North America Marketing & Sales Project Manager

Kemin•Des Moines, IA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Kemin is hiring a Marketing and Sales Project Manager to support our Kemin Pet Food & Rendering team in Des Moines, Iowa. This position is to apply professional project management skills to lead cross-functional commercial, customer-growth, digital-platform, and marketing-operational projects for the North America Pet Food & Rendering business. The role converts strategic priorities into defined project plans, aligns stakeholders, and manages scope, schedules, dependencies, risks, deliverables, and reporting to support timely business decisions and business growth. This position serves as the regional business owner for our CRM adoption and project visibility, leads selected sales and value-added services initiatives, and establishes disciplined governance for work spanning Marketing, Sales, IT, Kemin Application Solutions, R&D, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Quality, and IPRA. Functional subject-matter owners retain technical and approval authority within their areas. This position is required to be onsite at our Worldwide Headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. Join the Kemin Team and Transform Lives! We are a privately held, family-owned-and-operated global biotechnology company driven by curiosity and committed to transforming the quality of life for people, pets, and the planet. We create solutions that strengthen health and wellbeing, provide nutrition and immune support for pets and production animals, safeguard the planet’s natural resources, and protect the global food supply chain for generations to come. We supply over 500 specialty ingredients for various industries, including human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies, textiles, biofuels, and animal vaccines. We employ 3,500 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa, and the United States.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree in Business, Marketing, Animal Science, Nutrition, Project Management or a related field with 3-5 years of related experience in project management, marketing, product management, commercial operations, customer-growth initiatives, or a related business environment
Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects with defined scope, milestones, risks, stakeholders, and deliverables.
Experience with CRM platforms, project-planning tools, business reporting, and data analysis.
Ability to work independently and in a collaborative, cross-functional team environment.
Ability to create structure from ambiguity and drive work to completion.
Ability to influence, persuade, encourage, and build alignment without relying on formal authority.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong business and analytical acumen, including the ability to interpret project and commercial data and present practical recommendations.
Ability to anticipate obstacles, manage change constructively, and adjust plans promptly while protecting outcomes.
Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects under time constraints.
Excellent customer service, stakeholder-management, and interpersonal skills.
Ability to manage internal and external resources, including vendors and consultants.
Strong attention to detail, accuracy, personal motivation, and learning agility.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, CRM platforms, and project-planning software.

Nice To Haves

PMP, CAPM, or equivalent project-management certification preferred.
MBA or other relevant advanced degree preferred.
Experience in pet nutrition, animal health, specialty ingredients, food production, product development, commercialization, customer segmentation, or strategic account planning preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop dashboards and project analyses that provide the North America Leadership Team visibility to commercial activity, account-plan execution, project risks, and growth opportunities.
Manage alignment between NEXA and related Palatants ARP projects by clarifying system ownership, handoffs, and data requirements.
Lead the project-management process for strategic account plans, ensuring priorities, actions, owners, milestones, and updates are visible in NEXA.
Serve as the North America business owner and primary commercial contact for NEXA adoption, data quality, reporting needs, enhancements, and issue prioritization.
Lead NEXA training, onboarding, change management, and adoption plans for new users, processes, and tools developed with IT.
Partner with Sales leaders to monitor monthly KPI compliance, pipeline health, project progression, forecast accuracy, and pre-call and post-call planning.
Plan and deliver the Quarterly Sales Meeting, including objectives, agenda development, stakeholder inputs, logistics, content readiness, action tracking, and post-meeting follow-up.
Manage and facilitate customer meetings hosted in Des Moines by establishing clear objectives, agendas, roles, logistics, deliverables, and follow-up expectations.
Partner with the Communications Manager to establish lead-capture and follow-up workflows for events and provide visibility to completion and outcomes.
Manage customer sampling projects, particularly prototypes and R&D requests, by aligning requirements, owners, timelines, documentation, and customer commitments.
Ensure Product Managers and functional partners have the information, decisions, and timelines required to complete customer letters and launch-related deliverables.
Lead the North America rollout and adoption of sciORIAN in partnership with Kemin Application Solutions, Marketing, Sales, and other stakeholders.
Manage projects that improve the positioning, communication, and commercial use of value-added services, including RES, CLS, KAS, and TSM offerings.
Evaluate and structure service-development opportunities for Palatants with Kemin Application Solutions, including business needs, scope, stakeholders, and implementation requirements.
Develop and maintain a visible opportunity pipeline for Kemin Application Solutions initiatives and report progress, barriers, and next actions.
Partner with the Associate Director, North America Marketing to gather, validate, and organize inputs for strategic planning and priority initiatives.
Present findings, options, risks, and recommendations accurately and in a timely manner to support leadership decisions and resource prioritization.
Lead structured data collection and analysis for strategic market, customer, portfolio, or growth priorities directed by the North America Leadership Team.

Benefits

Competitive salary
Uncapped bonus opportunities
401k match program
Generous paid vacation and holidays
Fitness reimbursement for the whole family
Access to an on-site fitness center
A restaurant offering seasonal fresh food options
Free fresh fruit in break areas
Opportunities for growth and development throughout your entire career
In-house learning platforms, offering thousands of training resources both live and online
Tuition reimbursement for external post-secondary pursuits
Paid time off for service
Partnerships with The World Food Programme and Habitat for Humanity
Local community initiatives