Contract Manufacturing Manager Job at Premier Nutrition in Emeryville

Business Unit Description:

Here's what all the hype is about: Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the convenient nutrition space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and protein powders. We make the brands Premier Protein, Dymatize, and PowerBar, which is sold internationally, and we are part of our holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR).

We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which weve been nailing for over 15 years. We start off with an organization powered by our company purposeChanging Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees who are consistently mastering new skills deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with amazing people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture.

We dont mind sharing our formula since, as people who we believe in the power of changing lives with good energy, we think the world would be a better place if more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their livesalongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why dont more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead trusting them to make the right decisions. The results of our vibrant culture speaks for themselves: We were certified as a Great Place to Work for the 8th year-running in 2024. And we currently rank #2 on Fortune Magazines Best Workplaces in our category, and in the top 12 for each of the last 5 years.

We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most: Year-round day Fridays, in-office massages, free lunches & snacks, dogs in the office, month-long cultural and diversity celebrations, monthly over-the-top in-office events like bring your kids to work day, 6% 401k match after 1 year, as-needed sick leave, generous paid family leave regardless of gender, all positions bonus-eligible, company-wide volunteer days, company-matched charitable donations, no employee handbook, no dress code, coaching conversations instead of performance reviews, walking meetings, free exercise classes, and company-paid gym membership for Emeryville-based employees.

PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on#LI-hybrid

Responsibilities:

The role youre interested in

The Contract Manufacturing Manager is a corporate supply chain role that has oversight of our external co-man network. The position reports to the Associate Director of Contract Manufacturing and is responsible for a managed spend of approximately $400 million and the business transformation to drive productivity through strategic initiatives with Contract Manufacturers. In partnership with Quality and Supply Chain, ensures that manufacturing performance, cost objectives and quality goals are met or exceeded. Develops and manages long-term capacity needs to meet future growth. The role requires strong manufacturing and operational knowledge in the food industry and ability to collaborate and influence cross functionally including one-on-one, group presentations and C-suite communications with internal and external stake holders.

The work environment

So, whats it like to work here? If youre based in the greater Bay Area, youll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues sitting on sofas, beanbag chairs, or the floor excitedly talking through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead.

We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace so every employee who lives within 100 miles of our offices is expected to come in each TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY. We aligned on those two common days way back in 2021 to be intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories on Zoom meetings are few and far between. The expected pay scale for this role is $125k to $135k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role.

Our modern 50,000 sq. foot headquarters straddles the border of the cities of Emeryville, Oakland, and Berkeley, California with free onsite parking and many transportation options.

Youre excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with

CONTRACT MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT: 60% of TIME

• Partner with Quality and Product Development to ensure that all contract manufacturers commercialize products according to the companys quality, food safety, regulatory compliance requirements, and contractual commitments.
• Responsible for a budget of over $400MM.
• Develop and manage the monthly/quarterly/annual contract manufacturer review processes for your assigned partners to monitor performance, drive efficiency and drive quality improvements at the vendor.
• Identify and correct cost gaps with suppliers and contract manufacturers to drive improved margins and consistency.
• Manage annual and periodic review of COGS for budgeting and forecasting.
• Negotiate contract manufacturer contracts, amendments, and renewals, aligning with the business strategies.

CAPACITY PLANNING & PROCESS MANAGEMENT: 20% of TIME

• • Develop and manage long-term capacity needs to meet future growth.
  • Drive innovation efforts by identifying new and developing manufacturing technologies and product delivery platforms at contract manufacturers and equipment suppliers.
  • Operate cross-functionally to support efficient and effective product commercialization strategies and manufacturing best practices.
  • Provide thought leadership in the development and implementation of company manufacturing position, policy, and direction and translate into strategic initiatives.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: 20% of TIME

• Travel to production sites, trade shows, and conferences in search of new capabilities and new vendors.
• Identify and develop new contract manufacturing partners supporting both additional capacity requirements, International strategy and Innovation strategy.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain, Quality, and other internal departments to cross-functionally resolve elevated issues.
• Manage and direct the business relationship with contract manufacturers, navigating issues and negotiating solutions to ensure efficient and cost-effective production.

Qualifications:

What are we looking for?

Education:

• Undergraduate degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Manufacturing Management, Food Manufacturing Technology, or similar discipline required.

Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in the management of consumer-packaged goods (CPG) working with contract manufacturers with a strong preference for food and beverage, or nutritional products.
• Familiarity with an array of contract manufacturing platforms including beverages, dry mixes, bars, tablets/capsules, and others.
• Must have demonstrated experience with evaluating and improving manufacturing performance and effectively managing relationships to drive innovation, quality, and costs in support of company objectives.
• Previous experience leading large scale and complex, strategic negotiations.

Skills and mindset:

• Must exhibit strong verbal and written communication with ability to communicate in various settings including one-on-one, group presentations and C-suite communications with internal and external stake holders.
• Understand the context of business decisions, weighing risk versus reward against the efficient use of limited resources.
• Take ownership and responsibility for actions, behaviors and contributions.
• Influence and manage various internal and external groups without having direct authority.
• Understand how business drivers such as OPEX, CAPEX, MOQs, OEE, throughput, yield, and scrap can impact quality, cost, and delivery of product in a negotiated deal
• Proven independent decision making, planning and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated negotiation skills and abilities
• Demonstrated understanding of end-to-end CPG supply chain processes with an emphasis on the technical aspects of food/beverage manufacturing and packaging.
• High degree of proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and presentations.
• Ability and willingness to travel as required to vendor, supplier, and contract manufacturing locations.

So, if after reading through this long list youre thinkingIm not sure I meet 100% of these requirements, should I still apply? YESif you embody a growth mindset, see challenges as opportunities to develop, and find innovative ways to get the real work that matters done, you sound like our kind of candidate!

The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role:

1. Drive and own results
2. Adaptability
3. Be a builder
4. Embody a strategic mindset
5. Challenge ideas respectfully

You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if

• You want to be an integral part of shaping and nurturing an amazing work culture
• You like trying out novel minimum viable product people-related ideas
• You can be flexible in your approach to people challenges and abandon past practices if they dont make sense or would lead to a poor outcome
• You enjoy making people-centric decisions and finding ways to say yes as often as possible to impactful and important priorities for the business or team
• You are comfortable being natural, casual, open, and even a bit playful at work
• You can be friendly, vulnerable, and self-deprecating in one moment, and deal with a challenging, delicate people-related matter as a professional in the next
• You can do periods of focused, deep work on projects that drive the needle

This may not be your ideal next career move if

• You like a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity
• You like order, hierarchy, command and control management
• You want to build lots of processes, systems, governance, or policies
• Dealing with ambiguity or experimentation are not your jam
• You try to resolve challenging interpersonal situations over email or instant messaging
• You like managing from behind your computer and demonstrating excellence through email
• You tend to chase whatever shiny object presents itself during the day even if non-strategic

If we havent convinced you to apply already, here are some of our favorite perks and benefits:

• Summer hours (and of course a hefty PTO package plus 11 holidays)
• 401K match. Literally free money
• Free food. Plus kombucha, cold brew coffee, sparkling waterall on tap
• All people and roles are bonus-eligible
• Quarterly team building events/happy hours (city-wide scavenger hunt, bowling, ropes course, putt-putt)
• Bring your dog to work (3 days/week)
• Extended paid parental leave regardless of gender or familial make-up

Heres the deal with our not-so-standard, umstandard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why youre still reading this

• Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have
• Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for youand who wants that, right?):
• A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we dont do panel interviews because they dont give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so were probing different capabilities)
• A case study or job task to simulate what youd actually be doing in the role (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you dont have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops.
• Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so because this place is the real deal, and dont just believe usjust ask the 93% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey.

We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.