internal
Mark W. Kowlzan
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
15 yr
8 reports
Packaging Corporation of America ·PKG
Operations-led structure with mills and corrugated run separately
Materials · Fortune #457 · Functional structure · 15K employees · Lake Forest, Illinois
View as of:
7
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
3.2
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
3 levels
6.8 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
71%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$9.0B
Operating income
$1.1B
Net income
$774M
Total assets
$10.7B
Employees
14K
Shares out
89.21B
Sourced from Packaging Corporation of America DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-27 ↗ View on SEC
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Packaging Corporation of America organizational chart
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Packaging Corp. of America is organized around a distinctive operations-led structure in which mill operations and corrugated products are run by separate EVPs reporting directly to the CEO. This page details PCA’s executive org chart, leadership metrics, recent changes, and peer comparisons.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Fabian C. Strauss moved into Senior Vice President, Finance, Controller & Treasurer
Promoted effective March 1, 2026 to principal accounting officer.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add a Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO to consolidate mill and corrugated operations under a single leader, potentially reducing CEO span.
- Consolidate Mill and Corrugated Ops Move both EVPs under the President to tighten operational coordination.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
8 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Thomas A. Hassfurther
President
Operations
6 yr
0 reports
internal
Charles J. Carter
Executive Vice President, Mill Operations
Manufacturing
8 yr
0 reports
internal
Donald R. Shirley
Executive Vice President, Corrugated Products
Corrugated Products
7 yr
0 reports
Kent A. Pflederer
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
1 yr
1 reports
internal
S. Ellis Cunningham
Vice President & General Counsel
Legal
5 yr
0 reports
Open Role
Vice President, Human Resources
Human Resources
1 yr
0 reports
Open Role
Vice President, Information Technology
Technology
1 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Mark W. Kowlzan $17.0M
- Base salary
- $1.54M
- Stock awards
- $11.48M
- Non-equity incentive
- $3.10M
- Pension change
- $790K
- Other
- $78K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
6×CEO base salary
3×NEO base salary
Ownership guidelines based on multiples of base salary.
The businesses
How Packaging Corporation of America divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Mill Operations
6K employees
Executive Vice President, Mill Operations (Charles J. Carter)
Operates PCA’s containerboard mills with a focus on cost, yield, and reliability.
Corrugated Products
7K employees
Executive Vice President, Corrugated Products (Donald R. Shirley)
Manages converting plants, box plants, and customer-facing packaging solutions.
Finance
600 employees
EVP & CFO (Kent A. Pflederer)
Oversees financial reporting, capital allocation, treasury, and investor relations.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
PCA’s most distinctive feature is its explicit separation of mill operations and corrugated products at the top executive level.
Unlike peers that consolidate manufacturing and converting under a single COO, PCA has two powerful EVPs reporting directly to the CEO, each with distinct operational accountability. This reinforces an operations-first culture rooted in manufacturing efficiency.
The CEO maintains a relatively broad span of control, with seven direct reports and only four layers overall. Finance, legal, HR, and IT remain centralized functions, while revenue-generating and asset-intensive activities are structurally privileged. The President role focuses on enterprise coordination rather than acting as an operating COO.
This structure aligns with PCA’s long-standing emphasis on operational excellence, capital discipline, and mill productivity, while keeping corporate overhead lean compared with diversified packaging peers.
- Separate EVP roles for mills and corrugated products
- No standalone COO role
- High internal promotion at C-suite level
The comparison
How Packaging Corporation of America stacks up
Compared with International Paper and WestRock, PCA operates with fewer management layers and a more operations-centric executive team. Many peers employ a COO or regional presidents, whereas PCA relies on functional EVPs for mills and corrugated products. This results in a flatter structure and faster decision-making. …
C-suite size
Packaging Corporation of America
8
Graphic Packaging
9
Smurfit WestRock
11
WestRock
10
Reporting depth
Packaging Corporation of America
3 levels
5 levels
Graphic Packaging
5 levels
Smurfit WestRock
6 levels
WestRock
6 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Packaging Corporation of America
7 yr
Graphic Packaging
6 yr
Smurfit WestRock
7 yr
WestRock
5 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
Packaging Corporation of America — no COO — no CAIO
Graphic Packaging ✓ COO — no CAIO
Smurfit WestRock — no COO — no CAIO
WestRock ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most consequential recent change was the CFO transition following Robert Mundy’s retirement and Fabian Strauss’s promotion.
- promotedFabian C. Strauss Senior Vice President, Finance, Controller & Treasurer
Promoted effective March 1, 2026 to principal accounting officer.
Source - departedRobert P. Mundy Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Retired effective March 1, 2026 after stepping down as CFO on May 1, 2025.
Source - Date not confirmed departed
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-27
- CEO
- Mark W. Kowlzan
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 6.5 yr
CFO transition underway following Mundy retirement.
Named executive officers (5)
- Mark W. Kowlzan - CEO since 2010
- Thomas A. Hassfurther - President since 2020
- Charles J. Carter - EVP Mill Operations since 2015
- Donald R. Shirley - EVP Corrugated Products since 2018
- Kent A. Pflederer - CFO since 2024
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-03-27
- CEO
- Mark W. Kowlzan
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 7.1 yr
Stable long-tenured executive team.
Named executive officers (5)
- Mark W. Kowlzan - CEO since 2010
- Thomas A. Hassfurther - EVP Corrugated Products since 2018
- Robert P. Mundy - CFO since 2013
- Charles J. Carter - EVP Mill Operations since 2015
- Donald R. Shirley - SVP Corporate Engineering since 2016
Year-over-year changes
The primary change was the CFO succession following Mundy’s retirement.
- CEO span: 6 → 7
- C-suite size: 5 → 5
- Avg tenure: 7.1 → 6.5 yr
- departed Robert P. Mundy - CFO (was EVP & CFO) (DEF 14A 2026-03-27)
- new Kent A. Pflederer - CFO (DEF 14A 2026-03-27)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Packaging Corp. of America?
Mark W. Kowlzan has served as Chairman and CEO since 2010.
What type of organizational structure does Packaging Corp. of America use?
PCA uses a functional, operations-led structure centered on manufacturing and corrugated products.
How many direct reports does Packaging Corp. of America’s CEO have?
The CEO has seven direct reports as of 2026.
How has Packaging Corp. of America’s leadership changed recently?
Recent changes include the retirement of CFO Robert Mundy and the promotion of Fabian Strauss in March 2026.
Does Packaging Corp. of America have a COO?
No. PCA does not have a standalone COO, instead splitting operations between mill and corrugated EVPs.
Sources
- Form 8-K, Mar 3 2026
- SEC EDGAR: Packaging Corporation of America DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Packaging Corporation of America 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Packaging Corporation of America organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/packaging-corp-of-america/MLA 9th
"Packaging Corporation of America Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/packaging-corp-of-america/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Packaging Corporation of America Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/packaging-corp-of-america/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Packaging Corporation of America. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-27. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/75677/000119312526127602/d176963ddef14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/packaging-corp-of-america/ · last updated 2026-04-01