Technical Readiness Leader, Iowa City Beauty Care Plant

Job Location

IOWA CITY PLANT

Job Description

Technical Project Leader – New Product Commercialization & Engineering

Location: Iowa City, IA (Iowa City Beauty Care Plant)

About the Role

Are you ready to bring multi-million-dollar consumer innovations from the drawing board to the high-speed production line?

As our Technical Project Leader, you will be the single-point owner accountable for the end-to-end technical readiness and successful commercial launch of next-generation packaging and product designs. In this role, you will bridge the gap between creative design concepts and high-speed manufacturing reality. You will lead cross-functional engineering, R&D, and operations teams to deliver product innovations on time, within budget, and with right-first-time quality.

Whether qualifying new materials, coordinating full-scale plant trials, or optimizing supply chain economics, your leadership will directly impact millions of consumers who trust our brands every single day.

Spotlight on our Iowa City Plants: Advanced Manufacturing in the Heartland

• The Brands You Know & Love: The Iowa City facilities are flagship manufacturing hubs proudly producing world-class Personal Care, Beauty, and Oral Health brands that sit in 9 out of 10 American households.
• Cutting-Edge Automation: This is not your typical plant. Iowa City houses state-of-the-art, high-speed automated packaging lines, high-precision liquid blending, and advanced robotics.
• Sustainability Leader: The site operates with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, operating as a zero-waste-to-landfill facility and continuously innovating to reduce energy and water footprints.
• Vibrant College-Town Culture: Situated right next to the University of Iowa, the Iowa City/Coralville area consistently ranks among the top mid-sized creative communities in the U.S.—offering Big Ten athletics, a thriving arts and culinary scene, excellent public schools, and an affordable, high quality of life.

Key Responsibilities

• 1. Strategic Technical Leadership & Governance

• Serve as the lead technical interface representing plant operations and manufacturing feasibility in front of commercial, brand management, and executive R&D leadership.

• Own and direct the Technical Readiness Master Plan across the entire project lifecycle, navigating projects through formal Stage-Gate qualification milestones.

• Quantify, communicate, and proactively mitigate technical risks associated with new formulations, novel packaging geometries, and high-speed filling line changes.

• 2. Manufacturing Execution & Plant Commercialization

• Design and execute end-to-end technical validation plans, including pilot plant production, tooling testing, line demonstrations, and production-scale validation runs.

• Coordinate the production of test market materials and finished consumer test products to validate performance before mass roll-out.

• Lead engineering change management systems, guaranteeing that product specifications, material approvals, and quality control systems are fully compliant prior to first ship.

• Partner with internal manufacturing plants and external contract manufacturing (CM) partners to ensure equipment capability, line capacity, and operational readiness.

• 3. Financial & Supply Chain Excellence

• Own the project's manufacturing economics, leading capital expenditure planning, start-up budgets, and Total Delivered Cost (TDC) modeling.

• Partner with engineering hubs to build comprehensive project feasibility and financial assessment models.

• Build integrated Critical Path Schedules (CPS) to protect speed-to-market while minimizing scrap, inventory exposure, and business disruption.

• What You’ll Bring to the Table

• Leadership with Agility: Demonstrated capability to translate complex technical/chemical/mechanical challenges into clear, actionable manufacturing plans that cross-functional teams can execute flawlessly.

• Collaborative Influence: Proven ability to influence partners across R&D, Brand Marketing, Operations, and Finance to drive win-win commercial and operational outcomes.

• Root-Cause Problem Solving: Strong analytical mindset with a track record of applying disciplined methodologies to overcome manufacturing scale-up bottlenecks.

• Bias for Action: An owner’s mindset with an innate sense of urgency to hit launch milestones without compromising safety, compliance, or product quality.

• Job Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in an Engineering discipline (Mechanical, Chemical, Industrial, Packaging, Materials Science) or related technical field.

• Experience: 3-5+ years of direct experience in manufacturing, engineering, packaging development, or new product introduction (NPI) within Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, or food/beverage.

• Project Management Mastery: Extensive hands-on experience using Microsoft Project or equivalent enterprise scheduling software to manage multi-workstream critical path schedules.

• Financial & Cost Acumen: Understanding of manufacturing cost drivers, capital expenditure management, and line-efficiency metrics (OEE).

• Communication

Skills

• Outstanding verbal and written executive-level communication skills; capable of simplifying technical data into business-relevant decision points.

• We value diverse experiences and mobility. Candidates should be prepared to consider relocation opportunities throughout their career as business needs and development opportunities arise.

• Immigration Sponsorship is not available for this role. For more information regarding who is eligible for hire at P&G along with other work authorization FAQ’s, please click HERE.

• Procter & Gamble participates in E-Verify.

• Qualified individuals will not be disadvantaged based on being unemployed.

• P&G is dedicated to meeting the needs of applicants requesting an accommodation/adjustment due to a disability in order to complete the online application process. If you have a disability that affects your ability to complete our online application process, please visit our Disability Accommodation Page.

• Job Schedule

• Full time

• Job Number

• R000152427

• Job Segmentation

• Experienced Professionals

• Starting Pay / Salary Range

• 125700.00 - 157100.00 / year