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NPD Process Manager
Job Purpose: The NPD Process Manager is responsible for the governance, implementation, and continuous improvement of the New Product Development (NPD) process. The role ensures that projects progress efficiently through the product development lifecycle, comply with company standards, and deliver successful product launches on time, within budget, and to agreed quality standards.
Working across multiple business functions, the NPD Process Manager provides leadership on process excellence, stage-gate governance, portfolio reporting, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Key Responsibilities
Process Ownership
- Own and maintain the company's NPD process framework.
- Develop, implement, and improve Stage-Gate and product development methodologies.
- Ensure process documentation, templates, and governance standards remain current.
- Promote best practice across all product development activities.
Governance and Compliance
- Coordinate Stage-Gate reviews and approval meetings.
- Monitor adherence to governance requirements.
- Ensure project documentation is complete and accurate.
- Maintain audit-ready records where applicable.
Project and Portfolio Support
- Monitor project schedules and milestone achievement.
- Support portfolio prioritisation and capacity planning.
- Identify project risks, dependencies, and resource constraints.
- Escalate issues requiring senior management decisions.
Cross-functional Collaboration
Work closely with the below departments to ensure alignment throughout the product development lifecycle.
- Research & Development
- Engineering
- Marketing
- Sales
- Manufacturing
- Operations
- Supply Chain
- Procurement
- Quality Assurance
- Regulatory Affairs
- Finance
Reporting and Performance Management
- Develop and maintain portfolio dashboards.
- Produce regular management reports.
- Track KPIs including:
- Time-to-market
- Project delivery performance
- Budget adherence
- Gate compliance
- Resource utilisation
- Launch success
Continuous Improvement
- Analyse NPD process performance.
- Identify opportunities to reduce development cycle time.
- Lead process improvement initiatives using Lean and continuous improvement techniques.
- Support implementation of digital project management tools and workflow automation.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Essential
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Product Development, Manufacturing, or related discipline.
- Significant experience in product development, project management, or PMO.
- Experience managing Stage-Gate or structured NPD processes.
- Strong understanding of project governance.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills.
- Strong analytical and reporting capability.
- Experience using project management software.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
Desirable
- Experience in manufacturing or engineering environments.
- Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement methodologies.
- Experience with Agile product development.
- Familiarity with portfolio management tools such as Microsoft Project, Jira, Smartsheet, or Planview.
- Professional project management certification.
Key Competencies
- Leadership and influence
- Process improvement
- Strategic thinking
- Planning and organisation
- Stakeholder engagement
- Problem solving
- Risk management
- Decision making
- Communication and presentation
- Attention to detail
- Change management
Working Relationships
Internal
- Product Development
- Engineering
- Marketing
- Operations
- Supply Chain
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Procurement
- Quality
- Regulatory
- Senior Leadership Team
