Commercialization Manager

Shearer's Foods•Massillon, OH

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Shearer’s Foods, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Massillon, OH, is a leading manufacturer of salty snacks, cookies, and crackers. Specializing in private label and co-manufacturing, Shearer’s is the largest supplier of private brand salty snacks and second-largest supplier of private brand cookies and crackers. With a strong focus on innovation, service, quality, and sustainability, Shearer’s has been awarded the food industry’s highest award for environmental sustainability, as well as multiple Supplier of the Year awards. Operating 16 locations across North America and employing more than 5000 team members, Shearer’s is driven by its core values of People, Grow, Impact and Win. The company mission is to deliver exceptional products and services that make snacking a time to celebrate for our customers, colleagues, and community. At Shearer’s Foods, we believe in a skills-first approach to recruitment and employment. This means focusing on what you can do and how you can grow, rather than traditional metrics alone. We are committed to adhering to anti-exclusion practices, removing barriers to access, and enhancing opportunities for all individuals based on merit and potential. Your skills, experience, and perspective are valuable—and we want to empower you to make your mark here with us.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in a Food Science, Engineering, Operations, or related field.
5 years of experience in Commercialization, Product Development or Technical Project Management within consumer packaged goods (CPG) or food manufacturing industry.
Ability to manage both internal and external customers and to adapt and manage through change.
Strong leadership and communication skills required.
Strong project management skills and ability to juggle multiple projects and shifting priorities in an organized manner.
Strong financial skills are essential to managing product cost understanding and P & L management expectations.

Responsibilities

Lead commercialization initiatives while executing the functional responsibilities associated with new product development and product assortment management across a defined sales channel and customer account portfolio.
Ensure technical accuracy, robust processes, and seamless collaboration among Commercial, R&D, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Plant Operations.
Shape product strategy, drive innovation, and partner with commercial teams to sell new concepts and capabilities to key and top-tier customers.
Deliver product launches Right-On-Time-In-Full (ROTIF), achieving margin targets, and meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
Partner with Sales and Commercial Development to sell in new product concepts, formulations, and packaging innovations to top tier and strategic customers.
Collaborate with R&D and Commercial Excellence to prioritize innovation pipelines based on customer needs, feasibility, and business impact.
Incorporate customer insights and post-launch learning into continuous product improvement and next generation innovation efforts.
Lead cross-functional commercialization teams for new product launches and reformulations (New Food Development from Execution through Post-Execution, New Packaging from Scoping through Post-Execution).
Maintain accountability for project timelines, cost adherence, and manufacturability.
Coordinate with commercial Development Leads and Sales to ensure launch feasibility and readiness to support customer expectations.
Create and maintain part records in systems, ensuring accurate specifications for raw materials, packaging films, corrugates, and finished goods.
Work closely with R&D, QA, Regulatory, Procurement, and Supply Chain to gather required data for part set-up.
Execute change management processes for BOM updates, formula changes, and obsolete parts, ensuring proper approvals and documentation.
Act as process steward for Stage Gate commercialization phases.
Ensure gate documentation is accurate, approved, and archived within the product lifecycle system (PLM or equivalent).
Provide KPI reporting on project status, gate adherence, and cycle time metrics.
Collaborate with Lifecycle/Obsolescence Manager to execute transitions, reformulations, discontinuations with minimal disruption.
Drive standardization of commercialization tools, templates, and playbooks.
Contribute to the continuous improvement of E2E commercialization processes and systems.