Project Manager

Search-Leaders,-LL; White Bear Lake (MN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Comprehensive benefits

Generous PTO

Job summary

Search-Leaders, LL in Minnesota seeks an experienced NPI Program Manager to lead cross-functional product introductions from concept through production launch and post-launch stabilization. You will own schedules, budgets, risks, and stakeholder communications across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and sales to meet objectives.

A Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years in PM, NPI, or manufacturing operations are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, project management, or related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience spanning project management, new product introduction, product development, manufacturing engineering, or operations.
• Demonstrated success directing cross-functional initiatives from concept through production launch.
• Experience using Planview Project Advantage for plans, milestones, risks, and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional NPI programs from concept to production launch and post-launch stabilization.
• Build and maintain comprehensive project plans with scope, milestones, resources, risks, and dates.
• Facilitate design reviews, Stage-Gate reviews, and launch-readiness assessments.
• Coordinate stakeholders across product management, engineering, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, supply chain, finance, sales, and customer-facing teams.
• Drive prototype builds, pilot runs, testing, validation, and ramp-up.
• Ensure tooling, BOMs, routings, work instructions, and documentation are production-ready.
• Champion manufacturability, assembly, inspection, reliability, serviceability, and cost objectives.
• Manage schedules, capital and tooling costs, and project financials.
• Identify risks and maintain mitigation plans; capture lessons learned.
• Monitor early production performance and lead issue resolution.
• Lead transfer of programs into normal production ownership and repeatable NPI practices.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Planview Project Advantage

Stage-Gate

Risk management

Budgeting

Scheduling

Stakeholder management

Vendor coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Planview Project Advantage

ERP

MES

PLM

PDM

Job description

Position Responsibilities:

Lead cross-functional new product introduction initiatives from initial concept and business case through validation, production launch, and post-launch stabilization. This role owns project execution across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, sales, and supporting functions while ensuring launches achieve schedule, budget, quality, safety, and performance objectives.

• Manage multiple NPI programs of varying scope, complexity, and priority from concept through stable production.
• Build and maintain comprehensive project plans covering scope, milestones, resources, dependencies, responsibilities, risks, and target completion dates.
• Facilitate project kickoffs, design reviews, Stage-Gate reviews, launch-readiness assessments, and post-launch evaluations.
• Coordinate cross-functional stakeholders across product management, engineering, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, supply chain, finance, sales, and customer-facing teams.
• Translate customer, market, and business needs into actionable project objectives, requirements, and deliverables.
• Drive prototype builds, pilot runs, testing, validation, first-article activities, preproduction efforts, and production ramp-up.
• Ensure tooling, fixtures, materials, equipment, documentation, routings, bills of material, inspection methods, work instructions, and training are production-ready.
• Champion design considerations supporting manufacturability, assembly, inspection, reliability, serviceability, and cost objectives.
• Manage project schedules, spending, capital requirements, tooling costs, product cost targets, resources, and financial assumptions.
• Identify technical, manufacturing, commercial, quality, supply chain, cost, and scheduling risks while maintaining appropriate mitigation and recovery plans.
• Maintain risk registers, action logs, decision records, project changes, and stakeholder communications using Planview Project Advantage.
• Coordinate supplier decisions, make-versus-buy evaluations, and procurement activities involving long-lead materials and equipment.
• Monitor early production performance across quality, delivery, scrap, rework, productivity, cost, and customer feedback.
• Lead launch-related issue resolution and transition completed programs into normal production ownership.
• Capture lessons learned and promote repeatable NPI practices that strengthen future product-development and launch performance.

Position requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, project management, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience spanning project management, new product introduction, product development, manufacturing engineering, or operations.
• Demonstrated success directing cross-functional initiatives from concept development through production launch.
• Proven ability to manage schedules, budgets, project risks, deliverables, resources, and stakeholder communications.
• Hands‑on experience using Planview Project Advantage for project plans, milestones, resources, risks, deliverables, and reporting.
• Demonstrated experience operating within a formal Stage‑Gate product‑development methodology, including gate preparation, reviews, decisions, and follow‑through.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing operations, production processes, and product‑launch requirements.
• Strong planning, organization, prioritization, problem‑solving, risk‑management, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Ability to influence and lead multidisciplinary teams without direct reporting authority.
• Effective written, verbal, presentation, meeting‑facilitation, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, manufacturing documentation, and project financial information.
• Proficiency with project scheduling, spreadsheet, presentation, and collaboration tools.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines with a strong sense of ownership and urgency.
• Ability to work within office, engineering, laboratory, and manufacturing environments and participate in prototype builds and production trials.
• Ability to travel periodically to facilities, suppliers, customers, or project partners.

Preferred Requirements:

• Project Management Professional certification or comparable project‑management training.
• Background within engineered products, tooling, machining, fabrication, automation, or discrete manufacturing environments.
• Experience using ERP, MES, PLM, PDM, project‑management, or business‑intelligence platforms.
• Familiarity with bills of material, routings, engineering drawings, specifications, change‑control processes, and quality documentation.
• Experience coordinating projects across multiple facilities or global teams.

Reasons to Apply:

• Competitive salary plus a comprehensive benefits package.
• Health coverage, retirement plans, and other company-sponsored perks.
• Generous paid time off, including holidays, to support work‑life balance.
• Flexible schedules and work life balance.
• Strong focus on employee development with on‑the‑job training and career growth.
• A positive company culture that values diversity and collaboration.

The pay range for this role is:

90,000 - 115,000 USD per year (White Bear Lake, MN)