Product Integration Manager

Product Integration Manager

A great job-and a great future-awaits you at Smithfield Foods. We are an American food company with a leading position in packaged meats and fresh pork products. We're looking for motivated people who want to join our team and grow lasting and meaningful careers with us.

As a Product Integration Manager, you will oversee integration efforts across core product categories and manufacturing operations, ensuring seamless launch execution and market success. Recognized as an expert in project management and product commercialization, you will drive cross-functional collaboration, resource alignment, and smooth product delivery.

Your role involves launching new products, refining business processes, implementing packaging and manufacturing changes, and overseeing production transitions. You will lead major projects using a highly structured approach, applying product integration principles to meet business, customer, and consumer expectations for successful market entry.

With a deep understanding of Smithfield's product launch process and manufacturing management, you will guide teams in executing commercialization plans, solving business challenges, and ensuring timely market delivery. While directly managing multiple teams, you will influence action across departments, holding your teams accountable for deadlines and results advancing Smithfield's growth and profitability.

What You'll Do :

The below statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required.

Product Commercialization and Launch Execution : You will lead efforts in category expansion by integrating business processes across core product lines and manufacturing operations. You will lead commercialization efforts for product, packaging, and manufacturing changes, ensuring seamless execution from development to market. With a focus on stakeholder alignment, you will establish launch plans, mitigate risks, propose achievable timelines, and hold teams accountable to meet deadlines. Your leadership will ensure projects are executed on time and within quality standards, proactively driving solutions for successful market fulfillment.

Strategic Leadership and Cross-Functional Collaboration : You will serve as an internal expert in project management and product commercialization, creating optimized timelines and leading teams to achieve product launch objectives. You will provide effective project management solutions that support business growth, cost reductions, production enhancements, and process simplifications while ensuring visibility of project progress for leadership engagement. You will engage stakeholders to champion implementation solutions and influence action on key deliverables. You will lead cross-functional resources, ensuring clear communication of priorities across manufacturing plants and supporting functions. Additionally, you will assess performance challenges, adapt learnings to continuous improvements, and manage analytics, reporting, and documentation for project performance metrics.

Risk Management and Problem-Solving : You will tackle complex business challenges, anticipate potential issues, lead course corrections, and implement effective solutions to ensure seamless progress. By evaluating project performance, escalating risks, and driving corrective action, you will keep commercialization efforts on track. You will also mitigate financial risks through close collaboration with Plant Operations and Corporate Food Safety Quality Assurance, ensuring the successful implementation of initiatives across core product categories and manufacturing operations.

Operational Readiness and Manufacturing Execution : You will drive focus on manufacturing plant readiness for new production, ensuring seamless integration of new equipment with ramp-up and staffing plans. By confirming downtime needs, first production schedules, and start-up priorities, you will optimize operational efficiency. You will also ensure key financial inputs for costing, monitor production ramp-up, and oversee the approval process for first production protocols, ensuring product acceptance for market shipping. Additionally, you will ensure that finished goods are positioned correctly at distribution centers for seamless shipment to customers.

Process Development and Continuous Improvement : You will assess commercialization readiness across product areas, leading the discovery phase to define product codes, specifications, costing, and packaging requirements. You will coordinate cross-functional alignment on project scope, develop a structured roadmap with key milestones, and initiate multiple projects with manufacturing plants and teams. Through analytics tracking, reporting, and documentation management, you will ensure commercialization efforts stay on course and deliver measurable success. You will also initiate and lead process improvement efforts to enhance commercialization effectiveness.

Leadership : Drives a positive employee experience through leadership by way of team development and coaching.

What We're Seeking :

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

Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Business Management, Marketing, Food Science, Engineering, Supply Chain, Accounting or a related field and 5+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.

2+ years of demonstrated experience in team management / development or project leadership, required.

Experience in positions of increasing responsibility with a consumer-packaged goods company.

Strong work experience grounded in leadership, adaptation, and interpersonal skills.

Demonstrated leadership and excellent communication skills, required.

Strong project management experience with ability to confirm scope, set direction, develop timeline, and influence action, required.

Solution-oriented with proven problem-solving capability, required.

Highly organized, efficient, and able to manage business processes as well as understand operational details and financial strategies.

Demonstrated understanding of new product launch process and operational impact from concept to commerce which includes evaluating ideas, testing concepts, prioritizing and defining projects, confirming feasibility, driving development completion, leading implementation and delivery to market.

Outstanding time management skills and ability to execute across multiple projects.

Proficient attention to details with ability to drive the larger scope.

Demonstrated decision making, planning and prioritization skills.

Great listening skills and highly inquisitive.

Action oriented and results driven.

Ability to work well with others in fast paced, dynamic environment.

Ability to be respectful, approachable and team oriented while building strong working relationships and a positive work environment.

Other Skills That Make You Stand Out :

Master's Degree, preferred.

Demonstrated project management experience, preferred.

Team leader with strong influencing skills and confidence to drive accountabilities, preferred.

Experience managing and working with Business Management, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Technical Services and Operations Teams, preferred.

Physical Demands & Work Environment :

The physical demands described here are representative of those an employee should possess to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee may encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This corporate position may work remotely or from any Smithfield office.

Capable of sitting for extended periods of time.

Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision and depth perception.

Able to travel as needed.

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

EEO Information Smithfield is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, gender identity, protected veterans status, status as a disabled individual or any other protected group status or non-job characteristic as directed by law. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment selection process, please call us at 757-357-1595.