Director of Product Development & Commercialization

Job description:

Pacron is a growing manufacturer and distributor of protective packaging products, including bubble, poly, Kraft, metalized, and recycled packaging solutions. As the company continues to expand its product portfolio, manufacturing capabilities, and market opportunities, Pacron is seeking an experienced Director of Product Development & Commercialization to lead new products and equipment opportunities from concept through successful commercial launch.

This is a highly visible, hands-on position reporting directly to the CEO

The position is designed for a commercially minded leader who can identify opportunities, determine how they should be manufactured or sourced, evaluate the required equipment and investment, develop the business case, and bring the opportunity to market. The successful candidate will work across Sales, Operations, Purchasing, Finance, Marketing, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and customers to turn ideas into profitable, scalable businesses.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead new product development from initial concept through commercial launch.
• Identify and evaluate new product categories, packaging solutions, technologies, and market opportunities.
• Work closely with Sales and customers to understand applications, specifications, performance requirements, and market demand.
• Identify opportunities to expand Pacron's existing product portfolio and enter new protective packaging markets.
• Develop prototypes, samples, specifications, testing programs, and product trials.
• Coordinate product testing, customer trials, beta programs, and product improvements.
• Establish a structured process for moving opportunities from concept to commercialization.
• Successfully transition launched products into Pacron's normal Sales, Operations, Purchasing, and customer-service processes.

Manufacturing & Equipment Development

• Determine manufacturing requirements for new products, including processes, equipment, tooling, materials, labor, capacity, and quality requirements.
• Evaluate whether products should be manufactured internally, outsourced, imported, or sourced domestically.
• Research and evaluate new manufacturing technologies, machinery, automation, and equipment.
• Identify and evaluate domestic and international equipment manufacturers and machine suppliers.
• Coordinate machine demonstrations, trials, technical evaluations, equipment selection, installation, startup, and production qualification.
• Work closely with Operations and production teams to determine manufacturing feasibility and scalability.
• Evaluate opportunities to expand or improve Pacron's extrusion, converting, packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities.
• Identify opportunities to improve existing products through new materials, processes, equipment, automation, or manufacturing methods.

Sourcing & Supplier Development

• Identify and qualify domestic and international suppliers for new products, materials, components, and finished goods.
• Develop and maintain supplier relationships and evaluate supplier capabilities, quality, capacity, lead times, and pricing.
• Manage product samples, specifications, testing, costing, and supplier qualification.
• Evaluate opportunities for imported or sourced products that complement Pacron's internally manufactured product portfolio.
• Work with Purchasing and Finance to develop landed-cost models and evaluate sourcing alternatives.

Commercial & Financial Analysis

• Develop business cases for new products, equipment, and market opportunities.
• Analyze expected sales, product costs, gross margins, capital requirements, operating costs, and expected ROI.
• Evaluate equipment investments, tooling requirements, working capital, and expected payback periods.
• Work with Sales and Finance to establish preliminary pricing and margin expectations.
• Determine the commercial viability of new opportunities before significant resources or capital are committed.
• Track project performance against approved business cases and financial expectations.

Customer & Market Development

• Work directly with customers and Sales to identify unmet needs and potential new product opportunities.
• Translate customer requirements into commercially viable products and manufacturing solutions.
• Participate in customer meetings, product presentations, trials, and commercialization discussions.
• Understand competitive products, market pricing, applications, and industry trends.
• Identify opportunities for Pacron to differentiate through product performance, cost, service, manufacturing capability, or innovation.

Equipment & Technology Commercialization

Pacron is developing opportunities involving industrial equipment and machinery that can be offered to customers.

Responsibilities may include:

• Identifying equipment and technology that can provide value to Pacron customers.
• Working with outside machine builders, engineering partners, and equipment manufacturers.
• Coordinating prototypes, demonstrations, testing, and beta installations.
• Supporting equipment selection and customer implementation.
• Establishing pricing, warranties, installation requirements, training, spare-parts requirements, and service strategies.
• Developing the commercial model for equipment and technology offerings.
• Supporting Sales in presenting equipment solutions to customers.

Project Leadership

• Build and maintain a structured pipeline of new product, manufacturing, sourcing, and equipment opportunities.
• Establish project timelines, milestones, budgets, responsibilities, and accountability.
• Lead cross-functional development teams and keep projects moving toward completion.
• Identify obstacles early and develop practical solutions to keep projects on schedule.
• Coordinate internal resources and outside partners throughout development and commercialization.
• Provide regular updates to the CEO regarding project status, investment requirements, risks, opportunities, and expected returns.
• Manage multiple development and commercialization projects simultaneously.

This is not a traditional R&D-only position.

The role requires the ability to connect:

Customer Need → Product → Manufacturing → Equipment → Cost → Investment → Testing → Launch → Revenue

The successful candidate should be comfortable moving between a customer meeting, manufacturing floor, equipment supplier, product trial, financial analysis, and sales discussion.

The position requires someone who can evaluate questions such as:

• Is there a real customer need?
• How large is the opportunity?
• Should Pacron manufacture it or source it?
• What equipment and capabilities will be required?
• Can the product be manufactured efficiently and at scale?
• What will it cost?
• What can it be sold for?
• What margin can be achieved?
• How much capital will be required?
• What is the expected ROI?
• How quickly can it be brought to market?
• What needs to happen to turn the opportunity into revenue?