Design Project Manager

Company: Nestle USA
Location: Arlington
Posted on: November 20, 2020

Job Description:

You know us as the food and beverage company behind a lot of your favorites like Stouffer's, Nesquik, Toll House, Lean Cuisine and DiGiorno, as well as new discoveries like Sweet Earth and Chameleon Cold-Brew coffee. Across our organization, we're creating a workplace where collaboration is important, courage is rewarded, speed is expected, and agility is the norm to delight our consumers every single day.

Our Design Center of Excellence brings to life Nestl-- brands, with the focus of this role on International Premium Waters' (IPW) vision for refreshment with the pedigree of Perrier, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. This is an exciting opportunity to join an expanding team and organization that creates holistic, consumer-obsessed experiences using a people-centered process for our brands.--We are looking for talented, ambitious individuals to join us; strategic creative thinking with a holistic attention to detail - delivering desirable products with passion.

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Design Project Manager is a cross-functional role within Nestl--'s Design Center of Excellence (Design CoE), with--responsibility for the management of Design-to-Delivery (D2D) process from project kick-off to final approved artwork for new innovation/renovation product development through the Idea-to-Launch (I2L) process and major package redesign and off-pack design projects. Key responsibilities will be:

• Leading cross-functional project teams & business processes inclusive of: Package Structure Design, Graphics Design, and Labeling Copy and Content Development.
• Ensuring process adherence by applying best practices to drive a seamless transition of concepts to executable artwork.
• Being a neutral cross-functional process driver; a single point of contact for global and regional project labeling and artwork content creation process excellence, with an end-to-end accountability connected to regional project status through launch.
• Establishing realistic project scope and timelines via a formalized project briefing process as well as formal alignment via D2D and I2L governance process - driving for clarity and formally locked decisions.
• Group facilitation and proactive collaboration across partners such as: Marketing, TAG Packaging, Legal, Regulatory, R&D, Artwork/ Production/ Pre-press Drivers
• Upstream innovation processing for new product development, package design and labeling content creation: working from kick-off briefing, through Discovery to Creation phases of the project to management design lock; ensuring a seamless transition of finalized Adaption design/templates to the Artwork execution process.
• Providing transparency and information to Nestl-- Project Management and Marketing departments for delivering key package label & artwork content creation milestones, synchronized with the I2L process and reporting to key business partners on project milestone status via high level dashboard metrics.
• Initiation of a formal escalation process to address critical issues, project scope changes or roadblocks as appropriate with Design CoE Leadership Team and key business partners.
• Assisting in Design CoE department stewardship, change management programs / ongoing process communications and training.
• Supporting the Design CoE on Continuous Improvement initiatives: Proactively identifying areas for process and performance improvements, elimination of execution barriers, embraces the idea of trying new processes, new management tools, crafting globally consistent policy across all across businesses.EXPIERENCE:
  • Minimum of completed Bachelors Degree
  • Thorough knowledge of the consumer product industry or relevant experience in adjacent industries is preferred.
  • Proven ability to drive process in complex, interrelated cross-functional new product development and large-scale brand redesign projects is required.
  • Demonstrated strategic business and analytical skills; including understanding of key project management principles in the product development space (Time, Cost, Compliance, Feasibility, Risk Assessment, Design Goals, Problem Solving, Metrics, Formal Alignment) and how to leverage this knowledge to make sound business recommendations in a fluid strategic environment is required.
  • Ability to interact with all levels of management and lead productive discussions without line authority to create alignment of senior cross-functional stakeholders is required.
  • Excellent communication (verbal & written), strong interpersonal and team facilitation skills are required.
  • Ability to drive a team forward, stay on track and reconfigure and reform project delivery process if significant scope changes are required.
  • Comfortable in facilitating a professional, fact-based, transparent, escalation process when necessary, removing roadblocks and securing project alignment on time as required.
  • Location for this position is in Arlington, VA and will require up to 25% domestic travel.
  • Prior agency or creative studio experience a plus.#LI-MS1

Keywords: Nestle USA, Arlington , Design Project Manager, Executive , Arlington, Virginia