Lead Project Manager

About Company

At the heart of what we are, we are a small company that specializes in manufacturing personal care products. While we are much bigger now than what we were 20 years ago or even 5 years ago, our company was built on a belief that being small meant that we had to be faster than our competition, smarter, braver and of course, nicer. We knew that in order to make it, we had to produce products that our customers needed, in time, priced right, and with the highest quality. We knew innovation meant pushing the envelope on design and thinking. Most importantly, we knew that developing relationships meant building a reputation for coming through on promises and standing behind our product. That is who we are today and how we operate every day.

Position Summary

The Lead Project Manager is responsible for leading, developing, and supporting a team of Project Managers, Associate Project Managers, and Project Coordinators while driving department performance, launch execution excellence, and customer satisfaction. This role provides day-to-day leadership, coaching, prioritization, and escalation support to ensure projects are executed successfully and department objectives are achieved.

The Lead Project Manager oversees department performance related to Product Availability Dates (PAD), On-Time In-Full (OTIF), Right First Time (RTFT), customer satisfaction, and project execution metrics. This position is responsible for managing escalations, supporting resource allocation, driving accountability, developing personnel, and ensuring consistency in project execution processes across the department.

The role partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Research & Innovation, and Sales leadership to support strategic initiatives, improve launch performance, and ensure alignment with organizational objectives.

Responsibilities and Essential Duties

• Provide daily leadership, coaching, and support to Project Managers, Associate Project Managers, and Project Coordinators.
• Manage, develop, and evaluate the performance of direct reports, including Project Managers, Associate Project Managers, and Project Coordinators.
• Assess training and development needs of team members and implement plans to support professional growth and succession planning.
• Manage escalations impacting project execution, customer commitments, OTIF performance, launch readiness, and resource availability.
• Monitor department performance metrics, including OTIF, RTFT, project execution, customer satisfaction, and team effectiveness.
• Establish, track, report, and present department goals, objectives, key performance indicators, and project portfolio performance to leadership.
• Track and report progress against department goals, objectives, and key performance indicators.
• Establish team priorities and support resource allocation decisions across projects and customers.
• Conduct regular employee coaching, performance reviews, development planning, and succession planning activities.
• Drive accountability for project execution standards, communication expectations, and department processes.
• Foster strong cross-functional partnerships with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Research & Innovation, Sales, and other internal stakeholders to support successful project execution and organizational objectives.
• Identify recurring issues and lead process improvement initiatives that improve launch performance and operational effectiveness.
• Support development of future Project Managers and department leaders through mentoring and coaching.
• Lead department initiatives related to project visibility, launch governance, commercialization processes, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee launch-related NOEs, investigations, CAPAs, and effectiveness reviews to ensure timely and effective resolution.
• Support strategic customer relationships and executive-level communications when required.
• Manage high-risk, high-visibility, or business-critical projects requiring leadership oversight.
• Support department staffing, workload balancing, and organizational planning activities.
• Drive adoption of AI, automation, and digital solutions across the team to improve operational efficiency, project performance, and data visibility.

Technical Skills Required

• Strong leadership, coaching, mentoring, and employee development skills.
• Advanced project management, commercialization, and launch execution knowledge.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing operations, engineering processes, quality systems, supply chain management, and production scheduling.
• Ability to manage multiple teams, priorities, and competing business demands.
• Strong conflict resolution, decision-making, and escalation management skills.
• Ability to analyze department KPIs, trends, risks, and operational performance metrics.
• Strong verbal, written, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive accountability without direct authority.
• Strong strategic planning, prioritization, and resource management skills.
• Experience facilitating root cause investigations, CAPAs, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Proficiency with Monday.com, Microsoft Office Suite, ERP systems, and business reporting tools
• Proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Power BI
• Ability to develop and implement processes that improve launch performance, visibility, and organizational effectiveness.
• Advanced knowledge of AI platforms, reporting tools, workflow automation, project management software, and data analytics.
• Ability to coach and mentor team members on effective utilization of technology and digital tools.

Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Industrial Technology, or a related field preferred. Equivalent combinations of education, professional certifications, and relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), Project Management, Engineering Management, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, or a related field preferred. Advanced education may be considered in lieu of a portion of the required experience.
• 6+ years of experience in project management, manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality, commercialization, or related business functions. Candidates with advanced degrees and demonstrated leadership experience may be considered with fewer years of direct experience.
• Minimum 5 years of experience leading, mentoring, coaching, supervising, or managing personnel. Equivalent leadership experience gained through project, program, or cross-functional team leadership may be considered.
• Demonstrated success managing complex, high-risk, strategic, or customer-facing projects and programs.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience managing customer-facing programs and leading cross-functional teams in a manufacturing or commercialization environment.
• 5+ years of experience within Personal Care, Cosmetic, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Contract Manufacturing, or related regulated industries preferred.
• Demonstrated experience driving team performance, process improvement initiatives, organizational effectiveness, and KPI achievement.
• Experience with resource planning, workload balancing, capacity management, and department performance management preferred.
• Professional certifications such as PMP, CAPM, Lean Six Sigma, Certified Scrum Master (CSM), or equivalent project management and continuous improvement certifications are preferred and may be considered in lieu of certain educational requirements.

 Physical Requirements

• Regularly sit, stand, and walk for extended periods of time.
• Ability to sit, balance, climb, stand, bend, squat, squeeze, kneel, turn, crouch, stoop repeatedly.
• Physically able to lift 25 pounds occasionally.
• Frequent exposure and/or to varying temperatures, loud noises, heavy machinery, fumes, or airborne particles, moving mechanical parts, electrical, chemicals, and vibrations.
• Frequent use of computer screen and use of headphones.