Program Manager

Company: American Plastics, LLC
Location: Findlay
Posted on: March 18, 2023

Job Description:

Description:

American Plastics, a private equity-backed leading injection molded plastics manufacturer specializing in Retail Storage, Janitorial, Food Service and Cleaning products is looking for a Program Manager/New Product Development Project Manager. The Project Manager coordinates all efforts across the company related to releasing new products to the market. In the lead-up to a product launch, many teams-product management, sales, marketing, development, customer success, operations, procurement and will work on various projects to support the release. Moreover, the launch manager's job is to keep these teams aligned, working toward agreed-upon milestones, and helping to ensure the product launch is smooth and creates the maximum positive impact in the market.

Responsibilities:

Ensure project objectives align with overall business strategies
Identify the appropriate deliverables to achieve high speed of adoption, utilization, and proficiency for impacted audiences
Monitor deliverables to meet intended outcomes and adjust accordingly
Develop plans and identify resources and key partners to ensure effective and timely delivery
Mitigate business risks and escalate and resolve business issues as they arise
Exercises technical leadership for the cross-functional team by planning, organizing, scheduling, and coordinating the work of others
Demonstrates exceptional negotiation skills and consistently arrives at mutually accepted conclusions
Interfaces with most internal departments involved in New Product Introduction
Manages multiple projects successfully & simultaneously on a consistent basis

For each launch:

Coordinate and communicate with all launch teams to discuss goals, timelines, deliverables, obstacles, and dependencies
Developing a strategic launch plan based on stakeholder input, with proposed budgets, quality criteria, deadlines, and milestones for each team and customer
Communicating the plan to all participants-and soliciting feedback-to arrive at an agreed-upon strategy for a successful product launch
Coordinating with all teams throughout the launch process to ensure everyone is on\ track-and leading when a team faces a challenge
Learning about all teams' abilities, schedules, and resource levels-anticipate bottlenecks or other issues early and be able to help
Use stage-gated NPD project management software or equivalent
Maintain an overview of all assigned projects and communicate NPD progress status with Management
Understand and comply with customer projects and related contractual requirements
Participate in corrective action requests, root cause analysis, and problem-solving teams as related to issues affecting the project

To build product launch expertise:

Studying the outcomes of each launch to learn what parts of the process work and where the process needs improving
Speaking with company stakeholders to discover which aspects of the launch plans work for them and which, if any, create challenges for their team's internal processes
Learning industry best practices for successful product launches and incorporating them into future company launches

Skills & Personal Attributes:

Strong interpersonal and communication skills
Ability to work amongst a wide variety of functions and management levels
Communicates accurately, clearly, and directly in both verbal and written form, both internally and externally
Understanding of product/process development, verification, and validation techniques and tools
Practical knowledge of APQP, FMEA, change management, problem-solving
The person is results driven and demonstrates a sense of urgency for meeting multiple concurrent commitments
Effectively works with changing priorities and follows up on tasks and assignments
Holds the project team and oneself accountable for achieving the results expected by stakeholders and customers
Strong Leadership attributes
Strong 'can-do' attitude and work ethic
An organized and tidy approach to work
Requirements:
Engineering Degree and/or good technical aptitude
Minimum 3 years of experience in Project Management
Project Management experience in multi projects environment
Hybrid Candidate - Willing to roll up sleeves and be on the floor for new product launches as well as office management
Must have previous operational experience in Engineering, NPD, operations, etc.
Experience in injection molding is a plus
Ability to lead cross-functional teams w/o direct reports
Excellent communication skills to communicate with various organizational levels in the company
Strong skills in anticipating potential technical threats, root cause analysis, and technical problem solving
Capacity to handle problems efficiently by being creative and providing fresh insight
Demonstrated proficiency with PC software (Excel, Word, Outlook, Microsoft Project or equivalent)
Minimum travel required%35523498% %%project%%

Keywords: American Plastics, LLC, Toledo , Program Manager, Executive , Findlay, Ohio