Senior Manager of Commercialization

Location – Remote
This role is eligible to be performed remotely, however, if you reside within 100 miles of Organic Valley offices in WI, you will be expected to collaborate onsite in a hybrid fashion for four per month. If you reside outside of 100 miles, you will travel in 4 times/year for intentional collaboration and connection.
Employee Type – Salaried
Bonus – This position is eligible for a 25% annual incentive bonus based on cooperative and individual performance.
Safety Sensitive – No

Summary of Role

The Senior Manager of Commercialization is responsible for translating approved business opportunities into successful execution through launch, stabilization, and post-launch evaluation. This role leads CROPP's commercialization portfolio across innovation, renovation, productivity, packaging, manufacturing network changes, regulatory initiatives, and decommercialization activities.

Owns commercialization processes, portfolio prioritization, resource planning, risk management, and execution standards while ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, growth objectives, operational capabilities, and customer commitments. The role leads and develops Commercialization team members and partners closely with Product Development, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Regulatory Affairs, Legal, Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement, and external partners.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Portfolio Leadership - 25% of time

• Lead the commercialization portfolio, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, strategic objectives, resource availability, and business commitments.

• Develop and maintain an integrated commercialization roadmap across innovation, renovation, productivity, regulatory, customer, and supply chain initiatives.
• Establish portfolio priorities and identify risks, dependencies, capacity constraints, and competing resource requirements.
  Provide portfolio insights, trade-off analyses, and recommendations by integrating input from cross-functional partners to support effective business decision-making.
• Establish and monitor portfolio health indicators, commercialization KPIs, and resource utilization measures.

Commercialization and Stage Gate Process Leadership - 30% of time

• Own and continuously improve commercialization processes, standards, tools, and ways of working.
• Lead, facilitate, and continuously improve the Stage Gate process, ensuring initiatives meet established readiness criteria, decision requirements, and business expectations.
• Establish and maintain project management standards, decision-making frameworks, escalation paths, and accountability mechanisms.
• Lead the portfolio planning and governance process, partnering across functions to achieve financial objectives and maintain adherence to established business guardrails.
• Drive consistency in commercialization execution through standardized methodologies, templates, reporting structures, and best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve speed-to-market, execution quality, resource efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration.

Project and Program Execution - 15% of time

• Ensure commercialization initiatives are delivered successfully from approval through launch, stabilization, and closure.
• Oversee project plans, timelines, milestones, resource requirements, implementation strategies, and success measures.
  oManage project risks, issues, and escalation processes to minimize impacts to scope, timing, quality, cost, operational readiness, and customer commitments.
• Ensure all commercialization activities meet quality, food safety, regulatory, operational, and financial requirements.

Cross-Functional Leadership - 5% of time

• Lead and influence cross-functional teams to achieve commercialization objectives while fostering collaboration, accountability, and alignment.
• Serve as the primary commercialization partner to Product Development, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Legal, Procurement, and external manufacturing partners.
• Communicate portfolio and project status, risks, decisions, priorities, resource needs, and business impacts.
• Facilitate timely decision-making by preparing recommendations, evaluating trade-offs, and escalating critical issues.

People Leadership -15% of time

• Lead, coach, and develop Commercialization team members to support engagement, capability development, and high performance.
• Establish clear goals, expectations, and development plans aligned with organizational objectives.
• Build organizational capabilities in project management, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and commercialization execution.
• Support talent development, succession planning, onboarding, and knowledge sharing.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and ownership.

Business Performance and Continuous Improvement - 10% of time

• Develop reporting, dashboards, and scorecards that provide visibility into portfolio performance, resource utilization, risks, and business outcomes.
• Conduct post-launch reviews and assess project results against business objectives and success measures.
• Partner with Finance and business stakeholders to evaluate commercial outcomes and identify improvement opportunities.
• Translate lessons learned into enhancements to commercialization processes, tools, and organizational capabilities.
  

Additional Duties and Responsibilities

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• Five or more years of experience in commercialization, project management, product development, supply chain, innovation, or a related function within food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, or a related industry.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation.
• Experience leading people, developing talent, and building high-performing teams.
• PMP, PMI, or similar project management certification preferred.
• Dairy experience preferred but not required.
• Strong portfolio, program, and project management expertise.
• Strong business and financial acumen, including understanding of business cases, revenue, margin, cost, and operational impacts.
• Ability to influence stakeholders, resolve conflicts, and drive alignment without direct authority.
• Experience developing processes, performance metrics, reporting frameworks, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong communication, facilitation, negotiation, and presentation skills, including interaction with senior leadership.
• Ability to manage ambiguity, competing priorities, and organizational change effectively.
• Apply strong analytical and problem-solving skills to assess risks and opportunities and develop actionable recommendations.
• Knowledge of commercialization, portfolio management, ERP, PLM, and project management systems preferred.
  

Base salary range: $111,987.20 - $149,323.20 per year
This salary range is exclusive of fringe benefits. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary bonuses. If you are hired at CROPP, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, and/or experience. Additionally, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider the internal equity of our current team members as a part of any final offer. Please keep in mind that entry-level candidates to this role should expect to be at the lower end of the salary range and hiring at the maximum of the salary range is not typical.

Benefits
We believe when our people are strong, our mission is strong. Therefore, we offer a comprehensive and holistic Total Rewards package meant to strengthen employees’ and their family's total wellbeing. Here are some of the great benefits offered:

• Comprehensive Health Insurance - Choice of plans for you and your family, including some that can be paired with an HSA (which CROPP contributes to on your behalf)
• Supplemental insurances: we offer accidental insurance, critical illness insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance.
• Time Off – 136 hours in the 1st year of employment prorated by start date. Plus 9 paid holidays, plus one floating holiday to use at will.
• 6 Weeks Paid Parental Leave – For all gendered partners in childbirth or adoption.
• Vision & Dental Insurance – Free annual eye exam, discounts on glasses/contacts, flexible dental network, adult ortho.
• 401k – We match 100% up to the first 3% of an employee’s contribution, and then 50% for 3.1%-5.0% of employee contributions.
• Free services at five local Neighborhood Family Clinics.
• Tuition Reimbursement – Up to $1,500 per year to support continuing higher education.
• Life Insurance - $50,000 policy funded by CROPP for each employee. Supplemental voluntary coverage available for employees, spouses, and children.
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability/AD&D Insurance - $50,000 of life insurance coverage of $50,000 of AD&D coverage funded by CROPP for each employee.
• Employee Assistance Program - Free and Confidential for employees, spouses, and dependents.
• Free onsite fitness centers available 24/7
• Free biometric screenings (cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure) and health coaching.
• Financial advisors and seminars
• Annual $360 Lifestyle Spending Account
  
• On-site all-organic cafeterias