Business Relationship Manager - Manufacturing Operations

When it comes to being wild, we know a thing or two. We're not afraid of trying something new or the hard work it takes to make it happen. It's in our DNA. We've turned a family recipe into a new snacking category. And the wilderness into the #1 meat snack brand in America, that's still proudly family owned and operated.

We're a company built by innovators, and are driven to not only satisfy your hunger, but to also feed your journey – whether that journey is on the road, on the run, at the campground, at the playground, in the office or in the moment. It’s a journey we share with you. It’s the journey forward of our people, of our communities, of our category…with a reverence for quality and an irreverence for the status quo.

 At Jack Link's Protein Snacks, we see every moment of every day as an opportunity to move forward, to forge new ground. To realize our vision of becoming the World’s #1 Protein Snacking Company. We never give up. You never give up. Together, we keep going. Are you wild enough to join us?

Jack Link's Protein Snacks is a global leader in snacking and the No. 1 meat snack brand in America. Family-owned and operated with headquarters in Minong, Wisconsin, Jack Link’s Protein Snacks also has a large corporate hub in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company’s house of brands is made up of over 4,000 passionate team members, across 11 countries, who share an uncompromising commitment to delivering awesome products and feeding the journey of those who move things forward. The Jack Link’s Protein Snacks portfolio of brands includes, Jack Link’s, Lorissa’s Kitchen, Wild River, Golden Island, Matador, BiFi and Peperami.

The Business Partner for Manufacturing Operations is accountable for driving transformational growth leveraging innovative technology solutions and the full scope of the IT Services. This role will be the primary interface between the Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Research and Development functions and the IT teams.

You should possess exceptional Manufacturing Operations platform domain knowledge and expertise and should be an expert in translating business requirements into technical requirements in the area of plant floor digital transformation. You’ll collaborate with business functions to define their target technology stack, in order to enable the data, information flows and analytics for the digital manufacturing transformation.

The responsibilities of this position shall consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

• Builds and maintains strong relationships with business partners and acts as a liaison between information services teams and the business partner
• Acts as an advisor to business partners to shape their strategy with regard to technology and ensure they are aware of IT service offerings
• Promotes business projects and value to the IT leaders and community
• Works with business analysts to help their business units define new capabilities
• Defines, prioritizes, and manages program and project initiatives
• Helps define and communicate new services to support business needs
• Participates in development of business strategic planning and IT strategic planning
• Assists in the development of metrics used to track value delivery
• Provides details on cost, value, and opportunity to optimize IT spend (initiatives and support services)
• Communicates business needs with appropriate IT solution center to gain alignment between business needs and technical capabilities
• Gathers high-level business requirements and defines scope during initial discovery by conducting meetings/interviews, and facilitating large group/cross-functional sessions with partners
• Leads in the development of business cases requiring IT-based solutions
• Establishes initial vendor relationships and maintains a forward-looking view of vendor direction
• Interfaces with vendors to understand whether vendor products will meet business requirements
• Monitors that the solutions are meeting the business partner’s expectations
• Refines SLAs based on business need
• Maintains up-to-date awareness of industry and technology trends, and makes recommendations for implementation of new/upgraded systems and technologies
• Maintains knowledge of multiple business functions and initiatives to identify where conflicts/synergies exist between technologies and business functions
• Work closely with Process Automation Engineers and MES Analysts to develop and revise Controls Logic, batch records, and other MES records in a timely manner
• Performs other duties and responsibilities such as testing and training as necessary

Required Education:

• BS/BA degree or equivalent work experience

Required Experience: 

• 10 years of experience in a information systems environment
• 5+ years of functional experience across some or all of the following areas MES/MOM, Internet of Things (IOT) platforms, SCADA, PLM, QMS &  Plant Maintenance
• 5+ year business relationship management skills with customer facing experience
• Experience in requirements gathering, prioritization, collaborating across multiple business teams
• Proven experience in defining, aligning and setting business strategy and identifying technology solutions which support the strategy
• Experience in assisting and managing vendor relationship
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with a variety of audiences including various levels of management, vendors, business teams with varied levels of skill/experience. Ability to clearly communicate technical subject matter to a non-technical audience. Strong interpersonal skills in a diverse cultural environment.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment and make sound decisions in urgent situations. Must possess strong analytical, problem-solving, and prioritization skills.
• Must have experience and knowledge of change management principles and methodologies and can formulate new programs to generate excitement and engagement and have a highly collaborative work style which includes working effectively across all organizational levels.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority, especially among development teams.
• Demonstrated ability to establish strong partnerships across business and technology areas
• Strong analytical skills to critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources
• Ability to distinguish presented user requests from the underlying true needs, and distinguish solution ideas from requirements
• Ability to lead requirements information workshops
• Ability to validate data obtained via other techniques and expose new areas for elicitation
• Understanding of contemporary requirements gathering practices and the ability to apply them in practice
• Knowledge of product management concepts
• Application domain knowledge is a plus
• Influential leader able to facilitate discussions between multi-functional teams and enable them to discover solutions to complex problems, manage stakeholder expectations and resolve conflicts
• Expert collaborator, capable of managing multiple initiatives with conflicting priorities simultaneously with a high degree of independence
• Can think outside of what is currently ‘in-play’ if necessary, to maximize full value of the Jack Link’s brand with products that can differentiate

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

Jack Link’s provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic that is protected by federal, state or local law.