Project Manager - New Product Development, Food Business Unit - Jobs Laitram

Location

New Orleans, LA

Job Category

Engineering

Division

Intralox

Job Description (General Summary)

Intralox’s New Product Development Food Business Unit is seeking a technically sharp, strategically minded, and pragmatic project leader to drive the development of modular plastic belting solutions for the global food industry. Our business serves a wide array of sectors—including beef, pork, poultry, seafood, frozen and fresh produce, and bakery/snack applications—requiring solutions that balance innovation, hygienic design, durability, and food safety.

This role supports a constantly shifting industry and complex product offerings, requiring strong organization, flexibility, and the ability to solve problems transparently.

As a company whose key principles focus on change, curiosity, tenacity, and a love of learning, Intralox believes strongly that who we are as a company is based on who we have working with us. We are looking for someone who can objectively evaluate their landscape, ask the right questions to understand gaps, build a plan to address those gaps—and most importantly, who is a dynamic and engaged communicator with a special talent for getting teams excited for the ride.

You won’t just be managing Gantt charts—you’ll be a core contributor in a fast-paced, engineering-centric environment where product development moves quickly and is shaped by close proximity to end-user needs. You’ll collaborate with talented mechanical engineers, plastic injection mold designers, application experts, commercial representatives, and manufacturing partners to turn concepts into real-world, production-ready systems that solve pressing customer problems.

Job Responsibilities and Requirements

Who You Are
A pragmatic project leader who thrives in ambiguity and moves with purpose.
A self-managed stakeholder invested in seeing a product go from ideation to market.
A communicator who earns trust across functions and motivates teams through clarity, urgency, and vision.
A colleague who is more than just a face on a phone call.
Deeply curious and focused on end-user needs—you operate within a technical team guided by the goal of solving customer problems and generating end-user value.
Not just a task manager—you think like an owner.

Responsibilities

Lead complex, cross-functional projects from concept through launch in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Ensure alignment with business objectives and end-user requirements, serving as the connective tissue between engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and commercial teams.
Build and manage timelines, project scopes, and resource plans while maintaining flexibility and a problem-solving mindset.
Facilitate clear, concise communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders, driving accountability and decision-making.
Proactively identify and mitigate risks while championing a bias for execution and continuous learning

Requirements
Bachelor’s degree required
Familiarity with mechanical design and manufacturing processes; experience in plastic injection molding is highly desirable.
Minimum 3 years of experience in new product development, preferably within manufacturing or industrial environments.
Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional product development projects.
Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities and multiple stakeholders.
Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and project management software.
Willingness to travel up to 10%, as needed or as interested.

Other Beneficial Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or an equivalent technical field. (Highly preferred)
Background in business-to-business, food-related industrial products and familiarity with general food industry expectations around hygiene and food safety.
Experience working directly on the development of plastic injection molded components.
Experience in metal forming or metallurgy.
Experience with assembly manufacturing environments.
Six Sigma manufacturing experience.
Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA).
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or Agile experience (a plus but not required).

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EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled

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