New Product Innovation Project Manager

MPC Urethane; Cranston (RI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Mearthane Products Corporation is seeking a New Product Innovation Project Manager to lead NPI initiatives from launch to handoff at our Cranston, RI headquarters. You will manage timelines, milestones, and open items while maintaining proactive communication with customers.

You will coordinate across engineering, quality, and operations to keep programs progressing, capture account intelligence, and identify expansion opportunities for revenue growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related technical field preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of sales experience and/or project management experience related to technical products for industrial manufacturers.
• Previous Key Account Management experience or experience selling to engineers preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage the full NPI project lifecycle from initiation through production handoff.
• Serve as the primary commercial point of contact for customers during the NPI phase.
• Coordinate with engineering, quality, and operations to resolve items and surface risks.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional coordination

Customer communication

Stage-Gate process

CRM proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business/engineering or related field

Tools

HubSpot

Job description

The New Product Innovation Project Manager is responsible for managing new product introduction (NPI) projects from initial program launch (Phase 1) to production handoff (Phase 4), serving as the primary point of contact for customers throughout the NPI process. This role ensures on-time, on-scope project delivery, maintains a high standard of customer communication, and coordinates across engineering, quality, and operations departments to keep programs progressing. Key measures of success include customer satisfaction, pipeline velocity, win rate, and new revenue. The NPI PM supports commercial continuity through capturing account intelligence and identifying expansion opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the full NPI project lifecycle across all active programs — tracking milestones, timelines, open items, and risks from program initiation through production handoff
• Serve as the primary commercial point of contact for customers during the NPI phase, providing proactive and structured status communications throughout each program
• Set and manage customer expectations on timelines, sample delivery, testing, and approval milestones
• Coordinate across engineering, quality, and operations to resolve open items, advance programs, and surface risks before they become customer-facing issues
• Manage quoting follow-up, sample coordination, and timeline alignment in close partnership with site teams
• Maintain accurate and current project records in the CRM system (HubSpot) for all NPI-stage accounts, including key account contacts, program history, and commercially relevant observations
• Identify and communicate expansion signals and follow-on opportunities to the sales team
• Own customer satisfaction outcomes across the full NPI lifecycle — proactively managing the customer experience at every program milestone and resolving issues before they affect customer perception of MPC
• Escalate internal risks and customer issues appropriately to the Engineering Director and Sales Director
• Project management: organizes, tracks, and advances multiple concurrent programs without loss of detail or momentum
• Customer communication: proactive, clear, and reliable; sets expectations and meets them consistently
• Cross-functional coordination: builds effective working relationships across internal engineering, quality, operations, and commercial teams
• Attention to detail: maintains complete and accurate records; nothing falls through the cracks
• Commercial awareness: identifies and communicates revenue-relevant signals from within the customer relationship
• Accountability: owns outcomes, not just activities; follows through without being asked
• Primary work location: Cranston, RI (HQ); regular coordination with MPC manufacturing sites required
• Standard business hours with occasional flexibility required to support customer or project timelines

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related technical field preferred
• Minimum of 7 years of sales experience and/or project management experience related to technical products for industrial manufacturers
• Previous Key Account Management experience or experience selling to engineers preferred
• Travel to customer sites and MPC locations as needed, estimated 10–20% of time
• Experience managing complex sales processes within a manufacturing environment preferred
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in project coordination in an industrial manufacturing environment
• Experience with Stage Gate or similar stepwise project management framework
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with cross-functional stakeholders
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing customer-facing project updates and documentation
• Proficiency with CRM platforms; HubSpot experience preferred
• Direct customer responsibility experience preferred

Salary is commensurate of education, years of experience, and market.