The role of the Project Manager is to plan, execute, monitor, control, and finalize projects according to scheduled deadlines and optimize the project or program business case. This includes aligning resource requirements and leading the efforts of team members in order to deliver projects according to plan. The Project Manager will facilitate a team to define the project objectives according to the various needs and expectations of its customers and stakeholders. The project manager will be skilled at balancing the competing constraints of a project, including scope, quality, schedule, budget, resource,s and risks.

Essential Functions

• Direct and manage new product development projects throughout the project life cycle.
• Coach, mentor, motivate, and supervise project team members to influence the team to have accountability for their individual work and team goals.
• Lead cross-functional teams to define new product project's customers, product and process requirements, scope, deliverables, and key business financials.
• Collaborate with management and stakeholders.
• Develop project plans, progress reports, and presentations; associated communication documents.
• Establish clarity in the roles and responsibilities of each team member.
• Facilitate the estimation of resources and participants needed to achieve project goals.
• Delegate tasks and responsibilities as required.
• Facilitate communication of risks to a project's goals and insure visibility of contingency and mitigation plans.
• Ensure new risks that affect the expectations of a project have sufficient escalation to senior management.
• Resolve critical issues and conflicts with the project team.
• Provide project schedules and milestones using the appropriate tools.
• Identify project dependencies and the critical path.
• Track project progress and ensure accountability of the team and its members in achieving action items and milestone tasks.
• Build, develop, and grow any business relationships vital to the success of the project.
• Conduct project postmortems (lessons learned) and create a recommendations report in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements and practices.
• Develop best practices and tools for project execution and management.
• Know and follow procedures and policies relevant to job functions and Follett Corporation.
  

• 8 plus years of professional experience in a manufacturing environment focused on new product development.
• 3 plus years of direct work experience in project management. Experience in stage or phase gate project management supporting new product development.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, train, facilitate, and lead teams effectively through influence; achieves results through team efforts.
• Strategic-minded with a propensity for action.
• Significant experience in planning techniques (Gantt, Critical Path, etc.) and project scheduling; proficient with Microsoft Project.
• Proficiency using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint Point and Excel (Microsoft Project preferred).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Competency in decision making, problem solving, and critical thinking.
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• Competency in negotiation, delegation, and conflict management.