Manager, Product Lifecycle Operations

Ferguson is a supplier serving commercial, residential, industrial, and other infrastructure-related industries. The Manager, Product Lifecycle Operations owns continuous improvement and governance of Own Brand product development and launch processes, drives adoption of a consistent Stage Gate process, and leads implementation and ongoing ownership of a new Product Lifecycle Management system. The role also oversees change management, training, cross-functional collaboration, and process adoption across brands and departments.

Responsibilities:

• Own, govern, and continuously improve the Stage Gate process for product development across all 21 Own Brand brands
• Drive consistent adoption of common Stage Gate standards, required stages, workflows, roles, responsibilities, approvals, and documentation across brands and teams
• Partner directly with Own Brand companies that are not currently using Hive to transition their product development work into the platform
• Work with each brand to design a practical workflow that supports its business needs while meeting corporate process, governance, and reporting requirements
• Lead training, user acceptance, adoption, and ongoing adherence activities to help each brand successfully implement and sustain the Stage Gate process in Hive
• Maintain process documentation, templates, user guidance, and governance standards to support consistent execution across all brands
• Own and improve the end-to-end product development and launch process, from concept through launch and lifecycle transition
• Define clear process steps, ownership, required inputs, data points, dependencies, handoffs, and timing expectations across participating departments
• Identify and remove bottlenecks, duplicate work, communication gaps, and inconsistent practices that affect launch timeliness and preparedness
• Ensure teams understand the work required for each project, when it is due, and the information needed to complete it
• Improve cross-functional communication and awareness of project status, launch milestones, open requirements, risks, and next steps
• Partner with functional leaders to resolve process barriers and implement sustainable improvements
• Lead the end-to-end implementation, launch, adoption, and ongoing business ownership of a new Product Lifecycle Management system
• Serve as the business lead and primary partner to the selected third-party PLM vendor, IT, implementation partners, and project management resources
• Define future-state processes, workflows, governance, user roles, required data points, data ownership, business rules, integrations, and system requirements
• Engage interested parties across Product Development, Global Sourcing, Supply Chain, Product Data, Product Assurance, International Logistics, Marketing, Finance, Sales Operations, IT, and other functions to capture end-to-end requirements and drive the project to completion
• Coordinate process validation, data preparation, user acceptance testing, training, communications, deployment, and business readiness
• After launch, own platform governance, process alignment, user adoption, business support, and the prioritization of feedback, change requests, and enhancements
• Partner with IT and the vendor on administration, integrations, releases, support, and continued improvement of the PLM system
• Ensure the platform serves as a common source of product development information and supports consistent visibility across all brands and departments
• Develop and deliver role-based training, job aids, and practical guidance for Stage Gate, Hive, PLM, and product launch processes
• Lead team member readiness, communications, user acceptance, adoption, and reinforcement of new ways of working
• Coach teams transitioning into Hive and common corporate processes while accommodating legitimate business needs within established standards
• Influence across brands, functions, and organizational levels to drive timely decisions, sustained adoption, and process adherence

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Product Management, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience
• Experience leading cross-functional process improvement, transformation, governance, or enterprise technology implementation initiatives in a matrixed organization
• Experience supporting Stage Gate, product development, new product introduction, sourcing, supply chain, operational excellence, or product launch processes
• Experience leading or serving as a business owner for a PLM, workflow, ERP, PIM, MDM, or related enterprise system implementation preferred
• Ability to define end-to-end processes, workflows, business requirements, data points, governance models, roles, handoffs, and system requirements
• Strong project and program leadership skills, including the ability to manage priorities, dependencies, risks, decisions, issues, and stakeholder expectations
• Demonstrated change leadership, facilitation, training, user acceptance, and collaborator engagement capabilities
• Ability to influence across companies, brands, functions, and organizational levels without direct authority
• Strong problem-solving, process improvement, communication, and executive presentation skills
• Experience in partnering with IT, third-party software vendors, implementation partners, and project management organizations preferred