Packaging Engineer

Job Description
Pay range: $82,475 to $103,100 per year.
To assure Foster Farms maintains a competitive advantage in the area of packaging materials and equipment through the development and testing of structures and respective machinery.  Assist in developing and implementing product packaging strategies that incorporate breakthrough technology, product innovation, and operational services, in the most cost-effective manner.  Provide packaging leadership and strategic management to the company’s Operations, Product Development, and Marketing departments.
Responsibilities 
Manage all packaging design aspects assigned of new product development across all production facilities working in conjunction with Marketing, Operations, Quality Assurance, Sourcing, and material vendors.
Develop new packaging designs and offer improvements on existing designs for cost reduction, productivity opportunities, innovations, etc. This includes primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
Develop protocols for plant trials and commercialization stages using mutually agreed upon Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) from Operations and Marketing. Document Pre-trial meetings and keep on file for future reference.
Oversee plant trials, reporting against predetermined KPIs, and oversee first commercialization production runs, gaining Plant Management and Marketing acceptance as part of the criteria for success. Document all trials accordingly and maintain in a central location for all to access.
Provide technical expertise to assure all company packaging is best in class with regards to new technologies and structures, respective of current machinery, and the functionality of the individual finished good.
Identify and collaborate on new opportunities working with Vendors, Operations, Marketing and Supply Chain.
Maintain and help develop/support a prioritized project list with input from Marketing, Operations, Product Development and Sourcing to assist in managing supplier expectations and track all progress and report results on a quarterly basis.
Support the effort to have all raw materials packaging product specification written using a common template. Template is to be based on common attributes critical to the component.
Provide technical expertise for mid to large scale operational issues regarding packaging and work directly with operations and suppliers to identify the root cause of ongoing issues.
Develop long term solutions for ongoing issues.
Request and approve dielines/artwork for new packaging for all business units as assigned.
Create and maintain pallet patterns for product specifications in a centralized location on assigned projects.
Act as functioning member of a Business Unit team that has been assigned.
Work on cost savings initiatives and initiate projects supporting this initiative.
Assist in pipeline scoping and technical assessment of future innovation projects & ideas.
Collaborate with R&D on shelf life for new packaging materials and assist in collecting samples.
Support and/or manage multiple projects simultaneously, in a fast-paced environment
Adaptable to change and ability to embrace moving in different directions as needed.
Work towards becoming a Subject matter expert in a specific type of packaging – corrugated, flexible, rigid, etc.
Additional Functions
Participate in Industry organizations as appropriate. Attend trade shows/conferences as appropriate to network and increase knowledge to help Foster Farms become stronger as an organization.
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