Director Capital Programs & PMO

At Pepsi Bottling Ventures, we spread home-grown joy through our exclusive distribution of PepsiCo and Keurig Dr. Pepper beverages across North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware. As the nation’s largest private bottler, we are jointly owned by Suntory—a 125-year-old family-owned global beverage leader—and PepsiCo, a 125-year-plus global leader in convenient foods and beverages. We innovate with our own beverage lines, like Nature’s Twist lemonade, and continuously expand our portfolio to bring joy to customers nationwide.

About the role

The Director, Capital Programs & PMO drives the successful execution of Pepsi Bottling Ventures' capital investment strategy and engineering project portfolio. This leadership role combines PMO oversight, capital program direction, and senior engineering project leadership. The Director establishes project governance, leads portfolio prioritization, manages capital investment planning, and ensures the delivery of strategic capital projects that support growth, capacity expansion, productivity improvement, automation, innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence. The role also involves directly leading the company’s largest, most complex capital projects from concept through commissioning and closeout, serving as a trusted advisor to executive leadership while building strong cross-functional partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Engineering PMO Leadership
  • Lead the Engineering PMO strategy, operating model, governance framework, and project management standards.
  • Establish and maintain project delivery methodologies, project controls, stage-gate processes, reporting standards, and portfolio management practices.
  • Drive continuous improvement in project execution, governance, and organizational project management capabilities.
  • Facilitate executive steering committees, project reviews, and portfolio governance forums.
  • Develop executive dashboards and reporting tools for portfolio health, project performance, risks, financials, and resource utilization.
  • Champion a culture of accountability, transparency, safety, and execution excellence.
• Leadership & Organizational Development
  • Build and develop a high-performing project management and capital program organization.
  • Coach and mentor Project Managers, Program Managers, Engineers, and cross-functional project teams.
  • Establish performance expectations, development plans, and succession strategies.
  • Promote a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
• Resource, Risk & Change Management
  • Lead portfolio resource planning and capacity management activities.
  • Identify resource constraints, project conflicts, and execution risks.
  • Establish project and portfolio risk management processes.
  • Drive proactive issue resolution and mitigation planning.
  • Lead project change management and governance processes.
  • Ensure organizational readiness for major operational, technology, and infrastructure changes.
• Value Realization & Performance Management
  • Establish processes to measure project outcomes against approved business cases.
  • Track and report productivity improvements, capacity gains, cost savings, quality improvements, and other project benefits.
  • Conduct post-project reviews and lessons learned assessments.
  • Drive accountability for achieving expected return on investment and business outcomes.
  • Provide executive leadership with visibility into portfolio value creation and investment performance.
• Financial & Commercial Management
  • Own capital expenditure forecasting, budget management, cash flow planning, and financial reporting across assigned projects and programs.
  • Monitor project spending and ensure adherence to approved budgets.
  • Lead financial forecasting and capital investment reporting activities.
  • Support procurement activities including RFQs, contract review, bid evaluations, vendor negotiations, and capital approvals.
  • Partner with Finance and Procurement teams to maintain effective capital governance and financial controls.
  • Ensure capital investments achieve approved financial and operational objectives.
• Engineering & Technical Leadership
  • Provide engineering leadership and technical direction throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Review engineering designs, specifications, equipment selections, layouts, and execution plans.
  • Support vendor evaluation, equipment procurement, and contractor selection activities.
  • Ensure adherence to engineering standards, industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and company policies.
  • Drive consistency in project engineering, commissioning, startup, and operational handoff methodologies.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies and engineering solutions that improve operational performance and productivity.
• Front-End Engineering & Project Development
  • Lead feasibility studies, conceptual design efforts, option analysis, and Front-End Loading (FEL) activities.
  • Develop business cases that quantify operational, financial, and strategic benefits.
  • Evaluate alternative solutions and technologies to optimize cost, performance, flexibility, and long-term value.
  • Establish project scope, execution strategies, schedules, cost estimates, and resource requirements.
  • Support network capacity planning, operational expansion, and productivity improvement initiatives.
  • Partner with stakeholders to ensure project requirements are clearly defined and aligned to business objectives.
• Capital Program & Project Leadership
  • Directly lead major capital projects and strategic engineering initiatives from concept through startup and closeout.
  • Manage multiple complex projects simultaneously across manufacturing, warehousing, infrastructure, utilities, automation, and operational environments.
  • Maintain accountability for project scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, risk, and overall business outcomes.
  • Develop and manage project charters, execution plans, schedules, procurement plans, resource plans, and project budgets.
  • Lead project teams consisting of internal stakeholders, contractors, consultants, system integrators, engineering firms, and equipment suppliers.
  • Ensure successful project startup, operational readiness, commissioning, and business transition activities.
  • Lead project recovery efforts when execution performance is at risk.
• Portfolio Governance & Capital Planning
  • Own the Engineering capital portfolio and annual capital planning process.
  • Partner with executive leadership to develop multi-year capital investment roadmaps aligned to company objectives.
  • Lead project intake, prioritization, and capital allocation activities.
  • Evaluate investment opportunities based on strategic alignment, operational impact, financial return, and resource requirements.
  • Balance portfolio demand against available organizational capacity.
  • Ensure effective governance and oversight across all capital investments and strategic engineering initiatives.
  • Monitor portfolio performance and provide recommendations to optimize investment effectiveness.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive experience leading capital projects, engineering programs, manufacturing initiatives, or operational transformation efforts.
• 7+ years of leadership experience managing project portfolios, PMOs, capital programs, or engineering organizations.
• Demonstrated success leading complex capital projects from concept development through commissioning, startup, and benefit realization.
• Experience managing large-scale capital investments and multi-million-dollar project portfolios.
• Strong knowledge of engineering design, project development, project controls, construction management, commissioning, and operational readiness.
• Proven experience with capital planning, budgeting, forecasting, business case development, and ROI analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to influence executive leadership and drive strategic decision-making.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience leading teams in highly matrixed organizations.
• Ability to travel up to 40% as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or Master's Degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Operations, or related discipline.
• PMP certification.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Green Belt certification.
• Experience in food & beverage, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, or related industries.
• Experience managing annual capital portfolios exceeding $25 million.
• Knowledge of manufacturing systems, packaging equipment, warehouse automation, infrastructure, utilities, material handling systems, and process technologies.
• Experience with SAP, Microsoft Project, Power BI, and enterprise portfolio management platforms.

Benefits

• Paid time off, including holidays, vacation days, personal days, parental leave, and bereavement leave.
• 401(k) with a company match.
• Medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance options, as well as supplemental health plans (accident, critical illness, hospitalization).
• Saving and spending accounts.
• Company-paid telemedicine services.
• Free counseling and information services.
• Wellness program.
• Company-paid life insurance.
• Company-paid disability coverage.
• Adoption assistance.