R&D Project Manager

Key Responsibilities

R&D Project Leadership

• Plan and drive product development projects end to end — scope, schedule, budget, deliverables, and risk — from concept through design, validation, and launch readiness.

• Manage the project pipeline and stage-gate (phase-gate) process, including gate reviews, deliverables, and go/no-go decisions.

• Manage timeline with Industrial Designers and Design Engineers assigned to each project (matrix): set priorities and milestones, remove blockers, balance workload across projects, and hold the team to timelines and quality.

• Track progress and proactively identify and mitigate risks, dependencies, and resource conflicts; keep the stakeholders informed with clear status reporting.

• Maintain project documentation, design-record traceability, and revision control throughout the development lifecycle.

• Support pricing structure and margin objectives by aligning product configurations with cost and market positioning.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as the central coordination point across Sales & Marketing, Product, and Operations throughout the development cycle.

• Gather market, customer, and competitive input from Sales & Marketing; align launch plans, positioning, and go-to-market readiness.

• Work with Procurement and suppliers on materials, hardware, and long-lead components required for development and launch.

Team & Process Leadership

• Establish and continuously improve R&D project management processes, tools, templates, and reporting to increase throughput and predictability.

• Foster a culture of accountability, cross-functional collaboration, and disciplined execution.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.

• 2+ years of project and/or product management experience, including new product development in a manufacturing, industrial design, engineered products, or consumer/commercial furnishings environment.

• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional development projects and coordinating engineering/design teams (matrix leadership).

• Working knowledge of new product development and stage-gate/phase-gate processes.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with competing priorities, deadlines, and budgets.

• Strong product sense — able to translate market and customer needs into clear requirements and roadmaps.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills across design/engineering, Sales & Marketing, Product.

• Authorized to work in the U.S. and able to work onsite full-time in Irving, TX.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in Furniture, custom wood products, casework, cabinetry, millwork, or made-to-order manufacturing.

• Direct experience managing industrial design and engineering teams through concept-to-launch product development.

• Familiarity with ERP systems, DFM, and pricing/margin analysis.