Project Manager/ Stage Gate Leader

BrightPet is a company focused on driving disciplined execution across customer initiatives. The Project Manager/Stage Gate Leader will lead the development and governance of the stage gate process, ensuring projects progress efficiently and effectively across various departments.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the ongoing development, implementation, and governance of a formal stage gate process to manage customer projects from ideation through commercialization
• Ensure consistent application of PMO standards, tools, and best practices across all customer initiatives
• Drive process rigor, discipline, and documentation to improve predictability, decision quality, and execution outcomes
• Continuously assess and improve project management processes to enhance speed, transparency, and accountability
• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, including task sequencing, durations, dependencies, resource requirements, and critical path milestones
• Own project timelines and proactively manage adjustments to ensure commitments are met
• Track, manage, and mitigate project risks, escalating issues as needed to maintain momentum
• Ensure clear ownership and accountability for deliverables across cross-functional teams
• Manage projects supporting incremental volume growth with existing customers, including line extensions, renovations, and capacity expansions
• Lead cross-functional onboarding of new customers, ensuring seamless coordination from contract approval through first production and commercialization
• Serve as the primary point of coordination for customer-related projects, ensuring alignment between internal teams and customer expectations
• Maintain and standardize customer project information to enable efficient execution across multiple facilities
• Partner closely with Sales, Finance, Operations, R&D, Quality, and Supply Chain to align priorities and remove execution barriers
• Facilitate effective cross-functional project meetings that drive decisions, accountability, and progress
• Influence without authority to resolve conflicts, align stakeholders, and drive timely outcomes
• Train and coach cross-functional team members on PMO tools, processes, and expectations
• Incorporate financial considerations into project planning, including margin, cost, capital requirements, and capacity implications
• Partner with Finance to ensure project financials are understood, tracked, and reflected in decision making
• Support executive decision-making by preparing clear, data-driven project summaries, including risks, trade-offs, and financial impacts
• Ensure projects align with overall business strategy, profitability targets, and capacity constraints
• Lead project execution and reporting within the company’s project and portfolio management platform (Monday.com)
• Ensure accurate, timely updates to project data to support portfolio visibility and prioritization
• Attend and support customer project meetings, trials, and key milestones as required
• Become a subject matter expert in BrightPet capabilities, processes, and facility operations
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in project management, business, operations, finance, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 5+ years of project management experience in a cross-functional environment, preferably within manufacturing or consumer packaged goods
• Demonstrated experience building, managing, or operating within a formal PMO or stage gate framework
• Strong organizational skills with a proven ability to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously
• High level of financial acumen, with experience incorporating cost, margin, and profitability considerations into project decisions
• Experience supporting customer growth initiatives, new customer onboarding, or commercialization activities
• Proficiency with project management tools and platforms (e.g., Monday.com, MS Project, Smartsheet, SharePoint)
• Advanced Excel skills, including analysis and reporting from large or complex data sets
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to drive alignment and execution across diverse functional teams
• Results-oriented with a high level of process discipline and attention to detail
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with ambiguity
• Excellent communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills
• Continuous improvement mindset with a passion for building scalable processes
• PMP® or other project management certification preferred