PLM Program Manager

Convatec; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Convatec in the United Kingdom is establishing a new Manchester PLM hub to connect Teamcenter, Polarion and SAP across product development, quality, regulatory and manufacturing. The PLM Program Manager will own the transformation roadmap and business case, coordinating with IT, R&D, Operations and Supply Chain to deliver a scalable, compliant digital thread.

This role emphasizes governance, master data ownership, change management, and value realization, with vendor management and audit

Qualifications

• Experience leading PLM transformations.
• Strong governance and benefits realization skills.
• Ability to translate business needs into executable waves.
• Collaborative stakeholder management across IT and business.

Responsibilities

• Lead the business-side PLM transformation program.
• Communicate the PLM business case and benefits realization.
• Translate the enterprise PLM roadmap into executable work packages.
• Ensure PLM initiatives are business-led with IT enablement.
• Establish governance, risk management and scope alignment.
• Lead the future-state PLM operating model design.
• Manage implementation partners and software vendors.

Skills

PLM program mgmt

Cross-functional leadership

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field

Tools

Teamcenter

Polarion

SAP

MES

Job description

Key Responsibilities:

Convatec is entering an exciting new phase of its R&D journey with plans to establish a new state-of-the art facility in Manchester. Located within the Citylabs SciTech campus, the site is intended to become a key hub within our global R&D network, bringing together advanced analytical research, global laboratory testing, quality control, engineering, science, regulatory expertise and health innovation capabilities. The facility will strengthen collaboration with Manchester's world-class life sciences ecosystem and support our mission of pioneering trusted medical solutions to improve the lives we touch. Over time, activities currently based at our Convatec Technology Centre in Deeside are expected to transition to the new Manchester location, targeted to open in early 2028. This move will create exciting opportunities to help shape the future of healthcare innovation at Convatec.

Position Overview:

The PLM Program Manager is accountable for leading the business-side delivery of Convatec’s PLM transformation, ensuring Teamcenter and Polarion are implemented as a connected digital thread that delivers measurable business benefits across product development, quality, regulatory, operations, supply chain, manufacturing and IT.

This role owns the PLM transformation roadmap, business case, benefit realization model, cross-functional decision-making cadence, as well as driving the necessary change management for optional adoption. The Program Manager translates business needs into executable implementation waves, scopes enabling projects with IT, and ensures system design choices are grounded in clear user needs, business requirements, regulated process requirements and critical product data architecture decisions.

The role works collaboratively across the enterprise to ensure the platforms are optimally interconnected with the rest of the company’s technology ecosystem and acts as the integrator between business functions, IT, system owners, process owners and implementation partners. It drives alignment on master data ownership, authoritative systems, BOM and DHF architecture, integration scope, migration approach, process ownership and adoption plans so the PLM ecosystem becomes a reliable, scalable and compliant backbone for product lifecycle information.

Key Responsibilities:

PLM Transformation Leadership

• Lead the business-side PLM transformation program, including roadmap management, implementation wave planning, governance, risk management, dependency management and benefits realization.
• Build, maintain and communicate the PLM business case, including investment assumptions, operating costs, internal resource requirements, value drivers, ROI assumptions and benefit tracking measures.
• Translate the enterprise PLM roadmap into smaller executable work packages and project charters to be initiated with IT, implementation partners and accountable business owners.
• Ensure PLM implementation is business-led and outcome-focused, with IT enabling delivery through architecture, configuration, integration, validation, support and technical execution.
• Establish program routines to drive decisions, resolve escalations, manage scope, align stakeholders and maintain momentum across functions and implementation phases.
• Lead the design and deployment of the future-state PLM operating model, including governance structures, process ownership model, capability ownership, support model, organizational responsibilities and decision rights across the product lifecycle.
• Lead and govern implementation partners, software vendors and consulting organizations through performance management, scope control, delivery oversight, risk mitigation and service quality reviews.

Digital Thread Integration & Architecture

• Scope and coordinate the integrations required to create a robust digital thread across Teamcenter, Polarion, SAP, MES, LAMS/Kallik, LIMS, Maximo, regulatory systems, document repositories, quality systems and other in-scope enterprise platforms.
• Partner with IT architecture and business process owners to define authoritative systems, integration triggers, data handoffs, synchronization direction, exception handling, validation expectations and retirement dependencies for legacy systems.
• Partner with SAP business and IT teams to define the end-to-end product lifecycle architecture, including material master governance, engineering-to-manufacturing handoff, BOM synchronization, change management processes and product introduction workflows.
• Help the business articulate user needs, business requirements and regulated process requirements for PLM capabilities, including requirements management, design controls, BOM management, change control, document control, quality records and product data governance.
• Drive alignment on critical data architecture decisions, including BOM structure, eBOM-to-mBOM transformation, DHF and DMR architecture, requirements and risk traceability, product hierarchy, part numbering, metadata standards and lifecycle-status models.
• Ensure integration and migration decisions support traceability from user needs and requirements through design outputs, risks, verification and validation evidence, BOMs, specifications, manufacturing information, labeling, changes and post-market quality signals.

Governance, Master Data & Business Process Ownership

• Establish portfolio governance for PLM capabilities, including demand management, release planning, prioritization frameworks and value-based roadmap sequencing.
• Work across the enterprise to ensure clear decisions are made and sustained regarding product master data ownership, data steward accountability, authoring systems, systems of record and business process ownership.
• Facilitate cross-functional decision forums to resolve ownership gaps for BOMs, specifications, drawings, DHF, DMR, risk files, change records, labeling data, requirements, quality records and other product lifecycle information.
• Partner with R&D, Design Assurance, Quality, Regulatory, Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Master Data, Finance and IT to harmonize business processes before system configuration.
• Define and maintain decision logs, governance artifacts, escalation pathways and alignment materials to support transparent program decision-making and audit-ready rationale.
• Ensure PLM processes, data models and integrations are designed to improve adoption, reduce manual rework, strengthen traceability, improve audit readiness and enable faster, more predictable product outcomes.
• Own the business readiness aspects of PLM data migration, including data cleansing, archive strategy, data quality governance, migration acceptance criteria and business sign-off processes.

Adoption, Change Management & Value Realization

• Develop and execute an integrated stakeholder engagement, communication and adoption strategy tailored to each function, leadership level, site and user group.
• Build visible sponsorship and trusted relationships across the enterprise, equipping leaders and change champions to communicate consistently, address concerns and reinforce the required behaviours and ways of working.
• Create structured two-way engagement and feedback mechanisms to identify resistance, competing priorities, capability gaps and unintended impacts early enough to influence program design, sequencing and deployment decisions.
• Define the change impacts, readiness criteria, training needs, adoption measures and hypercare plans for each implementation wave, ensuring deployment is not considered complete until new processes, roles and behaviors are embedded.
• Track adoption and business benefits against the PLM business case, using evidence to target interventions and escalating sponsorship gaps or organizational barriers that put value realization at risk.

Authority (if applicable):

May make recommendations on PLM roadmap, implementation sequencing, business case assumptions, project scope, governance cadence, decision forums, benefit tracking, stakeholder engagement and business readiness plans. May escape unresolved decisions related to scope, master data ownership, authoring systems, process ownership, integration approach, migration readiness, validation dependencies and benefit realization. Final system architecture, budget approval, validated configuration, regulated process changes and legacy system retirement decisions remain subject to appropriate business, IT, Quality, Regulatory and governance approvals.

Qualifications/Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in