Programme / Project Manager - From Food Manufacturing

Requirements

• demonstrated experience managing 20+ parallel projects in a stage-gate environment.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional stakeholders without direct line authority, exposure to vendor or contract manufacturing an advantage.
• Advanced programme management and dashboard capability, high proficiency in Excel and BI tools.
• Financial literacy to interpret COGS structure and margin variance, familiarity with PLM or ERP systems in a manufacturing context.
• Understanding of yield management and batch production variability in food or bakery environments.
• Highly structured, calm under high parallel workload, and assertive without authority drives outcomes through data and clarity.
• Process-oriented with strong ownership mindset, low tolerance for undocumented deviation, able to maintain process neutrality alongside a culinary team.
• Experience in Food Manufacturing Companies is Must.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a real-time Innovation Dashboard across all several pipelines, tracking stage position, ageing, WIP load, cycle time, and launch forecast accuracy.
• Enforce WIP discipline per chef and across the system, hold projects in backlog when capacity thresholds are reached, escalate bottlenecks to the Head of NPD.
• Drive stage-gate compliance for all internal SKUs and fast-track discipline for the Open Innovation pipeline, recommend launch deferment where gate criteria are unmet.
• Lead weekly Innovation Control Tower reviews and monthly portfolio health reviews, facilitate biweekly launch readiness checks.
• Track cost sheet freeze milestones and estimated versus actual COGS variance post-launch, escalate deviations.
• Monitor yield performance in the first 30 days post-launch, trigger reformulation or process correction recommendations where instability persists.
• Conduct mandatory 30-day and 60-day post-launch reviews covering ratings, complaints, yield, and margin, recommend Scale, Modify, or Withdraw as appropriate.
• Govern the Open Innovation pipeline independently, maintaining a risk register across vendor reliability, MOQ exposure, compliance, and cost volatility.
• Absorb all coordination, scheduling, documentation tracking, and cross-functional follow-up so that chefs bandwidth is preserved prioritizing trials, panels, and technical sessions.

Skills