Project Manager - Food Manufacturing

Project Manager - Food Manufacturing

This is a hands-on role in an active manufacturing environment, requiring regular presence on the plant floor and close collaboration with Operations, Maintenance, Quality and external partners. If you thrive in fast-paced production settings and enjoy turning complex projects into real-world results, this is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our facilities and operations.

This is a hybrid role based in DeForest, WI with regular on-site plant presence and occasional travel across Canada and the U.S.

Key responsibilities for this position include (but not limited to):

• Lead end-to-end delivery of capital projects across two processing facilities, including equipment installations, automation, utilities, infrastructure upgrades, and facility modifications.
• Plan, execute, monitor, and close projects in accordance with PPMO standards, engineering best practices, and the Stage-Gate governance framework.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans covering scope, schedule, budget, resources, procurement, risk, commissioning, and start-up.
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and external partners to define requirements and deliverables.
• Track performance against milestones, budgets, and risk profiles; implement mitigation strategies to protect safety, food safety, production continuity, and capital outcomes.
• Provide clear status reporting, dashboards, and Stage-Gate updates to the Director, PPMO and Plant Leadership.

Vendor, Safety & Compliance Management:

• Select, manage, and oversee OEMs, engineering firms, and contractors, ensuring compliance with scope, safety, food safety, quality, and technical requirements.
• Coordinate plant-floor construction and installation activities to minimize production disruption and maintain OH&S/OSHA, CFIA/FDA, environmental, and site-specific standards.
• Review engineering packages, drawings, commissioning documentation, and validate progress claims and invoices.

Quality, Risk & Financial Control:

• Lead quality assurance, commissioning, and start-up activities (FAT, SAT, validation, go-live readiness).
• Maintain active risk and issue registers; conduct root-cause analysis and escalate risks as required.
• Manage project financials, including cost tracking, forecasting, change control, and capital closeout, in collaboration with Finance and Procurement.
• Support annual capital planning through business cases, cost estimates, and portfolio inputs.

Governance & Continuous Improvement:

• Lead projects through all Stage-Gate phases, preparing and presenting gate reviews with required deliverables and recommendations.
• Ensure complete, accurate project documentation and data within capital and portfolio management systems.
• Participate in post-implementation reviews to capture lessons learned and strengthen capital execution practices.

Desired Qualifications and

Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or a related technical field; equivalent experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment will be considered.
• 5–10 years of experience managing capital projects within food, beverage, fresh produce, or CPG manufacturing environments.
• PMP (or equivalent project management certification) preferred.
• Demonstrated success managing a capital project portfolio in the $1MM–$10MM+ range.
• Strong technical understanding of manufacturing equipment, utilities, automation, and facility/plant infrastructure systems.
• Proven experience managing contractors, OEMs, and engineering firms within active, high-uptime production environments.
• Strong financial acumen, including capital budgeting, forecasting, cost control, and variance analysis.
• Familiarity with Stage-Gate, FEL, or other phase-gated project delivery methodologies.
• Experience supporting multi-site manufacturing operations.
• Experience using project management software (e.g., MS Project, Asana, Smartsheet).

Key competencies:

• Capital Project Execution: Proven ability to plan and deliver capital projects from concept through commissioning while managing scope, schedule, budget, and risk.
• Manufacturing & Technical Knowledge: Solid understanding of…