Director, Project Management Office

Location: Brea HQ

Exemption: Exempt

OUR COMPANY:

Ventura Foods is a leading global manufacturer of branded and custom food products that proudly helps food providers in the U.S., Canada and more than 60 other countries earn a special place on consumers’ tables. We do this by continually crafting custom dressings, sauces, mayonnaises, and other food solutions that exceed peoples’ expectations for great-tasting flavors and high-quality ingredients.

Headquartered in Brea, California, Ventura Foods operates 14 manufacturing facilities, 3 culinary centers, and numerous distribution centers across North America. When you work in our manufacturing and distribution facilities, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work. As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you’re willing to push yourself to get there. We invest in your growth, because you invest in ours.

The Director Project Management Office is responsible for developing and driving a strategic and flexible project methodology for Ventura Foods. This is a highly visible role, reporting to the EVP Operations, and interfacing with senior executives across all functions. The role is responsible for framing and structuring complex initiatives, prioritizing and steering all projects in the portfolio, driving PMO process and policy, and directing the project management team. This role will oversee med/large projects from initiation to completion and provide leadership to the Project Managers to execute projects.

• PMO Oversight: Drives the adoption and implementation of project and program management methodology. Ensure that initiatives in project management are aligned with business strategy and priorities. Projects will span both the commercial and operations sides of the business, and will include capital investment, commercialization and product launches, process improvement, and cost reduction initiatives.
• Team Development: Drive PMO process development and coach Project Managers / Project Coordinators to adopt these processes as the project standards. Participate in the change management necessary to ensure our processes strike the right balance between rigor, replicability, adaptability, and flexibility.
• Reporting: Prepares and presents ongoing status reports (dashboards, meeting recaps, action items, issues / risk logs); prepares and presents project after-action review and close our reporting (success, KPIs, and areas for improvement).
• Project Management: Provide direct leadership for specific high - impact projects, including network optimization, joint venture support, and priority projects defined by the Executive Leadership Team.
• Strategic Planning: Work with EVP Operations define the Operations long-range plan; work with operations functional leaders to define functional level LRPs.

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations, Supply Chain, Strategy or other related field or equivalent experience.
• MBA preferred.
• 10 years progressive experience Operations/Supply Chain/Commercial disciplines.
• 3 - 5 years consulting experience preferred.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering complex, high profile project on time and within scope & budget.

• Requires an understanding of Plant Integration, Sales and Operations (S&OP), Commercialization processes
• Required communication skills - good structure and clarity in written, oral and presentation materials
• Executive presence including ability to manage agenda with management team in regular meetings
• Ability to utilize basic computer tools (spreadsheet, database management, word processing effectively
• Must have experience as a manager who can properly influence people and process in a manner that supports performance

Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.