Sr Program Manager - New Product Development & Strategic Growth

CIRCOR Aerospace & Defence•Monroe, NC

14d•$115,000 - $120,000

About The Position

The Sr Program Manager - New Product Development & Strategic Growth will be responsible for leading priority pump New Product Development (NPD)/New Product Introduction (NPI) programs from opportunity identification through post-launch review. This role will also drive strategic growth initiatives focused on new markets, applications, product adjacencies, platform extensions, portfolio expansion, and localization. The position requires delivering commercial outcomes by anchoring programs in customer needs, market opportunities, revenue potential, margin objectives, and return on investment. A key aspect of this role is to improve speed to market by establishing clear milestones, critical paths, and decision points, while also driving cross-functional execution and strengthening the NPD/NPI discipline using CIRCOR's stage-gate process. The role involves providing portfolio visibility through clear reporting of program status, risks, financial performance, and resource requirements to leadership.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in program management, project management, engineering, product management, or related roles within an industrial or engineered-product environment.
Demonstrated experience leading new product development/NPI programs from concept through commercialization.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional teams involving Engineering, Product Management, Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, and Finance.
Strong understanding of structured NPD/NPI or stage-gate processes.
Experience developing and managing integrated program schedules, critical paths, resource plans, budgets, risks, and executive reporting.
Strong business and financial acumen, including experience with business cases, product cost, margins, investment requirements, ROI, and financial forecasting.
Commercially oriented with the ability to connect technical programs to customer needs, market opportunities, and financial outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously and independently.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to bring structure and clarity to ambiguous opportunities.
Ability to influence and drive accountability across functions and organizational levels without direct authority.
Excellent written, verbal, and executive-level communication skills.
Strong working knowledge of project-management tools and ERP/business systems.
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or a related technical discipline required.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading complex product development or growth programs within an industrial manufacturing environment is strongly preferred.
Experience with pumps, flow control, rotating equipment, engineered industrial products, or related technologies strongly preferred.
MBA or other advanced business degree beneficial but not required.
Formal project/program management training or certification such as PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent is beneficial.
Experience within pumps, flow control, industrial equipment, energy, power generation, oil & gas, chemical processing, or related end markets is beneficial.

Responsibilities

Lead priority pump NPD/NPI programs from opportunity identification and business case through product development, validation, industrialization, launch, and post-launch review.
Lead cross-functional programs focused on new markets, applications, product adjacencies, platform extensions, portfolio expansion, localization, and other strategic growth priorities.
Ensure programs are anchored in clearly defined customer needs, market opportunities, revenue potential, margin objectives, and return on investment.
Establish clear milestones, critical paths, decision points, and cross-functional accountability to accelerate development and commercialization.
Create alignment across Product Management, Engineering, Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance around program objectives, priorities, resources, risks, and deliverables.
Drive effective use of CIRCOR's stage-gate/NPD process while ensuring the process enables speed, effective decision-making, and commercial outcomes.
Establish clear reporting of program status, risks, financial performance, resource requirements, and key decisions to Product Management and business leadership.
Lead cross-functional execution of priority pump NPD and NPI programs from concept through commercial launch.
Partner with Product Management to translate market requirements, voice of customer, competitive insights, and application needs into clear product and program requirements.
Develop integrated program plans covering product definition, engineering, sourcing, manufacturing readiness, testing, certification, commercial launch, and customer adoption.
Establish program milestones, critical paths, decision gates, resource requirements, and accountabilities.
Partner closely with Engineering to manage technical development, design reviews, validation, testing, and product readiness.
Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure manufacturability, sourcing readiness, capacity, cost, quality, and successful production launch.
Partner with Sales and Product Management to develop launch plans, identify target customers and applications, support early customer engagement, and drive commercial adoption.
Establish appropriate post-launch reviews to evaluate revenue, margin, customer adoption, product performance, and achievement of the original business case.
Lead high-priority strategic initiatives intended to expand CIRCOR's position in existing and new pump markets and applications.
Support programs involving new applications, market adjacencies, product platform extensions, portfolio gaps, product localization, cost/value engineering, and other organic growth opportunities.
Translate strategic growth opportunities into structured programs with clear scope, business objectives, financial targets, milestones, resources, and ownership.
Coordinate customer, market, competitive, technical, and operational inputs required to evaluate and execute growth opportunities.
Work with Product Management and Sales to validate customer demand and commercial assumptions before significant investment decisions.
Drive rapid resolution of cross-functional issues that impede program progress or commercialization.
Partner with Product Management and Finance to develop robust business cases for NPD and strategic growth investments.
Establish clear program-level targets for revenue, gross margin, investment, product cost, payback, and return on investment as appropriate.
Manage program budgets and forecast cost-to-complete.
Track program performance against approved investment and business-case assumptions.
Identify financial risks, cost overruns, scope changes, or changes in commercial assumptions and escalate them early.
Ensure significant program decisions consider both technical requirements and commercial/financial impact.
Own integrated program schedules and ensure clear accountability for major deliverables across functions.
Establish and lead effective cross-functional program operating rhythms.
Manage multiple strategic programs simultaneously, balancing priorities and resources based on business impact.
Identify critical dependencies, constraints, and resource conflicts and work with functional leadership to resolve them.
Develop and maintain program risk registers and mitigation plans covering technical, commercial, operational, supply-chain, financial, and schedule risks.
Provide concise and transparent reporting to senior leadership on program status, milestones, risks, financial performance, and decisions required.
Lead stage-gate and executive program reviews and ensure decisions and actions are clearly documented and executed.
Continuously improve NPD and strategic program-management processes to increase speed, accountability, and effectiveness.
Serve as the central point of integration across Product Management, Engineering, Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance for assigned programs.
Lead complex cross-functional teams without relying on direct reporting authority.
Create clarity around objectives, roles, deliverables, decisions, and accountability.
Challenge teams constructively when milestones, assumptions, or commitments are at risk.
Facilitate effective trade-off decisions among product performance, customer requirements, cost, timing, manufacturability, and commercial objectives.
Build strong relationships across functions and establish credibility as both a program leader and business partner.