NPD Project Leader: Cross-Functional & Process Excellence

Vollrath Careers; Sheboygan (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Vollrath Careers seeks a Project Manager to lead NPD initiatives, coordinating cross-functional planning and continuous improvement events. You will ensure adherence to the NPD process while guiding teams through planning, execution, and closing phases.

Responsibilities include managing multiple projects, scope, schedule, cost, risks, and stakeholder engagement. A PMP and 3–5 years PM experience are preferred, with Smartsheet proficiency expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a product development field (Engineering, Marketing, Design) required.
• Minimum 3-5 years PM or Project Engineer experience.
• PMP certification is desired.
• Stage-Gate / NPD / Lean Product Development knowledge.
• Proficiency with Smartsheet or similar PM software.

Responsibilities

• Project Leadership: Lead between 5-12 projects of various scale & scope.
• Scope Management: Define scope, translate requirements, and adhere to scope to limit changes.
• Schedule Management: Create cross-functional schedule, manage dependencies and critical path; report variances.
• Cost Management: Compile cross-functional project costs and monitor against baseline.
• Risk & Issue Management: Identify risks, develop mitigations, escalate high-impact risks.
• Practitioner Expertise: Apply PM best practices to improve team engagement and productivity.
• Process Expertise: Ensure NPD process compliance and proper documentation.
• Prioritization: Sequence tasks by dependencies and deadlines; resolve conflicts.
• Continuous Improvement: Propose and implement process updates.
• Team Leadership: Build cross-functional teams, motivate, mentor, and develop talent.
• Influence: Build buy-in using data, logic and empathy.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Coordinate communications and escalate concerns.
• Conflict Resolution: Facilitate open discussions and resolution.
• Mentorship: Offer guidance and share lessons learned.
• Facilitation: Lead project planning events and maintain balanced participation.
• Presenting: Share status and gate presentations to executives with effective visuals.
• Reporting: Provide planned and ad hoc updates with key metrics.
• May perform other duties as assigned in support of team goals.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Facilitation

Communication

Stakeholder management

Mentorship

Education

Bachelor’s degree in product development related discipline

MBA preferred

PMP Certification

Stage-Gate / NPD / Lean Product Development Knowledge

Project Management Software Knowledge (Smartsheet or similar)

Minimum 3-5 years PM or Project Engineer experience

Tools

Smartsheet

Job description

Vollrath Careers seeks a Project Manager to lead NPD initiatives, coordinating cross-functional planning and continuous improvement events. You will ensure adherence to the NPD process while guiding teams through planning, execution, and closing phases.

Responsibilities include managing multiple projects, scope, schedule, cost, risks, and stakeholder engagement. A PMP and 3–5 years PM experience are preferred, with Smartsheet proficiency expected.