Job Title: Packaging Engineering Manager - Pet
Location: Lakeville, Minnesota
Employment Type: Regular Full-Time (Hybrid: 3 days onsite, 2 days work from home)
Department: Research & Development
Job Overview
We are seeking a Packaging Engineering Manager to lead our packaging development team for pet food and pet treat products. This role involves managing team activities, leading cross-functional initiatives, and ensuring compliance with safety, quality, and environmental standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Team Leadership: Manage and lead the packaging team in new product/packaging development, scale-up, startups, and optimization or cost-saving activities.
- Managerial Duties: Train, coach, and manage team performance to achieve high productivity, strong morale, and effective individual development.
- Technical Support: Assist the packaging team with new packaging/product development, troubleshoot technical packaging problems, and identify solutions.
- Project Management: Prioritize and manage team activities, supervise staff resources, and monitor results, taking corrective action when necessary.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Marketing, Operations, Purchasing, Finance, and Business Leadership to determine team priorities.
- Technical Expertise: Provide technical expertise in package and process development, ingredient-and-package material interfaces, shelf-life testing, and consumer acceptability.
- Innovation and Savings: Work with plant resources and external packaging suppliers to achieve development goals and identify opportunities for savings and innovation.
- Continuous Improvement: Support operations to reduce costs and improve quality.
Qualifications
- Education: BS in Packaging Engineering or equivalent (e.g., Chemical Engineering).
- Experience:
- Minimum of 7 years in packaging development within the food industry.
- Ideally 15+ years of experience.
- Proven track record of bringing various new packaging/products to market from concept to national launch.
- Preferred experience in pet food packaging.
- Experience managing people and packaging engineers.
- Technical Skills: Knowledge of multiple packaging materials such as film/laminate, paperboard, steel/aluminum metal cans, corrugated, thermoforming, and injection molding.
