Manager, Project Management (57378)

About the role

The Manager is responsible for establishing and leading the project management framework that drives successful execution from RFQ through final delivery. This role defines the processes, tools, governance, and operating cadence that enable consistent, scalable project execution across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Define and enforce standard work, tools, and best practices for how Project Managers plan, run, and hand off projects — the single way the team operates.
• Lead, coach, and support Project Managers, holding the team accountable to the standards, cadence, and quality bar you set.
• Own onboarding, training, and development plans so every Project Manager is equipped to meet the standard.
• Lead regular team meetings, participate in customer meetings, and present project, pipeline, and performance updates in leadership meetings.
• Build a culture of engagement, accountability, collaboration, and proactive problem solving.
• Own visibility into the full project pipeline, from RFQ and quote through sample approval, pilot, CFA, and PO receipt.
• Track pipeline activity and stage-to-stage conversion rates, identifying where opportunities stall and driving action to move them forward.
• Partner with Sales and Customer Service to prioritize pipeline opportunities and improve win rate and speed to PO.
• Actively identify and clear bottlenecks across item setup, artwork, materials readiness, production, testing release, and shipment so projects move from RFQ to delivery without delay.
• Partner with Customer Service, Sales, R&D, Planning, Quality, Purchasing, Logistics, Warehouse, and Finance to remove cross-functional barriers on the team's behalf.
• Escalate and resolve constraints proactively, ensuring Project Managers are supported rather than stuck waiting on other functions.
• Ensure customer requirements, documentation, approvals, and launch risks are clearly captured and communicated.
• Own KPIs, dashboards, and visual management for the Project Management function, covering pipeline health, conversion, milestone status, and delivery performance.
• Report project and pipeline performance, risks, and delivery status directly to executive leadership on a regular cadence.
• Drive forecast collection, analysis, and reporting to support planning, capacity, inventory, and revenue visibility.
• Support monthly revenue goals by tracking project readiness, shipment risks, launch delays, and customer dependencies.
• Maintain inventory control items tied to projects, including raw materials, components, customer-supplied materials, and obsolete/slow-moving finished goods.
• Lead continuous improvement across project workflows, templates, handoffs, and communication standards.
• Apply structured problem solving to recurring delays, escalations, and cross-functional breakdowns, driving root-cause fixes rather than one-off recoveries.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
• 5+ years leading project management, customer operations, or cross-functional business teams, ideally in contract manufacturing, CPG, or a regulated production environment.
• Demonstrated track record setting standard work or process discipline that a team operates by, not just following existing process.
• Experience tracking pipeline activity and driving stage-to-stage conversion in a project- or sales-adjacent environment.
• Strong knowledge of project launches, customer onboarding, manufacturing timelines, inventory readiness, and cross-functional handoffs from RFQ through delivery.

Core Competencies

• Leadership & standards-setting: builds discipline and accountability into a team rather than managing project-by-project.
• Pipeline & conversion mindset: reads pipeline data, spots stalled stages, and drives action to move opportunities forward.
• Bottleneck removal: escalates and resolves cross-functional constraints quickly, keeping the team unblocked and moving.
• Data-driven communication: builds and presents KPIs, dashboards, and visual management confidently to executive leadership.
• Process improvement & problem solving: diagnoses root cause on recurring issues rather than repeatedly firefighting the same delays.
• Strong coaching, communication, and cross-functional influence skills; comfortable holding others accountable without direct authority.
• Proficiency with SharePoint, Teams, Excel, dashboards, ERP/CRM systems, and project tracking tools.

Selection Criteria

• Prior experience owning KPI/reporting routines that were used directly by executive leadership for decision-making.
• Evidence of having designed or overhauled a team's standard operating process, playbook, or project methodology.
• Examples of identifying a recurring bottleneck and implementing a fix that held — not a one-time workaround.
• Ability to speak concretely to pipeline conversion metrics and how they influenced action in a past role.
• Demonstrated people-leadership results: team engagement, retention, or capability growth under their management.

Success Measures

• Clear, consistently followed standard work across the Project Management team.
• Improved pipeline conversion from RFQ through PO and launch.
• Bottlenecks identified and cleared quickly, with fewer stalled or escalated projects.
• Projects launched on time with clear milestone ownership from RFQ to delivery.
• Reliable KPI, reporting, and visual management routines trusted by executive leadership.
• Accurate inventory and customer-supplied material tracking.
• Engaged, trained, and accountable Project Management team.