Senior Manager, Project Management – Fluid Processing Engineer - Valdosta, GA

Position Summary...

What you'll do...

Job Summary:

We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Senior Project Manager to lead and manage multiple cross-functional projects within our dairy manufacturing plant. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving the execution of business plans and projects, providing supervision and development opportunities for associates, promoting and supporting company policies and values, and enhancing project workflow.  The ideal candidate will have experience in the dairy industry, a strong background in project management, and must be the subject matter expert for fluid processing design and regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and lead multiple cross-functional projects to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and drive business success.
• Evaluate and optimize processing and cleaning system performance to ensure regulatory compliance and efficiencies (cost, quality, etc.)
• Anticipate and understand current process and value gaps, benchmark industry best practices, and leverage data to inform business decisions.
• Manage current and forecasted projects, develop prioritized work plans, and coordinate project efforts to ensure alignment with overall program goals.
• Influence change processes by making data-driven recommendations, persuading cross-functional teams, and building relationships with senior leadership to ensure ongoing alignment with current and future business needs.
• Validate processing and cleaning systems and design changes to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Drive informed decision-making for large cross-functional projects by collaborating with project teams and leadership to identify goals, success criteria, assumptions, risks, and known issues.
• Identify and track current workflows, establish consistent practices and standards for project deliverables, and ensure adherence to standardized sign-off procedures.
• Provide supervision and development opportunities for associates, selecting and training mentors, assigning duties, and building a team-based work environment.
• Leading through influence and developing talent.
• Promote and support company policies, procedures, mission, values, and standards of ethics and integrity, training and providing direction to others in their use and application.
• Ensure business needs are met by evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of current plans, programs, and initiatives, consulting with business partners, managers, coworkers, and other key stakeholders.
• Develop and manage project documentation, acting as the focal contact for project requests, and overseeing the management of internal project resources.
• Communicate project status to key stakeholders, tracking projects and ensuring progress against project schedules, budgets, and milestones.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, engineering, or a related field.
• At least 3-5 years of experience in project management and fluid processing design, preferably in the dairy industry.
• Knowledge of sanitary design and fluid processing technologies such pasteurization, separation, homogenization and Clean-in-Place systems. 
• Knowledge of and experience with working with local state and federal regulatory teams and with the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO).
• Experience with industrial control systems (SCADA) and automation in fluid processing.
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies, tools, and techniques.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.  Ability to work within cross functional teams and lead through influence.
• Ability to influence and persuade cross-functional teams and senior leadership.