Project Manager

It's a Perfect Day to change the world! At Perfect Day, we're doing just that.
Perfect Day was founded in 2014 to create delicious, nutritious dairy products that everyone can love. We’re using fermentation (not animals) to make dairy proteins that are the foundation for foods like ice cream, cheese and yogurt – all with the distinctive taste and textures that consumers demand, but without lactose or environmental downsides. Through partnerships with respected brands, we’re working to launch a whole range of dairy products that will help shape a humane, sustainable food system for future generations. 
The Project Manager is responsible for the execution of commercialization projects for new and/or existing ingredient & food products to deliver both top- and bottom-line results in line with the company & commercial team objectives. This position will manage projects from idea conceptualization through to product on shelf and success in market utilizing an established commercialization process. 

YOUR CONTRIBUTION:

• Collaborate with key stakeholders in sales and category management areas to convert client and prospect discussions into tangible project scopes through a project brief.
• Lead assigned projects according to established commercialization process.
• Conduct post launch reviews of key initiatives and recommend and implement improvements to the commercialization process cross-functionally. 
• Sets kick-off & regular review meetings with the food applications, MarCom, Sales & Operations team to deliver on the planned objectives for assigned projects.
• Maintains and updates project briefs according to customer requirements, and communicates changes to cross-functional stakeholders
• Acts as liaison throughout commercialization process to provide visibility to interdependence/conflicts between projects, resources (human, equipment & time).
• Consults with functional leads to conduct risk assessments, identifies and manages risk that arises before or during project, advises and confers with internal subject matter experts to proactively solve for potential issues.
• Maintains and updates project list and dashboard data
• Communicates internal updates on feasibility, lead times, capacity, and other key operational details for salesperson to submit to client.
• When project is ready for hand-off to Operations, accountable for successful project transition and providing Food Team Project Manager and Operations Manager with necessary background and associated documents to ensure he or she is set up for success.
• Collaborates with Sales, Marketing & Communications team to ensure that timelines and criteria of co-branded launches are being upheld; elevates issues, as appropriate.
• Leads post-mortem for assigned projects and captures details on execution of project, including positives and lessons learned.
• Improve the commercialization process & project management cadence in Smartsheet.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Engineering, Business or other relevant discipline.
• Minimum 2 years’ experience in CPG food product commercialization and project management and/or an analytical role with a minimum of 3 years in product commercialization.
• Track-record of effectively managing teams to complete time-sensitive large-scale projects with minimal guidance.
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills
• Strong business and project leadership skills, including project timeline development, risk assessment, and prioritization skills
• Ability to manage up and down the organization with influence
• Ability to hold others accountable without much direct authority
• Excellent communication and listening skills
• Strong presentation and written documentation skills
• Ability to step away from the details and share the big picture impact
• Dynamic problem solver
• Solid analytical skills
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with a strong bias for action
• Aptitude to quickly learn and apply new concepts/tools
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of industry technology PDM/PLM, ERP tools such as NetSuite, Oracle, Smartsheet, SAP, Optiva or related preferred experience helpful.  
• Ability to travel up to 10%

It's a Perfect Day to change the world. The day when delicious dairy goodness is something everyone can love. The day we say goodbye to the downsides of factory farming. The day we throw a big party with luscious, animal-free milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, all made with Perfect Day! We hope you join us!