Senior Project Management Specialist Senior Project Management Specialist

Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA•Fremont, MI

About The Position

As the world leader in nutrition, health and wellness for children from birth to preschool, Gerber Products Company is committed to creating a strong future. We joined the Nestlé Nutrition family in 2007, and have been a partner in parenthood ever since. Our Anything for Baby team works closely with experts to create products that enrich and establish healthy habits for children, and are good for the planet as well. A career at Gerber provides meaningful opportunities to develop professionally, and nurture generations to come. Now is the time to define your future, and ours too. This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship. JOB SUMMARY: Lead and manage a wide range of complex research and development projects for Nestlé Nutrition's Global Baby Food Meals & Drinks Category, with a consumer-centric, growth mindset, and passion for innovation. Includes the development of new science & technologies, new product launches, development of strategic roadmaps & pipelines, and new concept development. Lead projects from the front end of innovation through industrialization and to launch.

Requirements

Proven (at least five years) experience in project management of large-scale cross-functional and multidisciplinary projects with high business impact, preferably in a research / innovation driven environment
Experience in FMCG industry, in R&D and/or Operations/Manufacturing
BS in related science fields (e.g., Food science, Material sciences, Agricultural or Environmental sciences, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Packaging, or related sciences)
Demonstrated Innovation mindset, with Consumer, Customer and Business Opportunity thinking
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to lead, energize and steer multifunctional teams and to collaborate effectively with stakeholders.
Excellent coaching skills
Demonstrated growth mindset, with agility, courage, curiosity and resilience, adaptability to navigate in uncertain and ambiguous contexts and embracing risk mindset
Ability to travel 10 - 20%, domestically and internationally.

Nice To Haves

Project Management certification (e.g., PMP, ITIL, COBIT) and/or Nestlé PM dossier is a plus

Responsibilities

Lead the definition and communication of project scope, objectives, and expectations in collaboration with senior management and stakeholders
Navigate and facilitate Front-End innovation activities, distilling complexity and ambiguity and swiftly creating actions to enable decision making
Align on the strategy and approach for initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing the project
Identify the project resource requirements and lead project planning
Build and manage the end-to-end project schedule, define the critical path, track activities to ensure functional team members are meeting agreed upon deadlines, generate, and communicate status reports, and escalate critical issues
Build and maintain project budget
Connect Science and Technology data, facts and people to deliver solutions with competitive advantage
Proactively manage roadblocks and risk mitigation plans
Coordinate and facilitate project meetings including kick-off meetings, project team meetings, risk assessments, and additional meetings as required
Engage and communicate effectively with partners, stakeholders, and decision makers
Coordinate and facilitate post launch reviews and communicate key learnings and proposed continuous improvement actions
Responsible for the consistent application, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement of Nestlé’s I&R processes and tools
Apply coaching and influencing skills to lead cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams, by embracing details and ambiguity while keeping a general view to reduce complexity and to strive for rapid but informed management decisions
Unite and energize team members behind a shared vision, guiding and motivating them to achieve project objectives
Create an environment that encourages diversity of thought and constructive challenge/debate
Bring structure, transparency, and clarity to project teams during times of complexity, chaos and/or ambiguity
Foster collaboration amongst team members, ensuring effective information flow and timely resolution of challenges
Minimize risk and increase project impact by creating alternative scenarios in an agile way to ensure project performance in terms of quality, speed, cost
Be the guardian of project management excellence by mastering tools and coaching peers and project team members to deliver the highest value
Connect internally and externally to identify opportunities to leverage knowledge and to enhance competitive advantage
Coach Project Managers to build their skill sets