Program Manager, New Product Development in Norwalk, Connecticut at Gorilla Commerce

Objective of this Role (Why do we have this role?)

Gorilla Commerce launches new products across Marketplace and Retail on tight, unforgiving timelines—and every launch depends on many teams moving in sync: sourcing, packaging, creative, brand, inventory and demand planning, and compliance. When there is no single owner driving the schedule, details slip and launch windows are missed. This role exists to be that owner.

The Program Manager, New Product Development is the execution owner for the entire NPD launch program. This person keeps Marketplace and Retail launches on schedule, drives cross-functional accountability to milestones, and follows critical actions and decisions through to closure before they become launch risks.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned operator with sharp judgment, confident with stakeholders at every level, who thrives in a fast-paced and constantly shifting environment and is creative and thoughtful about leveraging AI tools to work faster and smarter.

Daily & Monthly Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end NPD launch program across Marketplace and Retail—from kickoff to live—holding the master schedule and critical path.

• Drive cross-functional accountability across sourcing, packaging, creative, brand, inventory/demand planning, and compliance—securing commitments and following milestones through to closure.

• Apply strong judgment and prioritization: distinguish critical-path issues from noise and focus teams on the decisions and actions that matter most.

• Run launch cadences and manage risk—surface dependencies, flag slippage early, resolve blockers, and escalate the right issues to the right people.

• Maintain the systems of record—launch status in Monday.com and product development data in Centric PLM (or similar tools)—so leadership and partners always know where things stand.

• Develop and leverage AI tools to work faster and smarter—status synthesis, follow-up drafting, risk-flagging—and scale what works to the broader team.

• Identify bottlenecks across the NPD workflow and build scalable process improvements that shorten time-to-launch.

Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience

• 5+ years in program or project management, ideally in CPG/consumer goods or another environment with complex, multi-workstream launch programs requiring coordination across many teams

• Demonstrated ability to drive accountability and outcomes through influence, without direct authority over the teams involved

• Strong prioritization and judgment—able to separate critical-path issues from noise and keep teams focused under competing demands

• Strong stakeholder management—confident and effective with partners at every level, from associates to executives

• Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through; nothing falls through the cracks

• Creative, thoughtful adopter of AI tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) to drive personal and team efficiency

• Proficiency with Monday.com (or a comparable work-management platform)

• Hands-on experience with Centric PLM (or a comparable PLM system) to manage product development data and workflows

• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to synthesize status clearly and concisely for leadership

• Self-directed and calm under pressure in a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment

• Familiarity with the Amazon and Walmart Marketplace and Retail (e.g., Walmart) environments is a plus