Head of Packaging Innovation & Design

DS Smith Europe; Hinckley; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Holiday allowance (25 days)

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Income protection

Electric car salary sacrifice

Cycle to work

Employee discounts

Wellbeing support

Job summary

DS Smith in Hinckley seeks a Cluster Design & Innovation Manager to lead the design and innovation strategy across the cluster, managing a PackRight Centre and a team of packaging designers to deliver high-quality, value-focused solutions.

You will collaborate with sales, manufacturing and customer teams to stay ahead of market needs, travel up to 50% of the time, and champion technical innovation and creative design that drives business growth.

Qualifications

• Strong people leadership and coaching abilities.
• Experience managing innovation/design teams in manufacturing/packaging.
• Change management skills with ability to challenge and transform processes.
• Commercial acumen with a creative edge, understanding design impact on value.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Highly organised, strategic thinker with hands-on approach.
• Curious mindset – asks why to find best solutions.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% across sites.
• Fluent English required; additional European language desirable.

Responsibilities

• Deliver on KPIs and lead innovation projects that create value and retailer engagement.
• Understand and anticipates customer needs and market trends; translate insights into design solutions.
• Develop knowledge of cluster manufacturing capabilities to influence packaging design and strategy.
• Ensure packaging designs meet regulatory standards and develop testing and specs hub.
• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing D&I team with a culture of creativity and continuous improvement.

Skills

People leadership

Innovation management

Change management

Commercial acumen

Communication skills

Organised thinking

Curious mindset

Travel willingness

English fluency

Job description

DS Smith in Hinckley seeks a Cluster Design & Innovation Manager to lead the design and innovation strategy across the cluster, managing a PackRight Centre and a team of packaging designers to deliver high-quality, value-focused solutions.

You will collaborate with sales, manufacturing and customer teams to stay ahead of market needs, travel up to 50% of the time, and champion technical innovation and creative design that drives business growth.