Director of Application Engineering & Customer Insights

Sealed Air Corporation; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 128,000 - 221,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) participation

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Sealed Air Corporation in Charlotte, NC seeks a leader to build and run a global Application Engineering function. You will connect customer operations to system-level requirements, validate performance, and drive innovative, reliable solutions.

Based in Charlotte, the role requires in-office presence Monday through Thursday with remote Fridays; travel domestically and internationally as needed. You will recruit and mentor an AE team and partner with R&D, Marketing, Sales, and Service.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, packaging, materials science, chemistry, or related field.
• Proven ability to translate customer insights into technical requirements and innovation opportunities.
• Packaging experience required; protective packaging preferred.
• Strong systems thinking across materials, equipment and applications.
• Demonstrated people leadership in a cross-functional environment.
• Data-driven communicator with clear reports and test summaries.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Own fitness-for-use performance specifications across consumables, equipment, and integrated systems.
• Lead consumable qualification on equipment platforms and beta qualification plans; validate solutions under real operating conditions.
• Map customer needs and translate into clear system requirements.
• Build a repeatable process to capture beta learnings and opportunities for future development.
• Plan and execute benchmarking vs. alternatives in customer environments; quantify gaps and targets.
• Serve as Level 2 escalation owner for complex system issues and drive root cause analysis.
• Partner with Materials R&D, Equipment R&D, Marketing, Sales Applications, and Service to resolve tradeoffs.
• Recruit, coach, and develop an AE team; set standards for analytical excellence.
• Provide evidence-based customer and competitive insights; support portfolio decisions.
• Own Level 2 escalations and early-commercial technical learning.

Skills

Customer insights

Technical requirements

Packaging experience

Systems thinking

People leadership

Data-driven communication

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering/packaging or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Job description

Sealed Air designs and delivers packaging solutions that protect essential goods transported worldwide, preserve food, enable e-commerce and digital connectivity, and help create a global supply chain that is touchless, safer, less wasteful, and more resilient. We strive to foster a caring, high-performance growth culture that will deliver consistent, sustainable profitable growth and accelerate our performance – a culture where accountability is clear and aligned, and where we reward business outcomes and impact. That culture guides everything we do, including how we partner with our customers and suppliers, how we attract and retain top talent, and how we create and deliver value to our stakeholders. In 2025, Sealed Air generated $5.4 billion in sales and has approximately 16,100 employees who serve customers in 119 countries/territories. To learn more, visit www.sealedair.com.

Role Overview

Sealed Air Protective Packaging R&D is seeking a leader to build and lead a global Application Engineering (AE) function that connects customer operations to system-level requirements, validated performance, and differentiated innovation. This role is front-and-center in supporting new product development, mapping customer needs, conducting in-use competitive benchmarking, and leading Level 2 technical escalations. Turning real-world learning into faster launches, higher reliability, and leapfrog opportunities.

This role is located in Charlotte, NC and will be expected to be in office Monday through Thursday with flexibility to be remote on Fridays.

What You Will Own

• System Performance Specifications: Own fitness-for-use performance specifications across consumables, equipment, and integrated systems; ensure requirements are testable and actionable.
• NPD Qualification & Beta Leadership: Lead consumable qualification on equipment platforms and customer beta qualification plans; validate solutions under real operating conditions.
• Customer Needs Mapping: Lead structured observations and workflow mapping in customer operations (pack–protect–ship), identifying pain points and translating them into clear system requirements.
• Customer Insight Engine: Build a repeatable process to capture learning from beta programs, trials, and field issues; synthesize insights into opportunity statements for targeted future development.
• Competitive Analysis (Technical & In-Use): Plan and execute hands-on benchmarking vs. alternatives in customer environments; quantify gaps, identify differentiation spaces, and recommend performance targets.
• Level 2 Customer Support (Escalations): Serve as the escalation owner for complex system-level issues (especially new/recent launches, integrated solutions, or beta platforms); drive root cause and feed learnings into design/spec updates.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner tightly with Materials R&D, Equipment R&D (US & China), Marketing, Sales Applications, and Service to resolve tradeoffs and accelerate decisions.
• People Leadership: Recruit, coach, and develop an AE team with strong test rigor, customer presence, and systems thinking; set standards for analytical excellence and technical communication.
• Marketing: AE provides evidence-based customer and competitive insights; Marketing owns segmentation, positioning, and portfolio commercial decisions.
• Sales / Service: AE owns Level 2 system escalations and pre-/early-commercial technical learning.
• Materials & Equipment R&D: AE does not own formulation chemistry or equipment architecture; AE owns requirements, validation, and system performance across both.

How Success Will Be Measured

• Robust product specifications to reduce or eliminate product failures at customer
• Reduced late-stage design changes and rework during beta qualification.
• Faster time from design freeze to customer-ready validation and commercialization.
• Improved root-cause resolution speed for complex escalations; fewer repeat issues.
• Clear competitive differentiation translated into measurable performance targets and prioritized projects.
• Stronger customer adoption of new solutions due to validated fitness-for-use.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required - engineering, packaging, materials science, chemistry, or related technical field preferred (Master’s preferred).
• Proven ability to translate customer insights into technical requirements, validation plans, and innovation opportunities.
• Packaging experience required and protective packaging preferred
• Strong systems thinking across materials + equipment + application; comfortable resolving tradeoffs under real-world constraints.
• Demonstrated people leadership: hiring, coaching, and performance management in a cross-functional environment.
• Data-driven communicator: able to create clear reports, test summaries, and recommendations for technical and business audiences.
• Comfortable with significant customer engagement and travel (domestic and international).

Working Style We Value

• Customer-obsessed: spends time where work happens and turns observation into insight.
• Execution-focused: sets clear plans, runs rigorous trials, and closes loops.
• Influential collaborator: drives alignment across R&D, Marketing, Sales, and Service.
• High integrity and safety mindset: promotes compliant, safe work in labs and customer sites.
• Channel customer and competitive insights into clear opportunities for product roadmap.

Pay Transparency

Salary Range: $128,300-$220,800

The range disclosed complies with applicable state and local pay transparency laws. Offers within this range will be determined by considering relevant factors including education, experience, and internal alignment. This position may also be eligible for annual performance bonuses and other incentive programs. Sealed Air offers a competitive benefits package that includes health, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off, and other benefits designed to promote well-being.

Requisition id: 54899

Relocation: Yes

Sealed Air is committed to attracting, selecting, and developing talent that reflects the diversity of the communities and customers we serve. We take pride in our selection process to identify, infuse, and grow talent to align with our culture, values, and norms. Sealed Air prioritizes talent development, fostering a culture of continuous growth and career progression. The company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and to all employees, without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, protected disability, veteran status, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.