Agile Project Manager

Umanist Staffing•Chicago, IL

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

We’re seeking a highly collaborative and proactive Scrum Master/Project Manager to join our cross-functional agile pod focused on driving innovation and growth in the Disruptive Innovation team. In this role, you’ll be responsible for enabling and fit for purpose agile ways of working, removing barriers to progress, building timelines, and ensuring continuous delivery of high-impact solutions that are right-sized for our global innovation team. This role will be embedded within a tight-knit team of R&D, Packaging, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and Strategy leads, all working together to bring the next big thing on innovation to the market—faster and smarter.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related.
MUST HAVE: 5+ years of experience as a Scrum Master or Project Management, in the Food&beverages industry.
MUST HAVE: experience with physical product innovation in Food & Beverage with packaging projects, aligned with operations&manufacturing side: engineering, changing of machines, alignment with supply chain, etc.
Strong knowledge of Agile/Scrum methodologies or proven experience in product development and commercialization
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
Strong experience in building timelines for projects with uncertainty, that demands a lot of changes multiple times throughout the project.
Excellent communication, facilitation, and conflict-resolution skills.
Experience supporting test-and-learn innovation cycles or commercialization processes.
Passion for team empowerment, iterative learning, and removing barriers to execution.
Must Haves: Food industry experience (non negotiable).
Operations focused innovation project management background
Experience in supply chain development, factory engineering, or machinery related innovation delivery.
Commercialization process knowledge
Understand packaging changes, formula changes, feasibility constraints, machinery timelines.
Agile project management experience (emphasis) 1–2 years running agile ceremonies and managing projects through sprints.
Comfortable facilitating sprint events and creating review materials.
Self-driven, proactive working style
Able to identify stakeholders, processes, and solutions independently.
Strong communication & relationship building skills
Must navigate between technical and non technical teams, translating needs in both directions.

Responsibilities

Lead sprint planning, daily stand-ups, retrospectives, sprint reviews, and other agile rituals to keep the team focused, aligned, and on track.
Partner with Project Owner and Marketing Lead to manage end-to-end innovation & commercialization process, from initial concept to successful market launch.
Build and manage timeline of the project and product development; Align POD members on their commitments with the timelines to ensure on time delivery
Coach the pod on agile principles, flex when needed and helping the team balance speed and structure while adapting quickly to feedback and new insights.
Identify and resolve impediments that hinder progress—whether operational, organizational, or resource-related—to keep the initiatives moving forward.
Tracking key agile metrics such as CSat, Maturity, Capacity of the team, reporting progress, and making adjustments as needed to ensure project success.
Maintain clear documentation of sprint goals, backlog items, decisions, and velocity. Ensure the team and stakeholders have visibility into progress, risks, and timelines.
Guide the team in retrospectives to continuously improve delivery and collaboration.
Ensure alignment across all pod members, including R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, and Marketing, while fostering an environment of shared ownership and rapid iteration.
Tailor agile workflows to reflect the unique physical product innovation characteristics —helping the team move quickly from insight to execution while navigating pack simplification, retail constraints, and test-and-learn launches.
Help the team align on the highest-impact initiatives by working closely with the Pod Lead and cross-functional partners to manage and refine the product backlog.