Beverage Product Launch Manager

Gregory Packaging Inc.; Bethlehem (Northampton County); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Gregory Packaging Inc. seeks a Product Development Manager to own new products from concept to first commercial run. You will manage stage-gate processes, timelines, external partners, and alignment across processing, QA, packaging design, procurement, and sales.

Your work ensures the formula translates to scale, at cost, across five facilities. The ideal candidate has 5+ years in beverage/food manufacturing, experience across development and supply chain, and a proven launch track record.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in product development and supply chain in beverage or food manufacturing.
• Experience taking at least one product from concept to launch.
• Exposure to external partners — flavor houses, ingredient suppliers, contract labs, or design agencies.
• Exposure to shelf-stable beverage processing (aseptic and/or hot-fill).
• Strong cross-functional influence without direct authority.
• Willingness to travel to Gregory Packaging facilities (approximately 20-30%).

Responsibilities

• Own the new product development calendar end to end—from concept to post-launch review.
• Build and maintain timelines, critical paths, and stage-gate checkpoints for every active project.
• Run recurring cross-functional project meetings with clear agendas, owners, and due dates.
• Escalate risk early to flag slipping timelines, cost overruns, and spec conflicts.
• Maintain a single source of truth on pipeline status for sales and leadership.
• Write briefs defining product target: flavor, nutrition, claims, shelf life, cost, packaging.
• Source and manage flavor houses, ingredients, co-development labs, and testing partners.
• Manage the sample cycle and coordinate internal evaluations of iterations.
• Negotiate development timelines with outside partners and ensure adherence.
• Review costed formulas against target COGS and drive reformulation as needed.
• Qualify ingredient and raw material suppliers; manage lead times and MOQs.
• Partner with procurement on commodity exposure and cost-out opportunities.
• Build material readiness plan for launch: ingredients, packaging, closures, cases, labels.
• Support demand planning on initial launch forecasts and inventory build.
• Partner with Processing, Quality Assurance, Packaging Design, Sales and Business Development to ensure alignment and successful handoffs.
• Own the handoff to operations with finished specs and run parameters.
• Lead first production run oversight on site and resolve issues.
• Manage item setup, specs, and launch readiness across systems.
• Conduct post-launch reviews and feed learnings back into the process.
• Support renovation of existing SKUs—cost reduction, substitutions, and reformulation.

Skills

Project management

Product development

Supply chain

Cross-functional teamwork

Vendor management

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Gregory Packaging Inc. seeks a Product Development Manager to own new products from concept to first commercial run. You will manage stage-gate processes, timelines, external partners, and alignment across processing, QA, packaging design, procurement, and sales.

Your work ensures the formula translates to scale, at cost, across five facilities. The ideal candidate has 5+ years in beverage/food manufacturing, experience across development and supply chain, and a proven launch track record.