Panera Bread is a specialty concept with unparalleled people and quality products offering careers as diverse as our breads and bagels. Panera Bread is seeking a highly motivated individual with strong business acumen, project management and communication skills as well as strategic, analytical, and technical capabilities to fill the role of Senior Manager, Project Management.

Duties & Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of this job include, but are not limited to:

Drive key strategic and operational initiatives from idea to implementation in support of delivering against our enterprise goalsCollaborate closely with project owners regarding product requirements and project details and confirm that functionality delivered matches specification requirements.Conduct comprehensive product reviews of new and reformulated products with key stakeholders by establishing objective(s), organizing logistics, collecting and interpreting data, and communicating collective recommendations. Coordinate and facilitate weekly and monthly cross-functional meetings through on-time delivery of agenda, content, and summary.Develop and manage a detailed project schedule and work plan, including predicting cross-functional resources needed to reach objectives and managing them in an effective and efficient manner.Lead commercialization effort of strategic initiatives.  Ensure effective team engagement which may include establishing and managing team meetings, reviewing project workflows with the project team, facilitating creation of mitigation/contingency plans and managing communication.Provide project updates on a consistent basis to various stakeholders about strategy, adjustments, and progress, including senior leadershipManage database of active projects with accurate, timely updates, action items and costing information.  Provide prompt and detailed follow up to cross-functional team.Identify continuous improvement opportunities to deliver all relevant product renovations, standardizations and rationalizations.Develop practical and creative solutions to complex analytical challengesBuild strong working relationships within company; highly cross-functional role

Requirements

Qualifications include:

Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of relevant experience or MBA and 3+ years of relevant experience.Strong business acumen; retail or restaurant experience preferred.Proven experience seeing projects through the full life cycle according to outlined scope, budget and timelineExtreme attention to detailAbility to navigate the organization, hold cross-functional teams accountable, and drive them to results with an “Own it” mentalityExcellent communication skills, verbal and written presentation skills; ability to tailor by audienceExpertise with Microsoft PowerPoint is a mustSkilled with analytical tools (e.g. Microsoft Excel). Prior experience with a project management tool is a plus.Demonstrated ability to manage complexity and ambiguityProven track record in coordinating and prioritizing multiple projects effectivelyWillingness to ask for help and leverage the knowledge of others to overcome tough obstaclesCollaborative working style. Enthusiastically makes contributions and takes satisfaction in team accomplishments. A positive can-do attitude

Working Conditions

Work involves 5-10% travel and visitsBased in St Louis, MO (Laumeier) or Boston, MA (Needham); possibly remote

Physical Requirements

While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk hear & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards

Direct Reports

This position will be an individual contributor and may have direct reports as business requires

Additional Description :