Program Manager

Program Manager, Made-to-Order Engagement Rings Location: Whippany, NJ (hybrid, minimum 3 days/week onsite) Type: Contract, 12+ months Job Overview This is a high-visibility, enterprise-wide transformation with a target go-live of Q3 2027. It spans Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Retail, Product, Legal, Finance, and IT. The end-to-end business process map is underway. Our client is looking for a seasoned Program Manager who can step in on day one and lead it. You'll keep a large cross-functional team aligned on requirements and build a realistic plan across many systems, workflows, and IT teams. What You'll Do Own the program plan. Build the preliminary timeline that the steering committee is waiting for, then manage it through go-live. Run governance. Lead 7 working groups, present to the Project Committee, maintain the decision log, and drive biweekly decision sign-off. Drive requirements. Complete the end-to-end business process map, then lead detailed business requirements that IT can build from. Align business and IT. Make sure every process stage has a named business owner, a named IT owner, and a clear system plan. Manage risks and escalations. Track risks and dependencies, and escalate decisions that working groups can't resolve. Coordinate key decisions across workstreams: Diamond supply: stone storage, reservation, and tariff impacts Manufacturing: agile line setup and DDMRP planning Retail: the in-store selling journey and Client Advisor tools Product: styles, SKUs, master data, and pricing Legal and compliance: returns policy and international shipping Serve as the single point of contact for leadership and operating teams. What You Bring Required Make-to-order, build-to-order, or configure-to-order experience. You've run or designed a personalization model, not only make-to-stock. A luxury or high-value product background. Jewelry or watches are ideal; other luxury goods or high-value products with serialized components are also relevant. 10+ years leading cross-functional programs, largely in manufacturing, retail, or luxury. A track record delivering multi-year, multi-system programs across several departments, with reporting to a steering committee. Supply chain and manufacturing knowledge, including pull-based planning and DDMRP, critical-inventory control, lead times and service levels, and international shipping of high-value goods. Hands-on process and requirements skills. You can facilitate workshops, map business processes, and write requirements developers can build from. Systems fluency across ERP, warehouse, planning, and retail selling tools, and comfort working with IT on integrations. Consulting presence. You lead through influence without direct authority and are credible with executives from day one. Strong communication skills and experience working with stakeholders across the US, Europe, and Asia. Nice to Have Retail rollout and change management across a store network, including training and phased launches Product master data, bills of material, and SKU and pricing setup Returns policy and compliance work across countries, including EU regulations PMP or another program management certification Systems Environment JD Edwards EnterpriseOne (E1), the core ERP across nearly every workstream Blue Yonder / APS (planning) Anaplan (pricing) Manhattan Active WM (warehouse) IBM Sterling (order management)