Project Manager Protein

Summary:

The Project Manager will lead and execute capital, commercialization, and continuous improvement projects supporting value-added protein manufacturing (beef, poultry, pork, sous-vide, par-fry, cook, or portioning operations). This role is responsible for translating customer requirements and operational needs into actionable project plans that improve plant performance, increase capacity, enable new revenue streams, and ensure compliance with regulatory and food safety standards. The Project Manager works cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, R&D/Innovation, QA/Regulatory, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Customer Teams to deliver projects on scope, on time, and within financial targets.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Project Leadership & Execution

• Lead end-to-end delivery of strategic projects (facility expansion, automation upgrades, new processing lines, controlled temperature systems, packaging platforms, etc.).

• Develop project scopes, timelines, staffing plans, milestones, risk assessments, and budgets managing project Phase 1 through Phase 4 of C2C process

• Facilitate equipment selection, vendor negotiations, and procurement for protein processing equipment.

• Drive commissioning, FAT, SAT, validation, and startup activities.

• Track KPIs including throughput, yield, OEE, labor utilization, cost/ROI, and customer launch success.

Commercialization & New Product Launch:

• Work with R&D, culinary, and customer teams to commercialize new products from concept through scale-up.

• Translate customer specifications into operational capability.

• Build pilot trials, manage cuttings/factory tests, and lead corrective actions.

Manufacturing, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities around throughput, cost, yield, safety, and quality.

• Ensure adherence to USDA, FSIS, SQF/GFSI, HACCP, and customer auditing requirements.

• Integrate automation or labor-reducing technology.

Stakeholder & Communication Management

• Communicate project status, risks, and financial impacts to executives and stakeholders.

• Facilitate cross-functional meetings and maintain documentation.

• Serve as liaison between plant, engineering, vendors, and customer teams.

Key Competencies

• Leadership without authority

• Risk mitigation

• Operational and financial acumen

• Commercialization excellence

• Agility in fast-change environments

• Documentation and reporting

• Cross-functional problem solving

Success in This Role Looks Like

• On-time launches hitting yield, cost, and quality targets

• Capital projects delivered within budget

• Customer satisfaction and repeat business

• Reduced downtime and improved labor efficiency

• Strong partnerships with plant teams and leadership

• Successful handoffs between Phases I-IV in C2C process
• Successful models for throughputs and yields on items in Phase III for costing purposes
• Clear coordination with cross functional groups to execute on time plant trials

Qualifications & Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Food Science, Project Management, or related field.

• 3 years of project management experience in Food Manufacturing.

• Demonstrated success managing capital/facility/process projects over $1M.

• Strong working knowledge of protein processing systems.

• Understanding of USDA meat & poultry regulations.

• PMP certification preferred.

• Strong organizational and communication skills.

• Ability to travel 10-20%.

Salary : $108,000 - $125,000