Packaging Engineer
 Danone North America | |||||||||
medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, vision insurance, tuition reimbursement, flex time, 401(k), remote work, hybrid
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 United States, Colorado, Louisville | |||||||||
 Sep 23, 2026 | |||||||||
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Packaging Engineer Job Locations
US-CO-Louisville
Short Intro and About the Job The Packaging Engineer leads scale-up, validation, and commercialization of packaging innovation, renovation, productivity, sustainability, and business-continuity projects across Danone North America. Working within Processing Excellence & Scale-Up, the role integrates package design, materials, product-process conditions, equipment, quality, and supply-chain needs to deliver robust, first-time-right manufacturing solutions. Key Responsibilities Packaging Scale-Up, Validation & Commercialization * Co-lead primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging scale-up from concept through validation, first production, and launch stabilization. * Support innovation, renovation, productivity, sustainability, capacity, and business-continuity projects across food and beverage platforms. * Translate consumer, product, quality, sustainability, cost, and manufacturing needs into clear success criteria, validation plans, specifications, and recommendations. Technical Risk Assessment, Trial Design & Readiness * Identify packaging and material-machine risks early through structured assessments, design reviews, equipment capability, prior learning, and supplier/OEM input. * Design and execute lab, pilot, supplier, and plant tests with clear hypotheses, sampling, acceptance criteria, and decision gates. * Co-own trial and first-production readiness, including scope, materials, tooling, line changes, measurements, resources, documentation, and contingencies. * Analyze trial data and lead root-cause troubleshooting of material, equipment, operating-window, quality, and distribution issues. Manufacturing Capability & Material-Machine Interaction * Assess manufacturability across equipment, lines, sites, and co-manufacturers, including geometry, tolerances, controls, and capability. * Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, suppliers, toolmakers, and OEMs to define technical limits, operating windows, and solutions before design lock or capital commitment. Packaging Scalability Strategy & Capability Building * Execute the R&I packaging scalability roadmap with Product & Package Scale-Up leadership and the Packaging organization. * Build reusable scale-up methods, standards, templates, and lessons learned that improve first-time-right commercialization. * Advance early prediction of industrial performance through lab methods, pilot tools, simulation, digital modeling, and virtual twins. Specifications, Governance & Technical Documentation * Maintain specifications, drawings, test methods, trial protocols, validation reports, and manufacturing recommendations. * Ensure stage-gate evidence is complete and traceable, with clear ownership of risks, criteria, deviations, and actions. * Partner with Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Operations to meet safety, quality, regulatory, sustainability, and internal requirements. Cross-Functional & External Partnerships * Build effective partnerships across R&I, Operations, Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, suppliers, OEMs, and co-manufacturers. * Co-lead multiple projects autonomously, prioritize by technical risk and business impact, and clearly communicate trade-offs and recommendations. Physical Demands & Work Environment * Work across office, lab, pilot plant, supplier, and manufacturing settings; use required PPE and travel 20-40% for trials, qualifications, troubleshooting, and launches. The salary range for this position is $82,000-118,000 USD. The exact salary offered will depend on several factors, including the candidate's relevant experience, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options. To give our employees flexibility, Danone is a hybrid work environment. About You * Bachelor's degree or higher in Packaging, Mechanical, Chemical or Food Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field. * 5+ years in packaging engineering, development, industrialization, or commercialization, preferably in food, beverage, CPG, or regulated manufacturing. * Hands-on packaging scale-up experience spanning plant trials, line qualification, start-up, troubleshooting, and documentation. * Experience with primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, with expertise in at least two formats such as rigid plastics, cups, closures, flexibles, labels, paper, corrugated, or cans. Preferred: * Master's degree in Packaging, Engineering, Materials Science, Food Science, or a related field. * Experience with low-acid ESL or aseptic packaging, cold chain, barriers, sealing, forming, and package-product interactions. * Experience applying DOE, statistics, capability, measurement-system analysis, or root-cause tools to packaging and line performance. * Experience in sustainability, productivity, business continuity, supplier qualification, equipment/tooling development, or co-manufacturing. Knowledge, Skills & Abilities * Strong knowledge of packaging materials, specifications, tests, manufacturing processes, line interfaces, distribution, and industrial validation. * Strong project leadership, prioritization, technical writing, communication, and influencing skills. * Hands-on, curious, and proactive problem solver comfortable in manufacturing environments and able to challenge assumptions constructively. About Us, We offer and What's next Life at Danone
Physical Wellbeing: We pay for the majority of your medical benefits - which include medical, dental and vision - with our competitive 80%/20% cost-sharing model.
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