Project Manager - Corporate Engineering

About the role

Lead capital equipment projects that support the manufacturing—conversion, printing, laminating, extrusion, and packaging operations—of a flexible packaging business. This role manages the full lifecycle of capital investments, from project approval and equipment specification through procurement, installation, commissioning, and production ramp-up. The Project Manager collaborates with Engineering, Asset Management, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, EHS, and equipment suppliers to deliver projects that improve safety, capacity, quality, operational efficiency, and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Lead capital equipment projects ranging from equipment upgrades to major manufacturing line installations.
• Develop project scopes, schedules, budgets, resource plans, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and achieve defined business objectives.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects across corporate engineering groups.
• Provide regular project updates to engineering, plant leadership, and executive stakeholders.
• Develop equipment specifications and technical requirements for manufacturing and converting equipment.
• Evaluate supplier proposals and participate in equipment selection decisions.
• Manage procurement activities, contract negotiations, and vendor relationships.
• Coordinate equipment design reviews, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), installation, startup, and commissioning.
• Ensure equipment performance meets specified safety, quality, throughput, and reliability requirements.
• Support projects involving:
  • Flexographic, digital, or rotogravure printing systems
  • Adhesive and extrusion lamination equipment
  • Blown film and cast film extrusion systems
  • Slitting and rewinding equipment
  • Pouch-making and bag-converting machinery
  • Inspection and vision systems
  • Material handling and automation systems
  • Thermoforming equipment
• Support Asset Management in developing business cases and ROI analyses for capital investments.
• Prepare and manage capital expenditure approval requests (CEAV, TrAces).
• Monitor project budgets, spending forecasts, and financial performance.
• Support annual capital planning and strategic investment roadmaps.
• Ensure projects comply with OSHA, environmental, machine safety, and company engineering standards.
• Coordinate risk assessments and machine safeguarding reviews.
• Support food packaging compliance requirements, GMP practices, and quality management systems.
• Ensure site acceptance testing, validation, and qualification activities are completed before production handoff.
• Lead cross-functional project teams consisting of Engineering, Asset Management, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, and EHS personnel.
• Facilitate project reviews, milestone meetings, and leadership updates.
• Drive accountability, communication, and alignment across stakeholders.
• Apply Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement methodologies to project execution.
• Capture lessons learned and implement best practices across facilities.
• Lead project risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and contingency planning activities throughout all phases of project execution.
• Develop and maintain project risk registers, ensuring risks are evaluated for schedule, cost, safety, quality, operational, and business impacts.
• Facilitate cross-functional risk reviews with engineering, asset management, operations, maintenance, quality, EHS, and project stakeholders.
• Proactively identify potential project obstacles and implement corrective actions to minimize disruptions to project objectives.
• Monitor and communicate project risks, mitigation plans, and residual risks to leadership and stakeholders.
• Conduct lessons learned reviews and incorporate risk mitigation best practices into future projects.
• Support equipment and process risk assessments, including machine safety evaluations, process hazard analyses, and startup readiness reviews.

Skills

• Capital Project Management
• Equipment Commissioning
• Technical Leadership
• Financial Acumen
• Vendor Management
• Risk Assessment
• Continuous Improvement
• Change Management
• Problem Solving
• Influencing and Stakeholder Engagement

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field.
• 5+ years of project management experience supporting manufacturing or capital equipment projects.
• Experience managing equipment installation and commissioning projects in an industrial manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of capital project management, budgeting, scheduling, and risk management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage competing priorities.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, and SAP ERP systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within flexible packaging, film extrusion, converting, packaging, or related manufacturing industries.
• PMP certification or equivalent project management credentials preferred but not required.
• Experience with flexible packaging producing equipment which may include:
  • Flexographic, digital, or rotogravure printing systems
  • Adhesive and extrusion lamination equipment
  • Blown film and cast film extrusion systems
  • Slitting and rewinding equipment
  • Pouch-making and bag-converting machinery
  • Inspection and vision systems
  • Material handling and automation systems
  • Thermoforming equipment
• Experience managing projects exceeding $500K to $10M+ in capital investment.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plans
• Flexible time off, starting at 80 hours paid time per year for full-time salaried employees
• Company-paid holidays starting at 8 days per year (varies by location)
• Wellbeing program & Employee Assistance Program
• Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
• Life insurance, AD&D, short-term & long-term disability, and voluntary benefits
• Paid Parental Leave
• Retirement Savings Plan with company match
• Tuition Reimbursement (dependent upon approval)
• Discretionary annual bonus program (initial eligibility dependent upon hire date)