Senior Program Manager, Manufacturing Transfers

Forj Medical • Saint Paul, MN

4d • $175,000 - $200,000

About The Position

The Senior Program Manager will build and lead Forj Medical’s manufacturing transfer program from the ground up. Within Operations, the role owns planning and execution of production line transfers, site transfers, and site decommissioning, including transfers to the Costa Rica facility and other locations outside the United States. The role establishes how transfer programs are planned, tracked, and executed, and may scale the function and help hire a team as the transfer portfolio grows.

The position is primarily internally focused, aligning sending and receiving sites with Engineering, Production, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Facilities, IS, HR, Finance, and Forj Medical leadership. It partners with the customer-facing Program Management Office, which owns customer communication. The position reports program status, risks, and recommendations to Operations leadership and requires approximately 30% travel, including international travel. Minnesota is preferred; candidates based in Costa Rica will also be considered. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

Requirements

• B.S. or M.S. degree required; a technical, engineering, operations, or related field is preferred.
• 8+ years of project or program management experience in medical device manufacturing, either OEM or contract manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience leading production line transfers, site transfers, or production ramp activities, including transfers involving multiple facilities or locations outside the United States.
• Ability to build and manage complex project plans in MS Project/Planner or comparable project management software; spreadsheet-based tracking alone is not sufficient.
• Strong technical and operational understanding of manufacturing equipment, processes, and training needs sufficient to validate timelines and resource requirements.
• Track record of driving results through stakeholder management, with strong organization and attention to detail.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical and business concepts clearly to leadership, engineers, and production teams.
• Understanding of FDA, ISO 9001, and ISO 13485.
• Ability to travel approximately 30%, including internationally.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

• PMP certification.
• Experience building or scaling a program management function, process, or team.
• Candidates based in Minnesota are preferred; candidates based in Costa Rica will also be considered.

Responsibilities

• Build the transfer program function, establishing standard approaches, tools, templates, and governance for production line and site transfers.
• Lead multiple concurrent transfer programs end to end, including transfer strategy, stakeholder alignment, knowledge transfer, documentation readiness, equipment and process transition, validation support, training, production ramp, and post-transfer stabilization.
• Develop realistic, defensible schedules based on knowledge of equipment, processes, and operator and assembler learning curves; assess and challenge estimates from sending and receiving sites, including during site closures.
• Own detailed program plans using MS Project/Planner or comparable project management software, including schedules, resource allocation, budgets, and milestones.
• Direct program execution with minimal oversight, managing schedule adherence, budget, scope changes, risks, issues, and escalation of matters affecting schedule, quality, cost, or regulatory expectations.
• Lead cross-site and international transfer activities, including coordination with the Costa Rica site and clear communication across time zones and ownership of roles and responsibilities.
• Lead cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment, balancing urgency and accountability with empathy for employees affected by site transitions and closures.
• Report program status, risks, and recommendations to Operations leadership.
• Partner with the customer-facing Program Management Office to keep customer commitments aligned with transfer plans.
• Continuously improve transfer processes and define the future-state structure of the transfer program function.
• Potentially scale the function and help hire the team as the transfer portfolio grows.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401K plans
• Time off programs
• May be eligible for an annual bonus program, dependent on factors including individual and organizational performance.

What This Job Offers

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