Packaging Project Manager

24 Seven Talent; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 83,000 - 131,000; Full time

Job summary

24 Seven Talent is seeking an experienced Packaging Project Manager contractor to support national retailer packaging initiatives across the product development lifecycle.

You will coordinate planning, documentation and tracking from initiation through post-launch evaluation, liaising with packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing teams and international suppliers in the U.S., China and India.

Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience supporting project management activities, preferably in packaging, product development, retail, sourcing or related industries.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining project plans, schedules and milestone trackers.
• Familiarity with Stage-Gate project management processes and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple activities and deadlines.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
• Ability to identify, document and escalate project risks and issues.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders and geographically distributed teams.
• Proficiency with project management, reporting and collaboration tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain project plans, Stage-Gate documentation and end-to-end Timing & Action trackers for assigned packaging projects.
• Gather and document requirements, deliverables, dependencies, constraints and assumptions from stakeholders.
• Maintain schedules aligned with business calendars and approved milestones.
• Track activities, deadlines, action items and deliverable completion.
• Maintain a centralized T&A tracker showing owners, activities and target completion dates.
• Identify schedule conflicts, dependencies and execution risks, and upscale concerns to the client’s project leaders.
• Prepare status reports, dashboards and supporting documentation.
• Document project changes, decisions and lessons learned.
• Analyze project data to improve planning and tracking processes.
• Coordinate activities across packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing and supplier teams.
• Schedule, organize and facilitate working sessions, including Stage-Gate reviews.
• Prepare agendas, document discussions, capture action items and track follow-up.
• Monitor progress from kickoff through post-launch evaluation against milestones and deliverables.
• Identify, document and escalation risks, issues and roadblocks to stakeholders.
• Support issue resolution by gathering information and coordinating follow-up.
• Maintain project visibility in the client’s approved project management systems.
• Prepare project summaries and status updates for stakeholders.

Skills

Project management

Stage-Gate coordination

Cross-functional coordination

Scheduling

Risk identification

Communication

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

PM software

Job description

Our client, a national retailer, is seeking an experienced Packaging Project Manager contractor to provide project management support for owned-brand packaging initiatives.

The contractor will support the planning, coordination, documentation and tracking of packaging projects across the product development lifecycle, from project initiation through post-launch evaluation. The role works with the client’s packaging, product development, creative, brand and sourcing teams, as well as international suppliers and partners in the U.S., China and India.

The focus is on executing defined project management activities, maintaining project documentation, monitoring timelines, identifying risks and supporting cross-functional coordination. Client team members keep responsibility for business strategy, resource allocation decisions, project approvals and organizational leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning, Stage-Gate Coordination and Timeline Management

• Develop and maintain project plans, Stage-Gate documentation and end-to-end Timing & Action (T&A) trackers for assigned packaging projects.
• Gather and document requirements, deliverables, dependencies, constraints and assumptions from stakeholders.
• Maintain schedules aligned with business calendars and approved milestones.
• Track activities, deadlines, action items and deliverable completion.
• Maintain a centralized T&A tracker showing owners, activities and target completion dates.
• Identify schedule conflicts, dependencies and execution risks, and upscale concerns to the client’s project leaders.
• Prepare status reports, dashboards and supporting documentation.
• Document project changes, decisions and lessons learned.
• Analyze project data to find ways to improve project planning and tracking processes.

Project Resource Coordination and Tracking

• Collect and document resource requirements from designated stakeholders.
• Maintain resource allocation trackers and staffing documentation as directed by client project leadership.
• Monitor resource availability, dependencies and capacity constraints.
• Identify and communicate resource-related risks to timelines or deliverables.
• Provide reporting and analysis to support resource planning decisions made by client leadership.

Cross-Functional Packaging Project Coordination

• Coordinate activities across packaging, product development, creative, brand, sourcing and supplier teams.
• Schedule, organize and facilitate working sessions, including cross-functional team meetings and Stage-Gate reviews.
• Prepare agendas, document discussions, capture action items and track follow-up.
• Monitor progress from kickoff through post-launch evaluation against milestones and deliverables.
• Identify, document and escalation risks, issues and roadblocks to the appropriate stakeholders.
• Support issue resolution by gathering information, tracking action items and coordinating follow-up.
• Maintain project visibility in the client’s approved project management systems.
• Support approved process changes by updating documentation, timelines and tracking tools.
• Compile post-launch findings, lessons learned and recommendations for client project leadership.
• Prepare project summaries and status updates for stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Experience supporting project management activities, preferably in packaging, product development, retail, sourcing or related industries.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining project plans, schedules and milestone trackers.
• Familiarity with Stage-Gate project management processes and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple activities and deadlines.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
• Ability to identify, document and escalation project risks and issues.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders and geographically distributed teams.
• Proficiency with project management, reporting and collaboration tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification, a project management certificate or Agile training.
• Experience supporting packaging development or owned-brand product creation.
• Experience working with global suppliers or international project teams.
• Knowledge of project management systems, dashboards and reporting tools.
• Experience with Timing & Action (T&A) tracking and Stage-Gate processes.
• Experience supporting process improvement and change implementation.
• Familiarity with resource tracking and capacity reporting.
• Complete assigned project management activities within established timelines and deliverable requirements.
• Collaborate with client stakeholders on project-specific activities.
• Provide timely and accurate project status documentation.
• Escalate issues that need business decisions or leadership approval to the designated client resource manager.
• Follow applicable information security, confidentiality and external worker policies.
• Work within the approved assignment scope and authorized systems access.