Sr Engineer, R&D - Plastic Rigid Packaging

Job Purpose  

​​As the Rigid Packaging Developer, you will support the development and advancement of rigid plastic packaging solutions for the North American portfolio. The objective of the role is to identify, develop, evaluate, and validate rigid plastic packaging technologies that meet functional performance, manufacturability, cost, and sustainability requirements while supporting innovation, compliance, and value engineering initiatives. You will partner with Innovation, Process, and Platform packaging teams and cross-functional stakeholders to translate technical and sustainability requirements into commercially manufacturable solutions, supporting proof of concept, scale-up activities, and transition to business units.​  

Essential Functions & Responsibilities  

• ​​Support and execute rigid plastic packaging development work, balancing technology exploration with proof-of-concept activities and documenting learnings to support business cases and application decisions. 

• ​Support coordination of external partnerships across the value chain (e.g., resin, processing, packaging suppliers; universities; institutes; start-ups; open innovation networks; scouting partners) by managing technical communication, sample/testing plans, and data exchange under guidance. 

• ​Ensure packaging material/design decisions align with enterprise standards, manufacturability needs, sustainability requirements, and platform direction by applying standard methods and escalating risks/constraints. 

• ​Contribute to technical problem solving for rigid plastic packaging projects by running testing, troubleshooting, and root-cause investigations as needed. 

• ​Apply Design of Experiments (DoE), statistics, and structured technical problem-solving practices to research, development, and validation work. 

• ​Support prototyping development for consumer testing, pilot line setup, and scale-up to industrial production as required to enable commercialization. 

• ​Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge sharing (e.g., summaries, test reports, learnings) to support team capability-building and consistency. 

• ​Partner with cross-functional stakeholders (e.g., Innovation, Process, Platform Packaging) to translate requirements into testable material/package options and to support handover to business units.​ 

People Management Responsibilities 

• Individual Contributor 

Key Outputs & Deliverables  

• Support execution of rigid plastic packaging technology/material workstreams aligned with sustainability, innovation, and value engineering initiatives. 

• Deliver technical work products (e.g., test plans, prototypes, validation results, recommendations) that support rigid plastic packaging projects from concept through proof of concept and handover, meeting agreed timelines and technical performance targets. 

• Support compliance with evolving sustainability and regulatory requirements, including: 

• Minimizing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees (by providing material/package inputs and evaluations that inform design choices) 

• Supporting designs that avoid material bans and regulatory risks 

• Advancing recyclable, reusable, and compostable packaging formats aligned with enterprise sustainability goals and legislative requirements 

• Contribute to packaging designs delivered to Performance-Based Specifications (PBS) to meet defined functional, quality, shelf-life, consumer experience, and manufacturing performance outcomes.  

Expected Experience & Required Skills 

• ​​BS/MS/PhD degree in Engineering, Materials, Chemical or Packaging Engineering preferred or related discipline. 

• ​Minimum 4 years of R&D technology development and commercialization experience in packaging and project leadership experience (consumer goods, food & beverage, pharma or similar preferred). 

• ​Demonstrated experience supporting R&D technology development and commercialization work with exposure to rigid plastic packaging. 

• ​Demonstrated ability to support end-to-end development activities (planning tests, executing experiments, analyzing results, documenting recommendations) and coordinating with cross-functional stakeholders. 

• ​Technical knowledge of rigid plastic materials and technology (resins, barriers, coatings, additives, etc.) and manufacturing constraints, including converting, molding, PCR processing, etc. 

• ​Experience evaluating rigid plastic packaging on filling equipment preferred. 

• ​Working knowledge of project execution practices (e.g., timelines, risk identification, stakeholder updates, recommendations) and ability to manage assigned deliverables. 

• ​Knowledge and practical application of Design of Experiments (DoE), statistics, and technical problem solving. 

• ​Effective communication and interpersonal skills; ability to work with cross-functional partners and external suppliers. 

• ​Knowledge of sustainable packaging solutions, material/package industry standards, and regulations (as applicable to rigid plastic packaging development work). 

• ​Experience supporting pilot line setups and scale-up to commercial production (as required by project needs). 

• ​Willingness and ability to travel up to 25% of the time. ​ 

Work Environment & Schedule 

This position operates primarily in a hybrid work environment and is based at the Kraft Heinz R&D Innovation Center in Glenview, IL. Our hybrid model provides flexibility based on business needs, allowing employees to work virtually up to two days per week, with an expectation to work on-site at least three days per week at the Glenview Innovation Center (Glenview, IL).  

Physical demands include but not limited to 

• ​​Regular office work 

• ​Physical presence at labs and manufacturing sites (internal and external) to perform experimental and validation testing​