New Product Development Coordinator, Oceania

What makes this a great opportunity? 

United by Suntory’s Yatte Minahare spirit, the permission to dream big and the determination to make it a reality, we’re embarking on a new chapter of growth, as we partner with Frucor Suntory to create Suntory Oceania, a new multi-beverage powerhouse across Australia and New Zealand. Underpinned by our diverse talent, market-leading brands, quality craftsmanship and a strong sense of purpose as partners we will create Oceania’s fourth largest beverage player with over $3bn in retail sales.

With an inspiring growth trajectory ahead, there has never been a better time to join the Suntory family. From mid-2025, we will own local manufacturing, sales, and distribution for our full portfolio of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. By harnessing the best of Suntory from across Australia and New Zealand, we will offer a unique portfolio of over 40 market-leading brands – powered by two local manufacturing sites, five distribution centres and more than 1500 Suntorians.

The opportunity for a Commercialisation Project Planner to join the business comes at a unique time, to support transitioning from the existing manufacture and distribution partnership, plan and lead commercialisation process implementation across the Alcoholic New Product Development (NPD) portfolio for Australia and New Zealand.   

The role has a strong connection with our future manufacturing and distribution partner in Suntory Oceania and the role will support governance of our shared NPD Stage Gate process and associated cadences, artwork development and packaging readiness, whilst supporting areas of compliance, masterdata and NPD pipeline readiness for when the new partnership goes live in July 2025.

The role will collaboratively operate with local cross-functional teams, co-packers and co-manufacturers, to support the commercialisation of successful and exciting product initiatives into the Oceania market.

Accountabilities will additionally include managing and reporting achieved milestones within key cross-functional stakeholder engagements as defined against business expectations and project timeline deliverables.

The successful candidate will initially support the transition of the current manufacturing and distribution model and is seen as a development opportunity to more senior roles within Commercialisation, Supply Chain and the broader business. 

Role Responsibilities 

• Support the transition of the Commercialisation model, process and proceedures for the Suntory Oceania new partnership model.
• Support project management and portfolio governance across NPD and Innovation: Suntory Oceania Stage-Gate process, stakeholder pre-alignment and approval cadences.
• Management of NPD and Stage Gate documentation.
• Collaborate to facilitate the launch and smooth transition of New Products in parallel with depletion of existing products.
• Attend operational calls and ensure that timelines are reviewed whilst key updates, pending actions and risks are identified and communicated.
• Reporting team updates and KPI tracking.
• Support training of global and local Stage Gate and Innovation processes cross-business as required.

Qualifications & Experience

Education/Experience

• 1-2 years minimum Supply Chain, NPD or R&D professional with FMCG experience desirable but not critical.
• Tertiary qualification preferrable but not critical.
• Experience in project management, manufacturing, or R&D desirable.
• Understanding of the implementation and working of an NPD Stage Gate process

• Core Competencies & Skills
  • Understand basic functions related to projects:
    • Project and portfolio management
    • Manufacturing and production
    • Packaging development and repacking
    • Agencies and artwork design
    • Marketing strategy
    • Commercial, sales and customer considerations
    • Supply chain planning and logistics
    • Legal and regulatory considerations
    • Finance knowledge (basic P&L understanding and COGs)

Computing skills:

• Excel. Desirable - Microsoft Project & PowerPoint
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Experience in stakeholder management
• Highly developed organizational skills and time management
• Very good attention to detail and accuracy
• Good communication skills with the ability to develop strong relationships with key stakeholders
• Results oriented with the ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team