Packaging Program Manager: Cross-Functional Delivery

Horizontal Talent; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 32,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Horizontal Talent is seeking a dynamic packaging project manager to drive Owned Brand packaging initiatives from planning through post-launch evaluation. You will coordinate cross-functional teams across packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing, and global supplier partners.

Responsibilities include building and maintaining project plans, tracking schedules, and preparing status updates; organizing meetings and stage-gate reviews; and identifying risks while maintaining

Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent relevant experience is required.
• Experience supporting project management work in packaging, product development, retail, sourcing, or related field.
• Ability to create and manage project plans, schedules, and milestone trackers.
• Familiarity with stage-gate processes and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong organization and the ability to manage multiple priorities at once.
• Analytical problem-solving skills and sound judgment for risks and issues.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders and distributed teams.
• Proficiency with project management, reporting, and collaboration tools.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain project plans, timing trackers, and stage-gate documentation for assigned packaging initiatives.
• Collect and organize project requirements, deliverables, assumptions, dependencies, and constraints from key stakeholders.
• Track schedules, milestones, action items, and deadlines to help keep work moving forward.
• Maintain a centralized tracker of owners, tasks, and target completion dates.
• Identify schedule conflicts, project risks, and dependencies, and escalate concerns to the appropriate project leaders.
• Prepare project status updates, dashboards, and supporting documentation.
• Document decisions, changes, and lessons learned throughout the project lifecycle.
• Support resource tracking by collecting staffing needs, monitoring availability, and flagging capacity concerns.
• Coordinate activities across packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing, and supplier teams.
• Organize meetings, working sessions, and stage-gate reviews; prepare agendas and capture follow-up actions.
• Monitor progress from kickoff through post-launch evaluation and help maintain visibility through approved project systems.
• Support issue resolution by gathering information, tracking action items, and coordinating follow-up.
• Compile post-launch findings and recommendations for leadership review.

Skills

Experience in packaging/project mgmt

Project planning

Cross-functional coordination

Multiple priorities management

Risk and issue identification

Clear written and verbal communication

Stakeholder collaboration

PM tools and reporting

Dashboard/reporting knowledge

Timing/tracking and stage-gate

Resource tracking and capacity

Education

Four-year degree or equivalent relevant experience

Job description

Horizontal Talent is seeking a dynamic packaging project manager to drive Owned Brand packaging initiatives from planning through post-launch evaluation. You will coordinate cross-functional teams across packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing, and global supplier partners.

Responsibilities include building and maintaining project plans, tracking schedules, and preparing status updates; organizing meetings and stage-gate reviews; and identifying risks while maintaining