale, please apply!

About the team

The GES North America Start Up team is a diverse group of program managers and operational leaders who bring Amazon's fulfillment infrastructure to life. Within Start Up, the Schedule and Risk Management function bridges the gap between network capacity decisions and field execution, ensuring every project entering the pipeline has been validated for feasibility, resourced appropriately, and scheduled realistically. The team operates as a force multiplier-embedding early in the project lifecycle to align stakeholders, validate assumptions, manage integrated schedules, and reduce the downstream churn that occurs when projects enter execution without rigorous upstream planning. Schedule and Risk Management is not a field execution team; it sets the foundation so that Start Up Program Managers inherit vetted, schedule-integrated projects and can focus on delivering Day 1 outcomes.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

- 5+ years of project management (including scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk and critical path management) experience

- Experience leading cross-functional projects and managing large, complicated programs

- Knowledge of project management tools and software

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Operations Research, Supply Chain, Finance, or related STEM/Business field (or equivalent experience)

- 10+ years of experience in program management, strategic planning, engineering feasibility, or capital project development within logistics, fulfillment, construction, or industrial environments

- 5+ years of experience directly managing teams of 10+ program managers, engineers, or analysts

- Experience building and implementing decision-gate frameworks or stage-gate processes for capital projects

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Experience with financial analysis and modeling

- 5+ years of in material handling equipment (MHE) or automation environments experience, or experience in Logistics, Distribution or Fulfillment processes

- Experience building and managing teams

- Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent certification

- Experience in leading complex, large-scale, IT, technical or engineering programs

- MBA/Master's Degree in Engineering, Finance, Operations Research, Business Administration, or related field

- Experience with network planning, capacity modeling, or demand forecasting in large-scale distribution/fulfillment environments

- Experience managing upstream/downstream stakeholder alignment in complex, matrixed organizations

- Demonstrated ability to communicate complex decisions and strategic trade-offs