Director, Project Management

Panera Bread; Newton (MA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

Panera Bread in Newton, MA (moving to Weston in 2027) is seeking a Director, Project Management to lead the Operations Services PMO and ensure strategic initiatives are delivered on time, within budget, and to executive sponsor expectations.

You will oversee five Managers of Project Management, establish governance and standards, manage the enterprise portfolio, align outcomes with sponsorship, and develop talent through coaching and formal career pathways.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive project management experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated people-leadership experience with responsibility for project managers or complex portfolios.
• Experience partnering with executive sponsors and senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Own portfolio health and delivery performance.
• Establish project intake, evaluation, prioritization, sequencing, approval, and portfolio review processes.
• Partner with executive sponsors to define outcomes, success measures, sponsorship, and priorities.
• Identify capacity constraints, dependencies, timing conflicts, and tradeoffs and recommend portfolio decisions.
• Lead, coach, and develop five Managers of Project Management.
• Assign projects based on complexity, capacity, priority, and capability.
• Set expectations for outcomes, stakeholder experience, and execution quality.
• Build project-management competencies, coaching routines, and career development.
• Design and improve methodologies, stage gates, tools, templates, and minimum standards.
• Establish requirements for charters, integrated plans, governance, risk, financial tracking, change control, deployment, and closeout.
• Conduct portfolio and project health reviews and intervene when work is off track.
• Serve as the primary project-management advisor to executive sponsors.
• Lead steering committees, portfolio reviews, and critical decision forums.
• Oversee budgets, forecasts, variances, vendor commitments, resources, and investment tradeoffs.
• Ensure projects incorporate change management, field readiness, communications, training, and adoption.

Skills

Portfolio management

Leadership

Executive communication

Project planning

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Team development

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Project management tools

Job description

The Director, Project Management leads the Operations Services project-management function and is accountable for successful delivery of strategic, cross-functional initiatives across Panera.

This leader oversees five Managers of Project Management, establishes consistent governance and delivery standards, manages the enterprise project portfolio, and ensures initiatives are delivered on time, within budget, and to executive sponsor expectations.

Location: Newton, MA moving to Weston, MA in 2027

Key Responsibilities

• Own portfolio health and delivery performance.
• Establish project intake, evaluation, prioritization, sequencing, approval, and portfolio review processes.
• Partner with executive sponsors to define outcomes, success measures, sponsorship, and priorities.
• Identify capacity constraints, dependencies, timing conflicts, and tradeoffs and recommend portfolio decisions.

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and develop five Managers of Project Management.
• Assign projects based on complexity, capacity, priority, and capability.
• Set expectations for outcomes, stakeholder experience, and execution quality.
• Build project-management competencies, coaching routines, and career development.

PMO Governance & Standards

• Design and improve methodologies, stage gates, tools, templates, and minimum standards.
• Establish requirements for charters, integrated plans, governance, risk, financial tracking, change control, deployment, and closeout.
• Conduct portfolio and project health reviews and intervene when work is off track.
• Serve as the primary project-management advisor to executive sponsors.
• Lead steering committees, portfolio reviews, and critical decision forums.
• Oversee budgets, forecasts, variances, vendor commitments, resources, and investment tradeoffs.
• Ensure projects incorporate change management, field readiness, communications, training, and adoption.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive project management experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated people-leadership experience with responsibility for project managers or complex portfolios.
• Experience partnering with executive sponsors and senior leaders.
• Restaurant, retail, hospitality, franchise, or multi-unit operations experience strongly preferred.
• PMP or equivalent certification preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Exceptional project planning, organization, prioritization, and follow-through.
• Strong business acumen, analytical thinking, judgment, and creative problem-solving.
• Ability to influence without authority, navigate ambiguity, and build stakeholder alignment.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and executive presentation skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and project-management tools.
• Ability to travel based on business needs.

Competitive Pay $177,243 - $212,691 annually

The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job‑related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans