The R&D Project Manager is responsible for leading the coordinated execution of innovation and renovation projects across the R&D organization.
This role ensures that formulation development, regulatory compliance, sensory validation, packaging readiness, and technical risk mitigation are fully aligned and delivered on time to support successful product launches.
Working across category teams, the R&D PM bridges technical readiness with commercial timelines, acting as the execution backbone of R&D.
This position is distinct from the PMO, as it is fully embedded in technical project delivery, with a strong lens on feasibility, validation, and quality gates.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Project Planning & Timeline Management
- Translate innovation briefs into actionable project plans with clear deliverables, timelines, and technical milestones.
- Develop and maintain project trackers that align with R&D, PMO, QA, Regulatory, and Supply Chain workstreams.
- Establish and enforce stage-gate requirements and internal checkpoints for all R&D-led projects.
B. Cross-Functional Alignment & Risk Management
- Facilitate regular project syncs with Category Scientists, CTI, Regulatory, Packaging, QA, and Supply Chain.
- Identify and escalate risks early (e.g., stability failures, lead time issues, claims non-alignment) and proactively propose solutions.
- Ensure gating readiness: formulation lock, regulatory submission, packaging freeze, etc.
- Ensure clarity of roles, dependencies, and expectations across teams involved in project delivery.
C. Execution Discipline & Governance
- Serve as the custodian of R&D's project tracking discipline.
- Embed discipline in execution by leading milestone reviews, post-mortems, issue logs, and iteration cycle analysis within R&D.
- Document assumptions, technical decisions, and rationale for design pivots.
- Ensure all technical documentation (claims, specifications, formulations, stability reports) are completed per launch requirements.
D. Speed to Market & Iteration Efficiency
- Work closely with R&D units and packaging teams to flag resource overload or misalignment early, shorten lead times, reduce iterations, and improve first-pass success of formulation and testing.
- Monitor project lead times, identify chronic delays, and recommend actions to accelerate delivery.
- Drive lessons-learned reviews and institutionalize feedback into planning for future launches.
E. PMO Collaboration & Dashboard Reporting
- Partner with the central PMO team to align on project timelines, portfolio priorities, and KPI reporting.
- Report on R&D milestone status, issue resolution lead time, and technical launch readiness.
- Contribute to R&D project dashboards and ensure accurate project status visibility to senior leadership.
- Support annual planning processes and capacity alignment across R&D units.
COMPETENCIES
- Strong project management discipline and ability to manage complexity across multiple simultaneous initiatives.
- Solid understanding of R&D processes, including formulation development, regulatory documentation, packaging readiness, and technical claims.
- Working knowledge of operations and manufacturing environments, including line trial coordination, machineability assessment, and commercialization handover requirements.
- Skilled in risk anticipation and assessment, scenario planning, issue resolution, and managing dependencies across functional teams.
- Excellent communication and alignment skills, able to translate technical status into business language for senior stakeholders.
- High organizational discipline and bias for execution and accountability.
- High emotional intelligence; able to coordinate without authority and motivate teams through clarity and structure.
- Proficient in tools such as Excel, project trackers, Asana, Gantt charts, and visualization dashboards.
QUALIFICATIONS
Experience:
- Minimum 8 years in R&D, Technical Commercialization, or Innovation Project Management in FMCG, healthcare, or adjacent industries.
- Proven track record in managing multi-disciplinary innovation projects from concept to launch.
- Experience working with Regulatory, QA, Packaging, Supply Chain, and Marketing teams in innovation delivery.
- Strong familiarity with stage-gate processes, WBS tracking, issue logs, and project management best practices.
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Chemistry, Pharmacy, or related technical field.
- Project Management certification (e.g., PMP, Prince2) preferred but not mandatory.
- Graduate studies (MBA, MS in Project Management, etc.) an advantage.
Skills:
- Proficient in project tracking tools (Excel, Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet, or equivalent).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong analytical skills and understanding of risk-based prioritization and resource balancing.
- Capable of facilitating cross-functional meetings and aligning diverse teams.
