The Business
Patties Foods is one of Australia's most loved manufacturers, suppliers, and marketers of leading branded frozen savoury, frozen meals, and dessert products. Our brands are household names across the nation — but to make our great brands happen, we need great people. Our company values of courage, trust, integrity and ownership reflect our origin as a proudly local company and continue to underpin our growth and success.
The Role
As Project Commercialization Manager, you will lead the commercialization of base & new SKUs to new production lines at Pakenham. This is a pivotal contract role accountable for ensuring technical readiness, recipe simplification, planning, successful trials and customer acceptance — delivering a seamless transition into business-as-usual operations. You will work closely with Operations, R&D, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain and Commercial teams to ensure the commercialization is executed safely, compliantly and on schedule.
This role is responsible for but not limited to:
* Leading the commercialization process to operational handover.
* Driving recipe simplification to enable efficient, repeatable manufacture on lines.
* Coordinating trials, validations, SAT readiness and go-live activities.
* Managing customer engagement including tastings, documentation, approvals and formal sign-off.
* Ensuring all products meet food safety, quality, regulatory and customer specifications.
* Identifying and mitigating risks, tracking milestones and reporting to governance forums.
* Partnering with site teams to ensure SOPs, training and operational capability are in place prior to go-live.
* Managing artwork transitions and packaging run-in/run-out requirements.
Success in this role requires strong cross-functional leadership, structured problem-solving and the ability to balance technical detail with commercial outcomes.
What We Offer
* 12 Month Fixed Term Contract
* A high-profile, business-critical project role
* Collaborative, cross-functional team environment
* Opportunity to lead complex manufacturing change
* A strong values-led culture built on Trust, Courage, Ownership & Integrity
What You Offer
* Tertiary qualifications in Food Science, Engineering, Project Management or related discipline
* Significant experience delivering product transfers, commissioning or scale-up within FMCG or food manufacturing
* Demonstrated experience in recipe optimisation or simplification
* Strong knowledge of food safety, quality systems and customer approval processes
* Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex change and tight timelines
* Highly organised with strong attention to detail and structured problem-solving capability
* Strong written and verbal communication skills with confidence engaging senior stakeholders and customers
* Must have full Australian work rights
Interested? Apply now by submitting your CV.
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