Junior Project Manager, Kaihatsu, Salon, Global

<p><strong>Who we are:</strong></p> <p>Founded in Japan in 1887, Kao is passionate about making a difference in people's lives with our high quality products and services to create a Kirei Life for all – a beautiful life that respects the needs of our consumers, customers and the planet. We never compromise on quality and craft our products with care for the consumer and the environment. As a company guided by purpose and strong corporate values we pride ourselves on being listed among the World´s Most Ethical Companies for 18 consecutive years. Our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, guides us in everything we do – acting with integrity, courageously driving innovation and treating each other with trust and respect.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The role:</strong></p> <p>As a Junior Project Manager, you will support Kaihatsu Salon Project Managers and Senior Managers for a range of Kao Salon initiatives, including new product development (NPD) and existing product development (EPD). You will also be able to coordinate and execute your own projects, building your skillset and giving you a chance to shine.</p> <p>You will work with different functions to understand their responsibilities, tasks, challenges and the interrelation of various functions in the NPD process. You will also learn to understand and evaluate higher complexity projects and the soft skills associated with project management to aid your development into a Project Manager role.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>What you will do:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Coordinate elements of NPDs and EPDs, supporting (Senior) Project Managers, e.g. create and maintain trackers, follow up on deliverables, documentation, project meeting minutes</li> <li>Create timelines for projects with limited scope/low complexity, lead and track them (supervised by (Senior) Project Managers). This includes support for leading cross-functional project meetings, as well as leading smaller meetings or sections of meetings.</li> <li>Establish a fundamental knowledge of NPD and EPD processes including Stage Gate Process</li> <li>Establish cross-functional relationships and understand roles and interest of all departments involved in product development</li> <li>Learn about the identification, evaluation and management of risks within NPDs and EPDs. Support (Senior) Managers (e.g. gather info to analyse risks, to understand root causes of mistakes)</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>What you will bring:</strong></p> <ul> <li>At least 2 years' professional experience in Project Management, Marketing, Supply Chain, or Research &amp; Development</li> <li>Fluent in English and German (written and spoken)</li> <li>Knowledge of Microsoft tools (Teams, Excel, Planner) and ideally SAP</li> <li>Bachelor or equivalent level degree in economics or technical or natural sciences</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>How we work:</strong> Having been selected among the World´s Most Ethical Companies for 18 consecutive years, we are a company with a purpose and strong corporate values. At Kao, each employee can actively shape their job and their career. We work collaboratively to achieve our common goals, always aiming to deliver the best for our customers.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>What we offer: </strong>A friendly and flexible work environment with great benefits packages, ongoing development and the opportunity to enhance your skills and deliver tangible results. At Kao your voice will be heard. Your opinion really counts. We believe that change comes from taking opportunities into your own hands, so we value and reward new ideas.</p> <p><strong>Hiring Process:</strong> Kao embraces the diversity and the individual personalities of its people because we believe it is diversity that makes us strong. This is why we welcome applications from all areas of the global community.</p> <p><strong>Want to learn more:</strong> If you feel you are as unique as our products and want to find out why 33,000 people across the globe opted for a career with us please visit <a href="https://www.kao.com/emea/en/" target="_blank">https://www.kao.com/emea/en/</a></p> <p>#LI-Hybrid</p>