Project Manager

Summary

Reporting to the VP Sales and R&D, the Project Manager is responsible for leading the enterprise planning and execution for New Product/Package (NPP), which comprise most annual market growth opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• Manages all New Product and Package from initiation through post evaluation including administering timelines, monitoring, and tracking progress, anticipating, and resolving issues and facilitating all aspects of the Gate decision meetings.
• Drives accountability of the cross functional team to deliver timelines
• Collaborates with subject matter experts to ensure they have all requirements to complete their respective responsibilities on time and accurately.
• Identifies risks & issues, coordinates key stakeholders when troubleshooting.
• Creates a collaborative environment that empowers team members to deliver their respective tasks on time.
• Owns, monitors, and tracks all timelines, working with the Project Team to customize on a project-by-project basis ensuring a clear Master Project Timeline is created that coordinates all critical sub processes.
• Leads weekly Milestones and Cross-Functional Alignment meetings and tracks 1) Task completed, 2) Upcoming tasks, accountabilities, and due dates, 3) Issues identified and coordinates issue resolution.
• Leads the continuous improvement of the Stages & Gates Process, supporting documents, routines, and trains new Associates on the Stages & Gates process.
• Reviews all documentation and ensures key deliverables are completed prior to submission for Gate decision meeting.
• Leads the Gate Decision Meeting including distribution of Pre-read documents; planning and setting the agenda; managing meeting frequency and invitations and publishes decisions, meeting minutes and next steps (with accountability and due dates)
• Includes the Master Project Status with every Gate Meeting Pre-read.
• Manages Stages & Gates SharePoint to ensure all key documents are accessible and up to date, including, but not limited to, timelines/Gantt charts, Idea Briefs, Business Cases, Master Project Milestones, Gate Decision Meeting Pre-reads & Meeting Decision minutes, etc.
• Investigates and resolves challenges (eg. product development) on a by-project basis. Applying a structured problem-solving approach and recommends solutions.

Qualifications:

• University Degree
• Minimum of 3 years related business expertise preferably in a project management role.
• Experience in a food manufacturing environment is considered an asset.
• Knowledge and/or experience with a Stages & Gates Process is an asset.
• PMP certification is considered an asset
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office Software especially Excel & PowerPoint
• Cross functional team leadership
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Proven capability to communicate and influence at all levels of the organization to achieve objectives.