Packaging Manager

Cérélia North America; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 97,000 - 102,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading North American food company is seeking a Packaging Manager in Mississauga, Canada. This role involves leading the packaging strategy, ensuring compliance with regulations, and managing supplier relationships. Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree in a technical field and 5-7 years of experience in packaging within food manufacturing. The company offers a competitive salary between CAD$97K-$102K, fully employer-paid benefits, a supportive work environment, and opportunities for career advancement.

Benefits

Fully employer-paid medical, dental, vision, and life insurance

3 weeks paid vacation

4 paid floater days per year

RRSP matching

Clean and safe production facility

Friendly working environment

Career advancement opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years of progressive experience in packaging role.
• Strong knowledge of packaging elements and design.
• Hands-on experience from development to commercialization.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and launch of packaging.
• Optimize cost and performance for sustainability.
• Source and manage packaging suppliers.
• Ensure compliance with regulations.
• Manage packaging inventory and lifecycles.

Skills

Packaging engineering

Graphic design

Cross-functional team leadership

Proficiency with Word and Excel

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field

Tools

ERP systems

GANTT charts

Job description

Are you a “foodie” and love cookies, muffins, and pancakes? Are you looking for a company where teamwork, collaboration, and innovation are valued? Would you like to gain experience and grow your career with a successful international company?

Cerelia Bakery Canada (formerly English Bay Batter) is currently looking to add awesome new team members to our facility in Mississauga, ON.

About Cerelia Bakery Canada

We develop and produce exceptionally high-quality products, including fresh and frozen cookie dough and muffin batter in pre‑portion sizes, scoop‑and‑bake pails for the foodservice industry, and products for in‑store bakeries of North American grocery, mass, and club stores. Our baked gourmet cookies and muffins are distributed through multiple channels, including quick‑service restaurants. Refrigerated products, such as cookie, pastry, and biscuit dough, are sold to North American grocery stores in a variety of formats: canister, chub, break‑and‑bake, and place‑and‑bake. Ongoing research and development introduces new and exciting products to complement our bakery lines. We are an aggressive, flexible company dedicated to providing quality products that satisfy customer needs and marketplace demands. GROWING. As we grow, our team members grow with us!

The Role

The Packaging Manager leads all packaging strategy, development, optimization, and lifecycle management for Cérélia Toronto. The role ensures that all packaging components—from primary retail packaging to secondary and tertiary cases—are designed, sourced, cost‑optimized, compliant, and work well in our manufacturing environment. The Packaging Manager is the organization’s subject‑matter expert for structural packaging development, sustainability, EPR compliance, packaging specifications, and sourcing with suppliers. The role directly influences customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance, and corporate sustainability goals through rigorous packaging development and continuous improvement.

Essential Job Duties

• Lead end‑to‑end development, testing, and launch of primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, including engineering reviews, trials, ship tests, shelf‑life validation, and first production runs.
• Drive cost, performance, and sustainability optimization through value engineering, material changes, alternate suppliers, and sustainable packaging solutions aligned with CSR and EPR requirements.
• Own packaging BOMs, specifications, labels, and master data across ERP, TraceGains, customer portals, and supplier systems, ensuring accurate costing, version control, traceability, and audit readiness.
• Establish and maintain case, pallet, and label standards (including Domino/master case labels), providing cross‑functional guidance and training.
• Source, qualify, and manage packaging suppliers and printers, supporting negotiations on pricing, MOQs, lead times, and tooling.
• Ensure supplier execution and availability by managing print quality, production runs, ETAs, risk escalation, and plant supply continuity.
• Lead artwork development and print approval from concept to release, coordinating agencies, printers, customers, and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with CFIA, FDA, bilingual labeling, nutrition, allergen, UPC, and GTIN requirements.
• Act as the primary packaging subject‑matter expert, supporting operations with runability issues, print defects, structural failures, launches, transitions, samples, and specification changes.
• Manage packaging inventory transitions and lifecycles to minimize obsolescence, mitigate shortages, and support accurate forecasting and continuity of supply.
• Lead packaging sustainability and EPR reporting, providing data and documentation to support corporate CSR KPIs and regulatory obligations in Canada and the U.S.

What You Bring to the Table

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field, preferably in packaging engineering, graphic design, or a related field.
• Minimum 5‑7 years of progressive experience required in a similar packaging role within food manufacturing or CPG.
• Strong knowledge of packaging elements from substrates to design, combined with technical knowledge of the print process.
• Experience building and managing packaging BOMs, specifications, and ERP.
• Hands‑on experience from packaging development and prototyping to commercialization.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional teams and manage multi‑SKU packaging projects.
• Proficiency with Word, Excel, and GANTT charts.
• Experience interacting with internal and external stakeholders (packaging suppliers, OEMs, customers).
• Strong expertise in packaging specification creation and management.

What You Will Receive in Return

• Annual base pay of between CAD$97K‑$102K.
• Fully employer‑paid medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
• 3 weeks paid vacation.
• 4 paid floater days per year.
• RRSP matching.
• Clean and safe production facility.
• Friendly working environment.
• Career advancement opportunities.

Full‑time position. If you are eager and excited to work with a company driven by quality, commitment to excellence, and an awesome product, we want to hear from you!