Product Development Specialist - Technical Innovation Platform Food Contact & Primary Packaging

DS Smith; Redditch; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading packaging solutions company is seeking a technical expert in design to ensure successful implementation of innovative products. The role involves deploying packaging products tailored to customer requirements, driving design customization, and collaborating closely with manufacturing partners. Candidates should have a degree in industrial/product design or packaging engineering, along with hands-on experience in packaging design and strong knowledge of materials and production processes. Skills in CAD software and project management are essential.

Qualifications

• Experience in packaging design for customer packing lines, including prototyping and validation.
• Strong knowledge of packaging manufacturing processes and automation.
• Ability to manage multiple projects through different development stages.

Responsibilities

• Deploy packaging products to meet customer needs and regulatory compliance.
• Drive design customization to match specifications.
• Collaborate with sites to prepare production specifications and drawings.
• Create 2D and 3D designs for implementation.
• Conduct performance testing and refine designs.
• Evaluate manufacturability and packaging line requirements.
• Coordinate prototype creation for customer validation.

Skills

Problem solving

Detail-oriented design

Project management

Knowledge of packaging materials

Education

Degree in industrial/Product design or packaging engineering

Tools

CAD software (preferably ArtiosCAD)

Job description

The role will be responsible for being the technical expert in the design phase of projects for innovation products implementation, making sure all technical fine-tuning is done to meet customer requirements & enable successful implementation. You will drive the design part of product implementation for scaling up the product roll-out beyond the initial pilots, complementary to the other roles in the implementation team. Acting as a technical expert in the interaction with customers & external partners, you will be deploying appropriate methodologies and tools, engaging with the sub-regional D&I Network, production hubs and local Design & Innovation stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Deploy newly developed packaging products to fully commercialized products that support customer needs, required functionality, manufacturing feasibility and regulatory compliance by examining challenges and desired outcomes
• Drive the design customisation work to finetune the products to specific customer needs & requirements
• Work in close collaboration with the selected site(s) to generate required specifications and drawings ready for production
• Create 2D and 3D design structures, manufacture ready files & specifications fit for implementation and further scale up
• Set and own the product requirements, matching customer specs and performance requirements
• Drive, coordinate and when applicable conduct/participate in performance testing (e.g. transit, shelf‑life, drop tests) and refine designs based on test results against desired outcome
• Evaluate manufacturability, material compatibility and packaging line requirements to ensure designs are implementable and robust
• Design, organise & coordinate prototypes and sample creation required for customer validation stages
• Work with manufacturing, partners, co‑packers and external suppliers during the scale-up and commercialization phase to ensure packaging integrity and production performance

Qualifications

• Degree in industrial/Product design or packaging engineering
• Proven experience packaging design for implementation on customer packing lines, including prototyping, validation and production integration
• Hands on problem solving technical design thinking – talented and skilled to design with a high level of eye for detail, resulting in implementable innovative structural designs while balancing aesthetics, functionality, manufacturing and sustainability requirements
• Strong knowledge of packaging materials, products, manufacturing processes & packaging mechanisation/automation
• Skilled in CAD software (preferably ArtiosCAD) to develop detailed packaging designs
• Demonstrated capabilities of troubleshooting issues, making real‑world design decisions under time and cost constraints
• Ability to manage multiple projects across different development stages
• Result focused and passionate about design.