R&d project manager

In a context of rapid growth and international expansion, Probewell is seeking a R&D Project Manager who will play a key role in structuring and executing product-development projects and in building stronger project-management discipline across the organization.

Based at Probewell’s Quebec City head office, the incumbent’s primary mandate will be to lead strategic new-product and product-improvement projects while helping establish and evolve the R&D PMO, Stage-Gate process, and portfolio visibility and prioritization mechanisms.

The role also includes the effective implementation of internal management processes, systems and tools designed to improve organizational efficiency, collaboration, visibility and execution quality. The incumbent may also occasionally lead selected special projects, including targeted post-acquisition integration initiatives.

• R&D and product-development projects, including new products and enhancements to existing products.
• Implementation and continuous improvement of a pragmatic and effective Stage-Gate process.
• Visibility, governance and prioritization of the R&D project portfolio.
• Effective transition from development to production, operations and commercialization.
• Deployment of internal management processes, systems and tools that improve organizational efficiency.
• Selected integration or strategic initiatives, when required, as a secondary responsibility.

• Plan, structure and lead new-product development projects from requirements definition through market introduction.
• Manage improvement, maintenance and evolution projects for existing products.
• Build project plans covering objectives, deliverables, schedules, resources, budgets, dependencies and key risks.
• Coordinate cross-functional contributors including R&D, engineering, software, operations, quality, sales, marketing, technical service and other relevant functions.
• Track progress and clearly communicate variances, risks and issues requiring decisions or escalation.
• Facilitate resolution of cross-functional issues to maintain execution pace.
• Ensure an effective transition of new products from R&D into production, operations and commercialization.

• Actively contribute to the creation and implementation of Probewell’s R&D PMO.
• Define and deploy project-management standards, tools, processes and best practices suited to a fast-growing technology company.
• Establish simple and effective governance focused on execution and decision-making.
• Develop standards for project plans, project reviews, risk management, change management, documentation and reporting.
• Implement dashboards and indicators that provide clear visibility into the R&D project portfolio.
• Support project prioritization and resource allocation based on strategic priorities, capacity and risk.
• Progressively strengthen project-management discipline, accountability and execution culture.

• Support the implementation, improvement and application of a structured Stage-Gate product-development process.
• Define key deliverables, decision criteria, roles and responsibilities across development stages.
• Prepare and coordinate gate reviews with stakeholders and leadership.
• Ensure key project decisions are based on clear information regarding customer value, technical feasibility, cost, risk, timing and commercialization requirements.
• Scale governance to project complexity and risk to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

• Identify, structure and deploy internal processes and tools that improve operational efficiency, collaboration and execution quality.
• Contribute to the selection, implementation and adoption of management systems relevant to teams and projects.
• Standardize ways of working where this creates value while maintaining a pragmatic and lightweight approach.
• Support change management, training and adoption of new practices and tools across the organization.
• Measure the effectiveness of deployed processes and recommend continuous improvements.

• Coordinate teams and stakeholders across multiple sites and countries.
• Ensure alignment on priorities, responsibilities, deliverables and timelines.
• Develop ways of working that enable effective collaboration in a distributed environment.
• Support progressive harmonization of product-development and project-management practices as the organization grows internationally.

Depending on business priorities, the incumbent may occasionally lead strategic initiatives outside the traditional R&D portfolio, such as targeted post-acquisition integration, process and system harmonization, integration of teams or technologies, or product transfers between sites. These responsibilities remain secondary to the core R&D and PMO mandate.