Senior Project Manager; Innovation

Who We Are

At Freshpet, our goal is to change the way people nourish their pets forever. We strive to strengthen the bond between people and our pets so that we both live longer, healthier, and happier lives while being kind to the planet. We believe that if we can create fresh, real foods that pets love and help them live healthier lives, that their pet parents will also enjoy the many benefits of a rich life shared with a pet.

IT’S AMAZING WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU START COMPLETELY FRESH!

The (Sr. Project Manager./Director??) will be responsible for leading high-impact, cross-functional projects that support the strategic goals of the Innovation & Marketing department. This role requires a strategic thinker with exceptional organizational, communication, and leadership skills to manage complex initiatives from concept to completion.

They will support the growth of a project management culture within the organization, modeling structured, collaborative, and forward-looking ways of working.

The ideal candidate is an experienced CPG (ideally food/beverage) Project Leader who thrives in an innovative, fast-paced environment and excels at aligning project outcomes with business objectives.

This is a hybrid position with 3 days per week in the office in Bedminster, NJ and more when necessary.

• Lead the end-to-end management of marketing-related projects, ensuring delivery on time, within scope and an awareness of interdependencies and resource needs.
• Develop detailed project plans, timelines, and resource allocations aligned with marketing and business strategies.
• Facilitate project meetings, including status updates, action tracking, and risk escalation, to enable effective decision-making.
• Identify potential risks and implement effective mitigation strategies to ensure successful outcomes.
• Foster collaborative relationships with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment on project priorities and execution.
• Monitor and report on project milestones and deliverables, keeping key stakeholders informed, acting as a key liaison between functions (Marketing, R&D, Procurement, Quality, Manufacturing, etc.) to ensure clear alignment on project deliverables, risks, and issues.
• Drive alignment, make the conversation meaningful, hold people accountable, drive for clarity, key takeaways and next steps.
• Build the project management mindset and tools that benefit the cross functional teams.
• Champion and own the management of the Stage Gate Process, guiding project leads/teams through the process from Charter to Post-Launch.
• Provide broader exposure and training on the Stage Gate process – encouraging cross functional understanding and adherence to the process to ensure proper resource allocation and prioritization.
• Help define how projects are planned, executed, and managed within the organization, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Drive operational excellence and best practices in project management.
• Identify process improvement opportunities and propose solutions to simplify ways of working or improve timelines.

• Proven leadership in steering cross-functional teams, managing complex projects and delivering measurable results.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic and deadline-driven setting.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Results-oriented and adaptable - Ability to drive results, proactively shifting efforts as trends and business variables change.
• Inquisitive with a history of seeking out best practices and successfully integrating them into the organization.
• Champion a problem-solving mindset, fostering agility and structured thinking in overcoming roadblocks.
• Challenge assumptions, a strategic thinker asking the right questions, steering answers towards the right execution
• Collaborative, ability to deliver cross functional cooperation throughout the organization and externally. Invoking trust, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Self-starter with demonstrated track record of problem solving and priority…