Packaging Cost Engineer: Strategic Costing & Insights

Actalent; United States; Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) plan

Job summary

Actalent is seeking a Packaging and Containers Cost Specialist (Cost Engineer) to develop and validate bottom-up should-cost estimates for logistics packaging systems, returnable and expendable packaging, containers, engineered racks, dunnage, pallets, totes, and related equipment in support of GPSC.

The role analyzes supplier quotations, builds cost models for processes like steel fabrication and plastics conversion, and collaborates with packaging and logistics engineers to identify

Qualifications

• Experience evaluating the financial impact of technical concepts and a comprehensive understanding of manufacturing and logistics processes.
• Experience developing or validating cost estimates, supplier quotations, should-cost models, target costs, or business cases for industrial products, packaging, containers, logistics equipment, or automotive components.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and assignments with a high degree of autonomy, organization, and accountability.

Responsibilities

• Develop detailed, bottom-up should-cost estimates and target costs for returnable and expendable packaging, containers, engineered racks, dunnage, pallets, totes, and related logistics equipment.
• Analyze supplier quotations and commercial proposals; validate assumptions, identify cost gaps, and support fact-based negotiations with GPSC purchasing.
• Build cost models for common packaging processes, including steel fabrication, tube, stamping, machining, welding, fastening, coatings, plastics conversion, corrugated and expendable packaging production, dunnage assembly, and final packaging-system integration.
• Assess the financial impact of design changes, volume, capacity, regional manufacturing differences, commodity pricing, freight, return loops, packaging utilization, and supplier footprint.
• Partner with packaging and logistics engineers to identify cost-reduction opportunities while protecting part quality, ergonomics, safety, cube utilization, material flow, sustainability, and program timing.

Skills

Cost estimation

Project management

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, Business, Operations, or a related field

Tools

Power BI

SQL

Job description

Actalent is seeking a Packaging and Containers Cost Specialist (Cost Engineer) to develop and validate bottom-up should-cost estimates for logistics packaging systems, returnable and expendable packaging, containers, engineered racks, dunnage, pallets, totes, and related equipment in support of GPSC.

The role analyzes supplier quotations, builds cost models for processes like steel fabrication and plastics conversion, and collaborates with packaging and logistics engineers to identify