Plant Project Manager

Position Summary:

The Technical Project Manager is responsible for overseeing and leading technical projects within our manufacturing facilities in support of critical success factors: safety, quality, service, costs, employees, and customer experience. This individual will execute project design reviews, oversee line installations, infrastructure and equipment upgrades, new product introductions, and process optimization initiatives. They will lead teams in the day-to-day management of project safety, quality, schedule, cost control, risk mitigation, supplier/contractor support, and change management. They are members of plant leadership team and guide discussions on portfolio management and project prioritization.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Management of Technical Projects in support of Site Master Plan:

• Site Master Plan Development: Lead cross-functional teams to create a site master plan addressing future demand, capacity, infrastructure, equipment, material flows, automation, and technology. Prepare/Coordinate presentation materials for Senior Leadership, presenting strategy, ROI, and recommendations. Identify resources. Define timeline for execution.
• Project Design Reviews (PDR): Lead PDR. Gather requirements from cross-functional teams (Engineering, Operations, Safety, R&D, Packaging ...and others) to ensure clear & timely communication with OEMs.
• Project Charter & Team Management: Charter the project w/team, Establish the operating model, and Lead Core Team/Steer Co meetings. Define roles with RACI and DACI (Decision Makers), track milestones, manage critical path, and maintain RAID (Risks, Actions, Issues, Decisions).
• Site Master Plan Project Execution: Partner with Engineering and R&D to ensure OEMs have necessary inputs for design, FAT, and SAT. Manage contractor and supplier activities. Inform Commercialization and S&OP teams of downtime and manage forecast submittals and commercialization requests. Partner with Planning to manage prebuilds. Partner with team to establish/execute commission plan and CQV metrics and timing. Keep teams informed of progress.

Plant Project Management:

• Project Coordination: Manage multiple concurrent projects aligned with business goals, covering infrastructure, equipment, technology, new product launches, and initiatives enhancing critical success factors (safety, quality, service, cost, employees, customer experience, etc.). May be site-specific or cross-plant.
• Project Oversight: Oversee planning, execution, technical oversight, cross-functional collaboration, resource management, and performance tracking.
• Reporting & Escalation: Report to senior management and escalate issues as necessary.

Portfolio Management and Process Improvement:

• Portfolio Ownership: Manage plant project portfolio, facilitate prioritization and review meetings with leadership. Recommend project sequencing.
• KPI Monitoring: Monitor plant KPIs to identify opportunities for PMs to lead initiatives that enhance performance.
• Process Improvement: Lead process improvement initiatives to map current processes, identify gaps, establish future-state processes, RACI, training materials, change management and roll-out.
• PMO Guidance: Provide coaching to the plant on handling lower-complexity, non-PMO-led initiatives.

Management of Commercialization Process: 

• Commercialization Management: Support the Operations Coordinator in overseeing the new product commercialization process, ensuring all requirements (ingredients, packaging, equipment, operations) are met for the target launch. Provide escalation support for the Operations Coordinator and HQ Project Team, and facilitate necessary follow-ups at the plant.

Education and Experience:

• Required: 3+ years' experience in the consumer products/food sectors and / or program manager with a proven record of successful commercialization, project and process management. In lieu of a degree, 5+ years of relevant experience is required.
• Preferred: Degree in the fields of Business Administration, Engineering or Industrial Engineering. PMP and LSS certification is a plus.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Proven working experience in project management, continuous improvement, or change management in the consumer products and food sectors. Solid technical background with understanding and/or hands-on experience in new and existing product launches, capital projects, process and continuous improvement projects, infrastructure and operational IT projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong project management toolset (e.g.: MS Project or equivalent).
• Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multi-tasking skills.