Packaging Engineer

Purpose

The Packaging Specialist, Discovery & Innovation plays a crucial role in driving innovation within PDI's upstream packaging development. This role involves exploring novel materials, formats, and packaging technologies, translating them into testable concepts, prototypes, and learning plans, and ensuring they progress into the R&D pipeline.

Essential Functions and Basic Duties

• Innovation Leadership: Develop and advance early-stage concepts aligned with PDI's future platforms and strategic priorities.

• Market Insights: Transform consumer insights and market signals into actionable designs and solutions using strong commercial and technical judgement.

• External Partnerships: Engage with suppliers, startups, and academic institutions to leverage external innovation and explore novel materials and technologies enhancing packaging solutions.

• Portfolio Management: Curate and oversee a balanced portfolio of opportunities across various time horizons, ensuring alignment with the Discovery & Innovation roadmap and maximizing long-term value.

• Project Ownership and Execution: Assume full ownership of assigned innovation workstreams, managing project scope, timelines, and execution with a commitment to high-quality standards and successful handoffs to Product Development.

• Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation: Design, build, and test prototypes through rapid experimentation to allow for swift learning and informed go/no-go decisions regarding scalability and feasibility.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with Discovery & Innovation scientists and engineers to integrate packaging into early research and ensure cohesive development workflows.

• Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Identify and address technical, material, and regulatory risks early in the process, developing mitigation strategies to facilitate smooth downstream development.

• Decision Support and Communication: Synthesize findings into comprehensive technical narratives that support portfolio decisions and effectively communicate insights and recommendations to stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Education/Certification: BS in Packaging Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or related scientific discipline from an accredited program; advanced degree preferred.

• Required Knowledge: Packaging materials, formats, and systems; early-stage research and feasibility processes; awareness of packaging considerations in regulated environments; familiarity with emerging materials and sustainability trends.

• Experience Required: 3–6 years in packaging engineering, materials development, or innovation-focused R&D; experience supporting early-stage research or feasibility work; exposure to regulated environments (FDA, EPA, medical device, pharma, or consumer healthcare); experience with prototyping, testing, or concept evaluation.

Skills/Abilities

• Apply strong packaging fundamentals to solve ambiguous, early-stage problems; translate insights into differentiated concepts and clear recommendations; design and execute experiments to assess feasibility and risk; synthesize technical findings into clear, decision-ready outputs; communicate effectively with cross-functional stakeholders; build strong partnerships internally and externally; demonstrate ownership, accountability, and follow-through; stay current on emerging technologies and innovation trends; leverage digital and AI-enabled tools to accelerate research and development.