Program Manager

About Franke

We, the Franke company with its three divisions, are a world's leading supplier of products and services for domestic kitchens, the professional foodservice systems and the convenience store sector as well as for professional coffee making. With around 60 companies, we are at home on five continents. Over 8,000 employees constantly take on new perspectives to identify opportunities and turn them into inspiring, innovative solutions for tomorrow’s demands.

The Franke Coffee Systems division is a leading global provider of state-of-the-art solutions for professional coffee making. Together with our trade partners, we are committed to delivering premium best-in-class in-cup-quality, consistency and beverage variety, as well as ensuring an outstanding customer experience through constant innovation.

About the job

We're looking for a highly organized, customer-focused Program Manager to support our Convenience Store (C-store) business. The Program Manager leads large-scale customer deployment programs for national accounts, serving as the primary liaison between customers and cross-functional internal teams. This role is responsible for driving strategic implementation plans, coordinating resources, managing customer expectations, and ensuring successful execution of multi-site equipment rollouts from planning through completion. 

At Franke, you'll join a collaborative team where innovation, customer focus, and continuous improvement drive everything we do. This role offers the opportunity to lead high-impact programs for some of the industry's most recognized customers while building strong cross-functional partnerships across the organization. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy solving complex challenges, and take pride in bringing projects from concept to completion, you'll have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact while growing your career with a global organization.

Location Requirement: This position is based onsite in Smyrna, TN and relocation assistance is not available. Candidates must either reside within a reasonable commuting distance of Smyrna or be able to relocate prior to their agreed-upon start date.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead multiple customer deployment programs and strategic initiatives simultaneously.
• Partner with customers to define project scope, timelines, objectives, and success criteria.
• Serve as the primary point of contact throughout the program lifecycle, providing clear communication to customers and internal stakeholders.
• Develop and execute detailed project plans, including schedules, resource planning, budgets, and forecasts.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure equipment, materials, and resources are available to meet program milestones.
• Proactively identify risks, remove roadblocks, and resolve customer issues through effective problem-solving and collaboration.
• Analyze program performance and develop recommendations for process improvements and operational efficiencies.
• Track project progress, maintain detailed documentation, and provide regular status updates to leadership and stakeholders.
• Facilitate program review meetings to capture lessons learned and drive continuous improvement.
• Provide training and guidance to internal teams to ensure alignment with customer expectations and program objectives.
• Travel to customer sites and internal locations as needed (approximately 50%).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field required.
• Five (5) or more years of experience leading complex, cross-functional customer deployment programs or enterprise implementation programs required.
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-site customer rollouts for national or regional accounts, preferably within the convenience store (C-store), foodservice, or commercial equipment industry.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent programs involving cross-functional teams, external customers, vendors, and third-party partners.
• Experience serving as the primary customer contact for program execution, ensuring milestones, timelines, and customer expectations are successfully achieved.
• Strong customer relationship management, stakeholder management, and executive communication skills.
• Excellent organizational, presentation, negotiation, and problem-solving abilities, with the ability to make sound decisions independently.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams across Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, Logistics, and Customer Service.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel and PowerPoint, and Smartsheet or similar program management software.
• Ability to travel up to 50%.