Project Manager

SALEM1 SMASHBRAND LLC; Kernersville (NC); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

SALEM1 SMASHBRAND LLC in North Carolina seeks a Project Coordination Lead for packaging artwork and regulatory release. You’ll own the end-to-end workflow from setup through final art release, coordinating with design, testing, and printers to hit on-time ship dates.

You’ll manage project schedules, milestones, budgets, and resourcing, protect the team from unrealistic demands, and drive a shorter cycle. Proficiency with ClickUp, Google Workspace, Miro, Canva, and basic Illustrator is preferred,

Qualifications

• 4–6 years in project management, production management or delivery coordination, agency or CPG.
• Hands-on familiarity with packaging artwork and pre-press processes.
• Experience working with printers, production vendors and regulatory teams.
• Strong written English; ability to manage multiple workstreams with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Build project schedules and track milestones and deadlines.
• Monitor daily task lists, budgets, and internal resourcing.
• Protect the internal team from unrealistic demands.
• Own the end-to-end design extension to artwork release with printers and vendors.
• Coordinate production vendors and printers to meet the brief and timeline.

Skills

Project management

Production management

Delivery coordination

Packaging artwork

Regulatory coordination

Tools

ClickUp

Google Workspace

Miro

Canva

Illustrator (basic)

Job description

Why this role existsSmashBrand helps consumer brands win through brand strategy, consumer testing and packaging design. An approved design still has to become accurate, compliant, print-ready artwork across every product in the line, and that stage decides whether a brand launches on time.We’re creating this role to give that work a dedicated owner. You’ll lead each project from setup through final artwork release. At the start, you build the project environment and gather every asset the team needs. At the end, you carry approved designs through SKU extension, copy and regulatory review, printer coordination and final file release.You’ll work across our full portfolio of active projects, partnering with our client success, creative, testing, and strategy teams so every project starts clean and ships accurate and on time. As our client roster grows, this role sets the standard for how quickly and cleanly we get brands to shelf.Core responsibilitiesCore Focus: Operational efficiency, resource allocation, and workflow.Direction: Inward-facing toward the internal teams.Key Responsibilities:Building project schedules, tracking milestones, and managing deadlines.Monitoring daily task lists, budgets, and internal resourcing.Protecting the internal team from unrealistic demands.Success Metric: Delivering projects on time.The back half: Design Extension to artwork release- Own the phase end to end: routing artwork through the agency, coordinating rounds withinternal designers and external production partners, holding the schedule- Drive the phase to a shorter cycle. A back half that takes 12 weeks instead of 6 costs usroughly 48 unbudgeted hours and a client's patience. Reducing that is an explicitobjective of this seat, not a side effect- Build and maintain the Master Copy Doc: every SKU, dieline, UPC, ingredient panel,claim, icon, caution and legal line, current and versioned- Conduct detailed quality checks on artwork for spelling, grammar, product detail, UPC,icon, panel and layout accuracy- Run compliance review against brand rules and regulatory requirements (FDA, TTB,AAFCO, NASC and others as the category demands), and flag risk early- Facilitate client legal, regulatory and printer reviews, consolidate the feedback, and handthe design team a single actionable list rather than five conflicting emails- Confirm feedback sits inside the scoped round count, and escalate to the Client SuccessLead when it does not- Coordinate production vendors and printers day to day against the brief and the timelineProject setup and asset flow- Set up every new project environment: Drive, Dropbox, Canva, Miro, ClickUp, folderstructures, deck shells, file/folder naming conventions- Track, collect and organize project assets so design, testing and production are neverwaiting: dielines, UPCs, ingredients, imagery, product detail, competitive PNGs- Request and track 3D renders against the timeline- Proactively flag missing inputs to the Client Success Lead before they become a delayKeeping the machine running- Own ClickUp: task hygiene, statuses, due dates, phase dates, and holding the team tothe protocol- Feed resourcing: surface where the week is heavy, which projects are peaking together,and where the plan and the calendar have diverged- Maintain project timelines and surface slippage early, with a recommendation, not just areport- Draft status updates and internal next steps for the Client Success Lead's review- Build deck templates and shells so the team starts from a standard rather than a blankpage- Maintain version control and file integrity across every tool- 4 to 6 years in project management, production management or delivery coordination, agency or CPG- Hands-on familiarity with packaging artwork and pre-press process, terminology, substrates and print methods. Design software expertise not required; production literacy is- Experience working directly with printers, production vendors and client regulatory teams- Demonstrated ability to hold many concurrent workstreams without dropping detail- Fluent in ClickUp or an equivalent, plus Google Workspace, Miro, Canva. Basic Illustrator for minor edits preferred but not required- Strong written English. Most direction is given in writing