Senior Project Manager, Product Development

Position Summary The Senior Project Manager leads cross-functional new product development projects from initiation through production launch and project closure. This position works closely with Product Management, Engineering, Industrial Design, Quality, Regulatory, Sourcing, and Manufacturing teams to ensure successful execution of product development objectives. The role requires a strong understanding of engineering and product development processes, combined with the ability to coordinate technical activities, anticipate challenges, manage risks, and drive effective problem-solving across geographically distributed teams. The Senior Project Manager is expected to demonstrate leadership beyond traditional project tracking, proactively identifying obstacles, facilitating decisions, and maintaining accountability throughout development. All activities are guided by three fundamental priorities: Product Safety, Product Quality, and Operational Efficiency, in that order.

Key Responsibilities

Project Management and Execution

• Lead multiple concurrent product development projects from kickoff through production launch and closure, managing schedules, milestones, deliverables, budgets, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Coordinate project activities across domestic and international teams, ensuring clear ownership, communication, and accountability.
• Proactively identify project challenges, develop recovery plans, and escalate issues requiring management decisions.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, financial forecasts, and concise project status reporting.

Technical Development and Problem-Solving

• Apply engineering knowledge and product development experience to understand technical challenges, evaluate their impact on project objectives, and facilitate effective solutions.
• Coordinate technical development activities, including design reviews, prototyping, testing, tooling, validation, and manufacturing readiness.
• Work closely with Engineering and other technical functions to identify development risks, challenge assumptions, and ensure timely resolution of technical issues.
• Understand the interdependencies between product design, manufacturing capabilities, regulatory requirements, quality, cost, and schedule.
• Support effective transitions between product development, manufacturing, and sustaining engineering activities.

Risk Management, Product Safety, and Quality

• Proactively identify and evaluate risks throughout product development, with particular emphasis on product safety, regulatory compliance, and product quality.
• Ensure critical technical, quality, and safety concerns receive appropriate visibility, ownership, and escalation.
• Coordinate risk mitigation activities across functional teams and monitor their resolution.
• Ensure required reviews, testing, validation, and approvals are incorporated into project plans and completed before applicable development milestones.
• Support sound, risk-based decision-making while maintaining appropriate functional responsibility for technical and regulatory decisions.

Global Cross-Functional Leadership

• Facilitate effective collaboration between US-based teams and engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing resources in China.
• Work closely with Product Managers to translate product and business objectives into executable development plans.
• Navigate competing functional priorities, resource constraints, and geographic or organizational boundaries to maintain project progress.
• Drive timely issue resolution and decision-making while fostering collaboration and accountability across teams.

Process Execution and Continuous Improvement

• Ensure projects follow established product development processes, including required milestone reviews, documentation, and approvals.
• Identify process gaps, recurring development issues, and opportunities to improve project execution.
• Support improvements that enhance product safety and quality while reducing unnecessary activities, delays, and resource demands.
• Capture and communicate lessons learned to improve future product development efforts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline strongly preferred.
• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in product development, engineering, or technical project management.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional product development projects involving engineering, tooling, testing, and manufacturing.
• Previous hands-on engineering or technical product development experience strongly preferred.
• Experience working with international development and manufacturing teams preferred.
• Experience in juvenile products, consumer products, or other regulated product industries is a plus.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong technical aptitude and ability to understand complex engineering and manufacturing challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive results without direct reporting authority.
• Strong analytical thinking, risk assessment, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, organization, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and make sound decisions in a fast-paced development environment.
• Working knowledge of product development processes, manufacturing methods, quality systems, and regulatory considerations.
• Proficiency with project management software and Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to coordinate effectively with international teams across multiple time zones.

Evenflo Company, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer encouraging diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected characteristic.