Associate Director

POSITION SUMMARY

This position focuses on both promotion of new product innovation processes and the management of new product projects as well as transformational initiatives such as improvement of COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and OEM. Goal is to help the company accomplish short term and long term targets in product / processing innovation and continuous improvement.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Product Innovation and Transformation Leadership: Build and enhance the company's sustainable product innovation capabilities, drive the implementation of large-scale innovation projects, ensure sustainable business growth, so as to achieve short-term and long-term targets.
• Internal Consulting and Coordination: Act as an internal consultant to the company's management and functional heads, promoting and coordinating cross-Zone, cross-functional and cross-channel collaboration to ensure the successful implementation of product innovation and transformation projects.
• Process Development and Execution:
  1. Global New Product Innovation Process: Oversee the implementation of the new product innovation process in the Americas Zone. Refine and establish sub-processes and SOPs to address various detailed issues during rollout in the Americas Zone.
  2. System Simplification and Optimization: Help drive the simplification and optimization of existing NPD (New Product Development) systems and PCRS (Product Change Request System) to ensure processes support Americas Zone in product line renovation while controlling new SKU generation thresholds. Collaborate with Global New Product Innovation team and DI team to improve and test systems until they are fully operational.
  3. FCR and Change Management Processes: Establish FCR (Feasibility and Cost Reply) and change management workflows to help Sales Team communicate consumer and customer needs to Technical, Supply Chain, Demand Planning and Manufacturing in a timely manner. Conduct feasibility and cost analysis, reserve capacity, and support project delivery.
• Strategic Participation and Implementation: Contribute to the formulation and deployment of company strategy as well as Innovation Master Plan, ensuring that product innovation and transformation projects align with and support the overall strategic goals.
• Product Portfolio Management: Lead the management of the company’s product innovation portfolio, develop medium- to long-term product strategies, and plan product roadmaps and technology iteration paths.
• Product Definition and Execution: Drive product definition and execution (design and deliver initiatives) through end-to-end product and process management, facilitating cross-functional team collaboration to ensure commercial success.
• Sustainable Innovation Capability Building: Assess the current capabilities of the company and its functions, identify opportunities for capability enhancement, and plan the path for future innovation capability transformation.
• OEM and Contract manufacturing Management: Develop process and explore opportunity of OEM/contract manufacturing to expand capability of supply chain to support business demands.
• Continuous Improvement Projects: Lead and Coordinate with cross functional team for continue improvement projects of cost optimization and quality management system
• Team Capability Development: Collaborate with the Hong Kong training team to design customized cross-departmental capability enhancement training programs for new products, including project management PMP, project financial modeling, consumer demand analysis and research insights mechanisms, and packaging formula innovation, to improve team collaboration on cross-departmental projects.
• Other duties as assigned.

COMPETENCIES

• Problem Solving
• Action Oriented
• Planning & Organizing
• Customer Focus
• Self-Development

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

REQUIRED, EDUCATION, SKILLS and EXPERIENCES

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, or a related discipline is required. An MBA or a Master’s degree in Product Management, Innovation Management, or Supply Chain Management is preferred.
• New Product Project Management Experience: At least 10 years of experience in managing new product projects. Strong project management experience and great communication skill are a plus.
• OEM and contract manufacturing experience: At least 7 years of experience in OEM and contracted manufacturers management.
• Continuous Improvement project experience: Experience in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma projects is a plus.
• International and Cross-Departmental Collaboration Experience: Over 7 years of experience in international and cross-departmental collaboration.
• Familiarity with New Product Innovation Processes: Well-versed in new product innovation incubation processes.
• Project Management Knowledge: Proficient in project management processes and related software, including Microsoft Project.
• Supply Chain Management Experience in the Food/ CPG industry: Over 7 years of experience in supply chain management with a CPG manufacturer. Food / supplement manufacturing industry experience highly preferred.
• Travel Requirements: Must be able to travel 5% to 10% domestically/internationally as needed.

Additional Certifications (Beneficial):

• Project Management Certification: Certifications like PMP (Project Management Professional) is highly advantageous.
• Product Management Certification: Credentials such as Certified Product Manager (CPM) or other product management certifications can be beneficial.
• Supply Chain Management Certification: Certifications like APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) can be valuable.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• The individual must possess excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills in English. Chinese language skills preferred but not required.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

• The individual must apply fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Required to stand, sit, kneel, and walk when performing this job.
• Occasional lifting and/or moving up to 50 pounds may be necessary (e.g. moving products, supplies, materials or samples).

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• The position is often in a typical office setting.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually light and moderate.