Director, Commercial Excellence & Project Management

Colgate • Piscataway, NJ

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Project Management Director partners with core and breakthrough innovation teams in Enterprise Oral Care, serving as a strategic bridge between Enterprise and Global Leadership, Divisional Marketing Brand Strategies, and Market Execution. The role drives organizational capability to improve the success of core and breakthrough innovations, optimize end-to-end speed to market, and simplify the division’s portfolio. It also oversees resource allocation, financial budget management, and executive governance forums; champions the Funding the Growth (FTG) program; and enables on-budget delivery of enterprise Big Bet initiatives supporting the company’s innovation pipeline.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Project Management, or a related field; a B.A. or B.S. is specified.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Brand Marketing, Commercial Operations, Brand Commercialization, or Project Management within a CPG/FMCG organization.
• 5+ years of experience managing and developing project management or execution teams.
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept to launch.
• Experience leading post-project reviews.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or MBA.
• Professional Project Management certification, such as PMP or Agile.
• Expertise navigating complex CPG/FMCG matrix structures to influence and align Supply Chain, Regulatory, IT, R&D, and Financial strategies.
• Track record in financial management, including capital budget tracking, financial variance analysis, and leading FTG cost-optimization programs.
• Hands-on proficiency with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, and Google Suite, and enterprise systems such as SAP and Veeva/CPS.
• Capability in change management, post-project reviews, end-to-end supply chain assessment, and process harmonization.
• Experience running or contributing to stage-gate or similar commercialization processes.
• Experience designing and rolling out processes, ways of working, and tools.
• Ability to present to and influence cross-functional stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Oversee timelines and governance for innovation project execution, facilitating forums such as the Strategic Innovation Forum and guiding Big Bet initiatives, new product developments, relaunches, line extensions, and agile breakthrough projects from concept to market on time and on budget.
• Create, align, and automate project steps, tools, and platforms to accelerate launches, simplify collaboration across categories, and provide leadership with visibility and tracking.
• Direct the Funding the Growth cost-optimization program and manage the master financial budget and monthly spend tracker.
• Lead portfolio complexity matrix reviews and SKU harmonization to optimize spending, improve efficiency, and support commercial strategies, including RGM and 4Ps/7Ps.
• Allocate project management resources and partner with global and divisional leadership, Hub execution teams, Supply Chain, R&D, Regulatory, Customer Development, and Artwork teams to align stakeholders, resolve bottlenecks, and mitigate launch risks.
• Lead divisional change management for ways of working; establish process guidelines and training for cross-functional project teams; and institutionalize post-project reviews and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Basic life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Disability coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions, subject to eligibility requirements
• Minimum of 15 vacation/PTO days for salaried employees
• 13 paid holidays
• Paid sick leave adjusted based on role and location in accordance with local laws
• Potential eligibility for discretionary bonuses, profit-sharing, and long-term incentives for Executive-level roles

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director