New Product Introduction (NPI) Manager

Company Overview

Our client is a well-established, high-growth food manufacturing company with approximately $1 billion in annual revenue and multiple production facilities across the Southeast and South-Central United States. The company produces ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook protein products distributed nationally through major retail, foodservice, and restaurant channels. This is a stable, family-oriented organization experiencing continued growth.

Job Summary

The New Product Introduction (NPI) Manager leads cross-functional projects from concept through commercial launch while owning and improving the processes that support successful product commercialization.

This role drives alignment across R&D, Quality and Food Safety, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing, and Sales to ensure projects are executed efficiently and consistently. The position also leads SOP development, process standardization, and continuous improvement initiatives to build a scalable, repeatable product-launch model.

This is a high-visibility, hands-on role suited to a highly organized, process-driven professional who thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume project environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Project Management, Supply Chain, or a related field required
• Five or more years of experience in product management, project management, or product commercialization
• Experience in food manufacturing or consumer packaged goods strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects
• Experience with SOP development or process improvement initiatives preferred

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership

• Lead end-to-end product launch projects from concept approval through plant trials, scale-up, validation, and launch
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously across retail, industrial, and foodservice channels
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans, including timelines, risk registers, budgets, and launch-readiness criteria
• Identify and resolve risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies
• Drive stage-gate execution and ensure decision readiness at each milestone

Process Development and Manufacturing Readiness

• Ensure new products are launched with documented, repeatable, and capable processes
• Support the identification of equipment needs, line modifications, or capital improvements required for new product launches
• Own and maintain SOPs across the product-launch lifecycle
• Drive adoption and consistency of processes across teams

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the central point of contact across R&D, Quality and Food Safety, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing, and Sales for assigned projects
• Coordinate with Product Development on formulations, specifications, and customer expectations
• Coordinate with Operations on production readiness, capacity planning, and scheduling
• Coordinate with Supply Chain on raw materials, packaging, and supplier alignment
• Coordinate with Quality to ensure compliance with food safety, allergen control, labeling, and validation requirements

Continuous Improvement

• Embed continuous improvement principles into launch activities to enhance efficiency, quality, and cost performance
• Identify opportunities to standardize and optimize processes across plants
• Support post-launch reviews to assess performance and drive sustained improvements

Work Environment

This role is based in a professional office setting, with occasional travel of approximately 10–15% to manufacturing facilities for plant trials and start-ups. During plant visits, occasional exposure to varying temperatures and typical manufacturing-environment conditions should be expected.

Benefits

Competitive base salary plus bonus eligibility, medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, paid time off, and career development support.