Director – Packaging Development

Director – Packaging Development

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in packaging development in the beauty and/or CPG industry, with at least 5 years in a leadership role with direct reports. Skincare, Fragrance, and OTC experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in Package Engineering required. Advanced degree is a plus.
• Proven track record of successful leadership of packaging teams, including experience leading and developing a growing team comprised of various levels of contributor.
• In-depth knowledge of the intersection between package engineering and package design
• Ability to clearly communicate technical information to non-technical teams
• Proven ability to deliver results on time and with excellence
• Experience in effectively and collaboratively working with contract manufacturers and component vendors
• Excellent leadership skills, fostering collaboration, creativity, and professional growth
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written
• Some travel required
• Hybrid – NYC/Metro

Responsibilities

• Manage the department’s budget, ensuring efficient resource allocation and cost-effective operations
• Create and maintain tooling budget in partnership with Procurement
• Develop and execute staffing plans to support the department’s goals and growth trajectory
• Lead performance management efforts, providing mentorship, guidance, and development opportunities to ensure team members meet technical and professional growth targets
• Assess, develop, and implement processes and procedures in the packaging department and cross-functionally to enhance the overall function of the team and the organization
• Identify opportunities to strategically outsource for agility, including utilizing vendor development capabilities, turnkey providers, and stock components
• Foster a collaborative and innovative working environment that promotes communication, problem-solving, and continuous improvement
• Lead the end-to-end design, testing, and validation of new packaging systems to ensure packaging designs are robust and reliable throughout the product lifecycle
• Identify and implement cost-saving opportunities through material selection, packaging standardization, and continuous improvements in partnership with Procurement and Product Engineering
• Collaborate across functions and with external partners as part of the NPL process, including Product Development, Product Engineering, ESG, Packaging Design, Global Product Marketing, Global Regulatory Affairs, Project Management, Operations, Procurement, Quality, and others
• Support direct reports in problem solving and troubleshooting technical challenges
• Drive the packaging innovation agenda by exploring new materials, technologies, processes, partners, and being up to date on innovation, trends, and technological advances in packaging science
• Identify solutions to meet aggressive timelines, including turnkey and stock solutions, in additional to custom tooling
• Partnering with Quality, Operations, and Product Engineering, identify and validate new contract manufacturing partners to support and expand manufacturing capabilities
• In partnership with Procurement and Operations, support new component vendor identification and validation to ensure supply chain agility
• Other duties as assigned, according to the changing needs of the business.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree is a plus.