What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Contract-Manufacturing position at Premier Nutrition?
Here’s what all the hype is about…
Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the proactive wellness space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and powders. We make the brands Premier Protein and Dymatize, and are part of our publicly traded holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR).
We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which we’ve been nailing since our founding in 1997. We start with an organization powered by our company purpose—Changing Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with remarkable people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture.
We don’t mind sharing our formula, since we believe the world would be a better place if more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their lives—alongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why don’t more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead, trusting them to make the right decisions. The result of our vibrant culture speaks for itself: We were certified as a Great Place to Work™ for the 9th year-running in 2025. And we currently rank #8 on Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in our category and were in the top 12 for each of the last 7 years.
We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most: Year-round ½ day Fridays, in-office massages, free lunches & snacks, dogs in the office, culture of belonging celebrations, engaging in-office events like bring your kids to work day, 6% 401k match after 1 year, generous paid family leave regardless of gender, all positions bonus-eligible, company-wide volunteer days, company-matched charitable donations, no employee handbook, no dress code, coaching conversations instead of performance reviews, and walking meetings.
PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on…
We believe in the power of mindset, and specifically what we call the Challenger Mindset. Do you take smart, bold risks, display relentless hunger, and see yourself as a builder? We’re looking for individuals who choose action over analysis paralysis—those who start before they feel completely ready, make calculated moves based on the best information available, and build momentum through decisive action rather than perfect planning. You should have an insatiable drive that keeps you agile and forward-thinking, always challenging assumptions, seeking new opportunities, and focusing on long-term impact over short-term wins. Above all, you’re a builder—someone who transforms the status quo, finds smarter, simpler, faster ways to get things done, and inspires others to do the same. #LI-HYBRID
The role you’re interested in…
The Director of Contract Manufacturing is responsible for the optimization and performance of our manufacturing network. The position reports to the Vice President of Contract Manufacturing and is responsible for developing relationships with new and existing contract manufacturers. Managing a team of 3 direct reports, this person will lead and mentor team members, as well as develop systems and processes to ensure that company objectives around diversification, reliability, resiliency and value creation are met. In partnership with Research and Innovation, Quality, Marketing and Supply Chain, this person drives manufacturing performance, cost objectives and quality goals. The role requires strong manufacturing and operational knowledge in the food industry and the ability to collaborate and influence cross-functionally, internally and externally. Will be responsible for evaluating new technologies and platforms for growth and the ability to work with limited supervision is essential, as well as, the ability to develop and maintain professional long-term relationships with external manufacturing partners.
The work environment…
So, what’s it like to work here? If you’re based in the greater Bay Area, you’ll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues, some sitting with their dogs, talking excitedly through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead.
We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace so every employee who lives within 100 miles of our offices is expected to come in Tuesday through Thursday. We are very intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories during virtual meetings just don’t happen. The expected pay scale for this role is $200k to $215k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role.
At the beginning of 2026, we will move into our massive modern 133,000 square foot headquarters in Emeryville, California, complete with spacious personal workspaces, gym with rock-climbing wall, a café, free onsite parking, tons of greenery, and many transportation options.
You’re excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with…
Team Leadership: 25% of your time
- Meet regularly with contract manufacturing managers to align on expectations and drive results
- Lead one on ones with team members and develop bench strength
- Manage and drive performance through clarifying conversations, personal development and coaching of team.
- Manage team attendance of weekly team meetings – CBT (Int'l, PP, Dym), Weekly shakes
- Provide direction and support to the team
Contract-Manufacturing Network Performance Management: 50% of your time
- Manage vendor relationships fully providing on-going timely communications on project updates.
- Maintain KPIs related to performance management of the network
- Operate cross-functionally to support communications between PNC and contract manufacturers.
- Manage and direct the business relationship with contract manufacturers, navigating issues and negotiating solutions to ensure efficient and cost-effective production.
- Manage annual and periodic review of COGS for budgeting and forecasting.
- Drive innovation efforts by identifying new and developing manufacturing technologies and product delivery platforms
Process & System Development: 10% of your time
- Develop and ensure functionality of the Co-Man dashboard
- Maintain KPI scorecard for Co-Man partners
- Develop and Assure Maintenance of the Copacker database
- Find efficiencies and improvements to current processes as on-going changes and shifts occur
Network Cost Savings: 15% of your time
- Manage EMR2 initiatives
- Source multiple potential contract manufacturers to create leverage in negotiations
- Analyze capacity, cost, capabilities to ensure optimal strategic effectiveness
What are we looking for?
Education:
- Undergraduate degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Manufacturing Management, Food Manufacturing Technology, or similar discipline required
Experience:
- 10 years of experience in the management of consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturing operations or contract manufacturing operations
- Familiarity with an array of contract manufacturing platforms including beverages, dry mixes, bars, tablets/capsules, and others
- Must have demonstrated experience effectively managing contract manufacturer relationships to drive innovation, quality, and costs in support of company objectives
- Must have led a team of senior professionals, with demonstrated ability of obtaining results through others.
- Previous experience leading large scale and complex, strategic negotiations
- Demonstrated ability to source new manufacturing platforms and develop new contract relationships
- Responsibility managing a budget above $300MM.
Skills and mindset:
- Must exhibit strong verbal and written communication with ability to communicate in various settings including one-on-one, group presentations and C-suite communications with internal and external stake holders
- Proven independent decision making, planning and problem-solving skills
- Demonstrated negotiation skills and abilities a must
- Strong attention to detail
- High degree of proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and presentations
- Experience leading and influencing individuals in a matrixed organization
- Ability and willingness to travel (approx. 30%) as required to vendor, supplier, and contract manufacturing locations
So, if after reading through this long list you’re thinking—I’m not sure I meet 100% of these requirements, should I still apply? YES—if you embody a growth mindset, see challenges as opportunities to develop, and find innovative ways to get the real work that matters done, you sound like our kind of candidate!
The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role:
- Being all-in
- Adaptability
- Be a builder
- Embody a challenger mindset
- Challenge ideas respectfully
You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if…
- You want to be an integral part of shaping and nurturing an amazing work culture
- You like trying out novel minimum viable product people-related ideas
- You can be flexible in your approach to people challenges and abandon past practices if they don’t make sense or would lead to a poor outcome
- You enjoy making people-centric decisions and finding ways to say ‘yes’ as often as possible to impactful and important priorities for the business or team
- You are comfortable being natural, casual, open, and even a bit playful at work
- You can be friendly, vulnerable, and self-deprecating in one moment, and deal with a challenging, delicate people-related matter as a professional in the next
- You can do periods of focused, deep work on projects that drive the needle
This may not be your ideal next career move if you like…
- …a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity
- …order, hierarchy, command and control management
- …to build lots of processes, systems, governance, or policies
- …avoiding ambiguity or experimentation are not your jam
- …to resolve challenging interpersonal situations over email or instant messaging
- …managing from behind your computer and demonstrating excellence through email
- …to chase whatever shiny object presents itself during the day even if non-strategic
Here’s the deal with our not-so-standard, um…standard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why you’re still reading this…
- Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have
- Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for you—and who wants that, right?):
- A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we don’t do panel interviews because they don’t give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so we’re probing different capabilities)
- A case study or job task to simulate what you’d actually be doing in the role might be included (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you don’t have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops.
- Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so, because this place is the real deal, and don’t just believe us—just ask the 91% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey.
We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.
Salary : $200,000 - $215,000
