Senior Print & Packaging Project Manager

ICP; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

ICP is seeking a Senior Print & Packaging Project Manager to lead a high-volume global packaging programme from client brief through production, review and final delivery. You will be ICP's senior day-to-day client partner, translating complex requirements into actionable work for our Studio and production teams.

The role combines deep print and packaging production knowledge with strong client judgement and commercial awareness, managing priorities, risks and scope across multi-market

Qualifications

• Substantial experience leading print and packaging production within a creative production environment.
• Proven track record managing complex, high-volume packaging programmes for international brands.
• Deep knowledge of print, packaging artwork, colour, reprographics, and pre-press processes.
• Experience managing multi-market, multi-language localization requirements.
• Strong client-facing judgement and ability to negotiate priorities and timing.
• Highly organised with extensive briefs, trackers, assets and approvals.
• Commercial awareness with budgets, scope and reconciliation.
• Comfortable in client-controlled systems while maintaining ICP governance.
• Advanced Excel capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full lifecycle of high-volume print and packaging programmes.
• Provide expert guidance on packaging production and print specs.
• Translate briefs into production plans, schedules and review stages.
• Ensure outputs meet brand standards and quality gates.
• Oversee versioning, approvals and final delivery across platforms.
• Manage client relationships and convey risks early.
• Identify priorities and trade-offs with stakeholders.

Skills

Print production leadership

Packaging programmes

Client-facing judgement

Multi-market experience

Colour management

Reprographics

Pre-press knowledge

Excel proficiency

Budget/scope management

Tools

Excel

Job description

The Senior Print & Packaging Project Manager will lead a high-volume global packaging programme from client brief through production, review, approval and final delivery. The role will act as the senior day-to-day client partner, translating complex requirements into clear and actionable work for ICP's Studio and specialist production teams.

The successful candidate will combine deep print and packaging production knowledge with strong client judgement, commercial awareness and the confidence to manage priorities, challenge unclear or unrealistic requests and elevate risks early. The role will work closely with ICP's Studio, quality and automation teams, drawing on flexible project support and specialist expertise as required by workload and scope.

Key Responsibilities

Client leadership and partnership

Act as the senior day-to-day ICP contact, building trusted relationships across the client's marketing, packaging, production and operational teams.

Become deeply familiar with the client environment, seasonal programme, stakeholders, approval routes and internal ways of working.

Lead client briefings, cross-functional meetings, status reviews and key decision points.

Manage expectations clearly and confidently, including where late inputs, conflicting direction or scope changes affect timing, cost or delivery.

Consolidate client direction and ensure ICP receives an agreed source of truth rather than competing instructions.

Print and packaging production leadership

Lead the full project lifecycle for high-volume, detail-heavy print and packaging programmes.

Provide expert advice on packaging production, print specifications, artwork adaptation, colour management, reprographics, substrates, finishes and production risk.

Translate complex briefs and data into clear production plans, deliverables, schedules and review stages.

Ensure work is built to specification, brand standards, market requirements and agreed quality gates.

Confirm that the packaging inputs required for production are complete and accessible, including imagery, templates, regulatory content, translations and multi-market requirements, while maintaining clear boundaries around responsibilities retained by the client.

Oversee versioning, approvals and final delivery across ICP and client platforms or DAMs.

Planning, prioritisation and risk

Own seasonal planning, milestones, dependencies and delivery readiness.

Balance competing requests and make clear priority decisions with the client and ICP teams.

Identify missing or contradictory information before work enters production and agree the resolution path.

Escalate delivery, scope, resource and commercial risks early, with practical options and recommendations.

Protect sustainable working practices by ensuring urgent requests have clear trade-offs and consequences.

Ways of working and workflow improvement

Work effectively with available project, production and specialist support, using additional capacity where justified by workload, programme peaks or agreed scope.

Retain ownership of the client relationship, commercial decisions, priorities and final project accountability, while ensuring work is distributed sensibly across the available team.

Create clear handoffs into Studio, translation, QC and other agreed specialist teams.

Document key decisions, assumptions and exceptions so knowledge is not held by one person.

Contribute to process improvement and help embed automation that reduces repetitive briefing and reconciliation work.

Commercial and account management

Prepare estimates, monitor scope, track budgets and support reconciliation and invoicing.

Identify additional or out-of-scope activity and ensure it is surfaced commercially rather than silently absorbed.

Contribute to account planning, process reviews and proposals for improved services.

Provide concise reporting on programme status, risks, workload and financial performance.

Experience and Skills

• Substantial experience leading print and packaging production within a creative production agency, brand, studio or comparable environment.
• Demonstrable success managing complex, high-volume and fast-moving packaging programmes for international brands.
• Strong technical understanding of print, packaging artwork, colour, reprographics, production specifications and pre-press processes.
• Experience managing multi-market, multi-language and localisation requirements.
• Excellent client-facing judgement, including the confidence to challenge assumptions, clarify ambiguity and negotiate realistic priorities and timing.
• Highly organised and able to manage extensive briefs, spreadsheets, trackers, assets, approvals and concurrent deliverables without losing the strategic picture.
• Commercially aware, with experience in estimates, scope control, budget tracking and reconciliation.
• Comfortable working in client-controlled systems and becoming embedded in a client environment while maintaining clear ICP governance and boundaries.
• Advanced Excel capabi