About the Company - Leading beverage manufacturer is looking for a highly qualified Senior Packaging Engineer to lead initiatives to ensure company goals are met. This role supports new product development teams as an integral team member, providing design, development, qualification, and validation of new and/or improved packages for chilled and ambient juice portfolios. The ideal candidate will be a critical thinker with exceptional communication, influencing, and relationship management skills who thrives in a fast-paced environment. This role will offer a safe space for entrepreneurial ideation, while also practicing radical candor and showing respect for what each R&D function brings to the organization. As a part of the nimble R&D team, you will be given opportunities to stretch, lead, and learn more than many other organizations will offer. As a member of an entrepreneurial culture, the ideal candidate will possess an ownership mindset and a focus on the consumer. Comfort with ambiguity, a focus on agility, and appropriate risk-taking is a must. Strong R&D and cross-functional collaboration and communication skills required. If you are looking to act like an entrepreneur in a multibillion-dollar company with well-established and loved brands, this is ideal role for you. Willingness to adapt and thrive in a blended work environment, seamlessly transitioning between remote work and in-office operations is required. The R&D team is onsite in Chicago 3 days a week.
About the Role - Professional Experience / Qualifications:
BS in Packaging Science/Engineering, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent, advanced degree preferred.
5-10 years' work experience within food/beverage branded packaging.
Must have permanent US work authorization that does not require sponsorship now or in the future.
Must have branded food product experience in the development and execution of primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging materials and knowledge of the interrelationship with equipment.
Must have experience executing scale up activities, writing plant trial protocols, leading scale up trials at manufacturing sites, and completing trial reports with recommendations for manufacturing to deliver successful production of a finished product.
Must have strong conceptual, analytical, and technical skills with excellent communication and presentation skills.
Experience with injection or extrusion blow molding and/or aluminum cans desired.
Proven track record maintaining good working relationships with cross functional business partners (Marketing, Supply Chain, Sales, etc.)
Nimble business mind with a focus on developing creative solutions.
Highly organized with great attention to detail and able to adapt quickly to changing priorities and unexpected requests.
Strong project management skills to develop project timelines with multiple cross-functional touchpoints.
Must be able to lift product cases unassisted at plant trials and prepare pallets for testing.
Must be able to sit or work on foot for extended periods of time.
Must be able to travel domestically 25% of the time (on average).
Additional Responsibilities / Requirements:
Must demonstrate an ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and consumer-driven environment.
Identify, evaluate, and develop packaging solutions that meet business, manufacturing, customer, and consumer needs.
Maintain open communication and build strong relationships with internal & external teams from suppliers to cross functions.
Innovative thinking and solution-oriented problem-solving skills. Knowledge of troubleshooting tools/techniques desired.
Leads as an active member of cross-functional business development teams comprised of individuals from a variety of disciplines, including Marketing, Purchasing, Engineering and other groups.
Provide support to manufacturing teams during the implementation of commercialization activities and packaging changes.
Outstanding teamwork, collaboration, communication, and leadership skills required.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively and manage risk in a fast-paced environment with ambiguity and change.
Maintains and leverages external network of material and equipment vendors and co-manufacturing partners.
Ability to independently tackle ambiguous problems to determine and prioritize business strategies.
Demonstrated ability to implement short- and long-term strategies to support organizational operation and transformation.
Identify, drive and deliver cost savings opportunities, looking both at individual component level as well as process improvements and manufacturing efficiency gains.
Create "go to market" solutions that deliver product efficiently via multiple distribution platforms.
Utilize innovative and critical thinking skills to design solutions for organizational challenges.