Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Ownership & Delivery
Lead the full lifecycle of complex, cross-functional programs from definition through execution and launch, with a strong focus on new product development, commercialization, and product lifecycle initiatives for sourced and manufactured goods.
Manage projects using a structured Stage-Gate / phase-gate project management approach, ensuring clear scope definition, gate readiness, decision-making, deliverables, timelines, budgets, and cross-functional accountability at each phase.
Drive accountability across teams to meet timelines, scope, and financial targets, including cost, quality, sourcing, manufacturing readiness, and launch requirements.
Proactively identify risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs-own mitigation plans, including risks related to suppliers, tooling, materials, manufacturing capacity, quality testing, capital equipment, logistics, and production readiness.
Coordinate product development and commercialization activities across engineering, product management, sourcing/procurement, operations, supply chain, quality, finance, sales, external suppliers, and manufacturing sites.
Support successful product launches by driving alignment on project charters, scope, schedules, resource plans, cost targets, business cases, testing/validation plans, launch criteria, and production release activities.
Portfolio Prioritization & Resource Alignment
Partner with product, engineering, operations, supply chain, sourcing/procurement, and business leaders to define program priorities and sequencing across new product development, product improvement, sourcing, cost reduction, and manufacturing initiatives.
Ensure resources are aligned to the highest-value initiatives, including resources required for design, sourcing, supplier engagement, tooling, testing, manufacturing readiness, and commercialization.
Continuously evaluate portfolio tradeoffs based on business impact, customer value, margin improvement, speed to market, operational feasibility, sourcing strategy, and manufacturing capacity.
Support portfolio reviews by providing clear visibility to project status, gate progression, resource constraints, risks, investment needs, and launch timing.
Program Health & Dashboarding
Design, build, and maintain a program health dashboard that tracks:
Milestones and schedule adherence
Risks, blockers, and dependencies
Resource allocation and capacity
Financial performance vs. plan
KPI and ROI tracking
Stage-Gate status, gate deliverables, gate decisions, and launch readiness
Project scope, business case assumptions, cost targets, capital requirements, tooling status, supplier readiness, quality/testing status, and manufacturing readiness
Establish standardized health metrics and reporting cadence across all programs using a consistent Stage-Gate project governance process.
Translate complex program data into clear executive insights and actions, not just status updates, with particular emphasis on decisions required to keep product development, sourcing, and manufacturing launch plans on track.
Ensure leadership has a single source of truth for all active initiatives across the new product development and commercialization portfolio.
Stakeholder Management & Communication
Serve as the central point of coordination across product, engineering, operations, supply chain, sourcing/procurement, quality, finance, sales, manufacturing sites, and external partners including suppliers, contract manufacturers, tooling vendors, and equipment partners.
Communicate program status, risks, and decisions to senior leadership with clarity and precision, including escalation of gate decisions, launch risks, cost impacts, quality concerns, supplier issues, and manufacturing constraints.
Drive alignment across stakeholders, especially in ambiguous or high-conflict situations, where tradeoffs may be required between cost, quality, timing, scope, customer requirements, sourcing strategy, and production capability.
Lead cross-functional project meetings, gate reviews, sponsor updates, risk reviews, and launch readiness discussions to ensure timely decisions and execution.
Education and/or Experience
Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Product Development, or related field.
Engineering or technical discipline preferred.
5+ years of program or project management experience in manufacturing, industrial, aerospace, electronics, building products, consumer products, packaging, or other production environments with demonstrated experience managing new product development, commercialization, sourcing, manufacturing, or product launch projects.
Experience managing projects through a Stage-Gate, phase-gate, waterfall, or structured product development process required.
Experience delivering projects involving sourced components, manufactured goods, tooling, materials, suppliers, quality validation, production readiness, or commercialization strongly preferred.
Project/program management certification, such as PMP, preferred. Lean, Six Sigma, Stage-Gate, or product development certifications are also valued.
Agile or Scrum experience may be helpful but is not the primary focus of this role.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in product development, manufacturing, portfolio management, sourcing, supply chain, or commercialization environments with physical products, sourced components, or manufactured goods.
Strong proficiency with program management and analytics tools, such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Power BI, Tableau, Jira, Excel, or similar tools. Experience using ERP or PLM systems, such as Oracle, SAP, or product lifecycle management platforms, is a plus.
Track record of improving execution through process and data-driven insights, especially in Stage-Gate governance, product launch execution, supplier coordination, manufacturing readiness, or portfolio visibility.
Experience supporting business cases, capital requests, cost tracking, supplier quoting, tooling/equipment timelines, quality documentation, testing plans, or production release activities preferred.
Experience working with cross-functional teams across multiple manufacturing sites, suppliers, or business units is strongly preferred.
Travel: Competencies / Technical Skills
Proven experience owning end-to-end program delivery across multiple stakeholders, preferably from concept or feasibility through development, validation, launch, and post-launch stabilization.
Strong analytical skills with experience using data and metrics to drive decisions, including schedule performance, project financials, cost targets, resource capacity, launch readiness, risk tracking, and business case assumptions.
Experience building or managing dashboards and program reporting systems for product development, Stage-Gate governance, portfolio reviews, and executive decision-making.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership and drive alignment across product, engineering, sourcing, quality, operations, finance, commercial teams, and external suppliers.
Strong understanding of structured project management fundamentals, including project charters, scope definition, work breakdown structures, schedules, resource plans, risk registers, issue logs, decision logs, budget tracking, and gate review documentation.
Ability to manage multiple cross-functional product development or commercialization projects simultaneously in a manufacturing or sourced-goods environment.
Experience coordinating supplier activities, tooling timelines, material readiness, quality testing, production trials, BOM/routing setup, launch readiness, or manufacturing handoff preferred.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate technical, operational, and financial details into clear actions and decisions for leadership.
Benefits of Working With Us
Competitive compensation including paid time off and holidays
Supplemental healthcare, including prescription and vision coverage
Prescription drug coverage
Dental insurance
AD&D insurance
Short-term and long-term disability insurance
Employee Assistance Program
