The Commercialization Manager is responsible for leading the Commercialization team at Clemens Food Group (CFG). The Commercialization Department is responsible for the effective delivery of all new products into the marketplace on time and to customer expectations. Scope of responsibility includes new products and spec changes to existing products for all CFG products sold in Retail, Foodservice, and B to B.
Performance Management

• Ensure KPIs are established and used to drive improvement
• Ensure launch post-mortems are performed by project managers; improvements implemented
• Hold project managers accountable to commercialization process
• Manage effective completion of overall portfolio of commercialization projects
• Lead commercialization review for leadership team
• Review scope of work prepared by project managers
• Trouble-shoot and problem solve with team or stakeholders when obstacles are confronted
• Participate in CSC budget review and ownership
• Ensure effective communication of projects to stakeholders
• Lead select projects on case-by-case basis
• Manage internal customer relationships

Process Improvement & Planning

• Develop and continuously improve the commercialization and launch stages of Stage Gate Process (SGP)
• Make recommendation on quantity of projects that the company takes on
• Lead conversation regarding resource management (can we do it)
• Collaborate with owners of other stage gates for the purpose creating best in class SGP
• Participate in new opportunity steering committee
• Ensure consistent processes, SOPs, tools and documentation are in place to manage the area
• Assess existing commercialization process and tools; implement tolls and train to tools
• Develop departmental KPIs
• Attend external events for process and product capability learnings
• Participate in visits to other plants for learning industry best practices

Talent Management

• Assess team ability and provide coaching for areas of opportunities
• Coach direct reports on soft skills and technical matters
• Meet with direct report to review IPP progress
• Manage staffing to carry out existing projects and pipeline projects
• Assign projects to project managers
• Establish succession plan Build network to develop pipeline of future talent for CFG Facilitate and support root cause analysis with team
• Cultivate customer Velcro-point mentality with team

Sales Support

• Participate in customer relationship development
• Participate in customer visits: lead tours, provide training, build relationships
• Participate in ideation on products
• Accompany sales team on external sales call Participate in customer visit planning; assign resources appropriately

Team CFG

• Provide product and process trouble-shooting to stakeholder groups in operations & FSQA
• Lead short and long-term projects with cross-functional groups
• Participate in Technical Team Level 10 meeting Participate in leadership class for CFG
• Participate in job definition process
• Train new hires in touch point functions as part of onboarding process