Commercialization & Digital Transformation Manager

Random Lake, WI 53075

Description

Overview: The Manager, Commercialization & Digital Transformation is responsible for leading the onboarding of customer products from development into commercial manufacturing within a contract manufacturing environment. This role serves as the primary commercialization lead, ensuring customer requirements are translated into scalable, compliant, and cost-effective manufacturing solutions. The role also leads the onboarding of new customers into the facility, from initial qualification through first commercial production, and drives the digital transformation of commercialization and customer-facing workflows from manual processes to AI-derived, data-driven processes.

The Manager, Commercialization & Digital Transformation works cross-functionally with customers, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Operations, and Sales to ensure successful product launches, smooth technology transfer, and ongoing lifecycle support.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end commercialization activities for customer programs, from late-stage development through commercial launch.
• Own technology transfers from customer or development teams into manufacturing operations, ensuring process readiness and scalability.
• Serve as the primary point of coordination for launch readiness across all internal functions.
• Work with customers to obtain specifications and requirements for new and existing products. To include but not limited to formula changes, label claims, GMO/organic/kosher, dietary supplements, and others where applicable based on additional customer requirements.
• Provide relevant updates to internal teams: Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality e.g. customer changes or customer feedback trends. Provide suggestions for improvement where appropriate.

Customer Onboarding

• Own end-to-end onboarding of new customers into the facility site qualification, audits, documentation, material setup, requirement intake, and first production runs including communication cadence and hand-off to Operations.

Digital Transformation

• Lead the digital transformation of commercialization workflows — replacing manual, paper-based processes with automated, AI-derived tools and analytics across specification intake, project tracking, documentation, and production readiness.
• Partner with IT, Quality, and Operations to implement, validate, and train teams on new digital and AI-enabled systems.
• Act as a key customer-facing leader, managing expectations, timelines, and deliverables throughout the commercialization process.
• Partner with Sales, Engineering, and Supply Chain to support new business wins, including technical feasibility assessments and launch planning.
• Drive alignment between customer requirements, contractual commitments, and operational execution.

Manufacturing & Operational Readiness

• Ensure manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, and documentation are in place to support commercial production.
• Collaborate with Operations and Supply Chain to align capacity planning, sourcing, and inventory strategies.
• Identify and mitigate commercialization risks related to cost, quality, timeline, and supply continuity.
• Provide training on production equipment to ensure operators and technicians are fully prepared for commercial-scale manufacturing.
• Build training documentation for production equipment to support consistent onboarding, knowledge transfer, and long‑term operational readiness.

Quality & Regulatory Collaboration

• Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to ensure compliance with applicable standards (e.g., GMP, ISO, FDA, customer-specific requirements).
• Support validation activities, process qualifications, and first commercial production builds.
• Ensure change management processes are followed throughout commercialization and lifecycle phases.
• Responsible for developing, maintaining, and communicating the Management System documents for regulatory compliance.

Performance Management

• Track commercialization milestones, KPIs, and post-launch performance.
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce time-to-launch and improve launch predictability.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Operations, or related field required or a combination of education and experience.
• 5-10+ years of experience in commercialization, manufacturing, program management, or technical operations within a contract manufacturing or regulated environment.
• Proven experience leading product launches or technology transfers into manufacturing.
• Experience leading customer onboarding and digital transformation initiatives, including implementation of automated or AI-enabled tools to replace manual processes.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, quality systems, and supply chain fundamentals.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional programs with external customers.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.