Packaging Engineer

We are seeking a creative individual to lead and drive packaging initiatives for the Consumer Products Group (CPG). This individual will establish the packaging process working cross-functionally with exceptional project management skills. This individual will be responsible for supporting all brands sold in various channels, across a variety of projects, including primary and transportation package design, die line creation, internal and regulatory testing, sustainability reporting, and documentation. The role will work with multiple cross-functional teams and contribute individually to create and maintain a packaging process.

As the Packaging Engineer, this individual will design and develop structural packaging solutions to support product launches, lead the internal testing and manage external testing partners to validate solutions, and manage existing legacy items from technical support to cost savings.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Packaging Development. Lead packaging engineering, design, development and testing across all CPG brands to meet milestones and schedules.
• Vendor Management. Must have proven experience in die line creation, to lead programs while managing external supplier and vendors in development, prototyping, testing, and production validation.
• Process Creation. Establish a packaging engineering process to support various brands, retailer and regulatory requirements and initiatives. Recommend opportunities for improvements or efficiencies across platforms.
• Sustainability. Work closely with the Sustainability & Regulatory to ensure compliance with all current and future regulations, customer and internal requirements, ad hoc sustainability initiatives, and to support corporate Sustainability Goals
• Program Management. Collaborate with Brand, Marketing, Purchasing, Engineering, Industrial Design, Operations, Sustainability, and Regulatory teams to create and validate artwork of primary and transport packaging

Key Results Areas

• Identify and determine feasibility of new sustainable materials and technologies.
• Provide awareness of consumer and regulatory trends by maintaining connection with industry thought leaders, industry groups and policy makers.
• Support development of claims and communication and assessment of packaging certifications related to product sustainability.
• Create die lines for primary and secondary packaging
• Specify materials and create RFQ documents to support the Supply Chain function
• Manage the entire lifecycle of the package development
• Collaborate with Marketing, Industrial Design, Sustainability, Engineering, and Regulatory to meet project timelines.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives
• Stay up to date on industry advancements in materials and processes to meet our sustainability goals
• Be the subject matter expert on ASTM/ISTA testing and other retailer requirements
• Effectively work in a team environment while also maintaining individual project responsibilities and timelines
• Present ideas and solutions for improvements and more efficient solutions to management and peers
• Create standard engineering drawings and manage the document control system
• Have direct experience working with chip, corrugated, PVC, etc.

Knowledge/Technical Skills/Certifications/Experience Required

• Experienced in consumer goods packaging requirements for brick & mortar and direct-to-consumer
• Exceptional time management skills to support work across multiple business units at various stages of package development
• Proficiency in industry standard design software ArtiosCAD and TOPs
• Experience with ISTA and ASTM testing related to primary and transport package testing
• Ability to manage supplier and vendor relationships regarding development and testing
• Knowledge of common packaging materials, specifically corrugate, chipboard, and plastics
• Proven success of working on multiple projects concurrently
• Comfort with working through unique challenges that require creative problem solving to identify information that may be in multiple locations or need to be created new
• Ability to present and communicate packaging ideas, problems, and solutions to cross-functional teams with various levels subject knowledge
• Experience in creating and managing packaging specifications, standards, and drawings
• Knowledge of brick and mortar vs. direct-to-consumer regulatory requirements
• Working understanding of CAD software SolidWorks and PDM document management is a plus

Education Required

• Bachelor's degree Packaging Science/Engineering with a minimum of 7-10 years related packaging experience.