Packaging Engineer

Danone; Louisville (CO); Hybrid; USD 82,000 - 118,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Prescription Drug Coverage

401k Plan

Wellness Program

Life Insurance

Tuition Reimbursement

Flexible Time Off

Paid Parental Bonding Leave

Job summary

Danone North America is seeking a Packaging Engineer to lead scale-up, validation, and commercialization of packaging innovations and renovations. You will integrate design, materials, process conditions, equipment, quality, and supply chain to deliver robust manufacturing solutions.

The role involves cross-functional work across R&I, Operations, Quality, and suppliers, with a hybrid work environment and a salary range of $82,000–$118,000 USD.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Packaging, Mechanical, Chemical or Food Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years in packaging engineering, development, industrialization, or commercialization.
• Hands-on packaging scale-up experience spanning plant trials, line qualification, start-up, troubleshooting, and documentation.
• Experience with primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, with expertise in at least two formats such as rigid plastics, cups, closures, flexibles, labels, paper, corrugated, or cans.

Responsibilities

• Co-lead packaging scale-ups from concept through validation, first production, and launch stabilization.
• Support innovation, renovation, productivity, sustainability, capacity, and business-continuity projects across food/beverage platforms.
• Translate consumer, product, quality, sustainability, cost, and manufacturing needs into clear success criteria, validation plans, and specs.
• Co-own trial and first-production readiness, including scope, materials, tooling, line changes, measurements, resources, documentation, and contingencies.
• Analyze trial data and lead root-cause troubleshooting of material, equipment, operating-window, quality, and distribution issues.

Skills

Packaging engineering

Scale-up

Industrialization

Documentation

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Packaging, Mechanical, Chemical or Food Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field

Job description

About the Job

The Packaging Engineer leads scale-up, validation, and commercialization of packaging innovation, renovation, productivity, sustainability, and business-continuity projects across Danone North America. Working within Processing Excellence & Scale-Up, the role integrates package design, materials, product-process conditions, equipment, quality, and supply-chain needs to deliver robust, first-time-right manufacturing solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Packaging Scale-Up, Validation & Commercialization

• Co-lead primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging scale-up from concept through validation, first production, and launch stabilization.


• Support innovation, renovation, productivity, sustainability, capacity, and business-continuity projects across food and beverage platforms.


• Translate consumer, product, quality, sustainability, cost, and manufacturing needs into clear success criteria, validation plans, specifications, and recommendations.

Technical Risk Assessment, Trial Design & Readiness

• Identify packaging and material-machine risks early through structured assessments, design reviews, equipment capability, prior learning, and supplier/OEM input.


• Design and execute lab, pilot, supplier, and plant tests with clear hypotheses, sampling, acceptance criteria, and decision gates.


• Co-own trial and first-production readiness, including scope, materials, tooling, line changes, measurements, resources, documentation, and contingencies.


• Analyze trial data and lead root-cause troubleshooting of material, equipment, operating-window, quality, and distribution issues.

Manufacturing Capability & Material-Machine Interaction

• Assess manufacturability across equipment, lines, sites, and co-manufacturers, including geometry, tolerances, controls, and capability.


• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, suppliers, toolmakers, and OEMs to define technical limits, operating windows, and solutions before design lock or capital commitment.

Packaging Scalability Strategy & Capability Building

• Execute the R&I packaging scalability roadmap with Product & Package Scale-Up leadership and the Packaging organization.


• Build reusable scale-up methods, standards, templates, and lessons learned that improve first-time-right commercialization.


• Advance early prediction of industrial performance through lab methods, pilot tools, simulation, digital modeling, and virtual twins.

Specifications, Governance & Technical Documentation

• Maintain specifications, drawings, test methods, trial protocols, validation reports, and manufacturing recommendations.


• Ensure stage-gate evidence is complete and traceable, with clear ownership of risks, criteria, deviations, and actions.


• Partner with Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Operations to meet safety, quality, regulatory, sustainability, and internal requirements.

Cross-Functional & External Partnerships

• Build effective partnerships across R&I, Operations, Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, suppliers, OEMs, and co-manufacturers.


• Co-lead multiple projects autonomously, prioritize by technical risk and business impact, and clearly communicate trade-offs and recommendations.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Work across office, lab, pilot plant, supplier, and manufacturing settings; use required PPE and travel 20-40% for trials, qualifications, troubleshooting, and launches.

The salary range for this position is $82,000-118,000 USD. The exact salary offered will depend on several factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options.

To give our employees flexibility, Danone is a hybrid work environment.

This role is considered a “hybrid” position that allows for flexible work, meaning it is a role where collaboration with key stakeholders in Danone Hubs occurs. While you may have the option to work from home on a schedule as agreed to with your supervisor, you are also expected to regularly report to your assigned office location at least 3 days per week.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Packaging, Mechanical, Chemical or Food Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.


• 5+ years in packaging engineering, development, industrialization, or commercialization, preferably in food, beverage, CPG, or regulated manufacturing.


• Hands-on packaging scale-up experience spanning plant trials, line qualification, start-up, troubleshooting, and documentation.


• Experience with primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, with expertise in at least two formats such as rigid plastics, cups, closures, flexibles, labels, paper, corrugated, or cans.

Preferred:

• Master’s degree in Packaging, Engineering, Materials Science, Food Science, or a related field.


• Experience with low-acid ESL or aseptic packaging, cold chain, barriers, sealing, forming, and package-product interactions.


• Experience applying DOE, statistics, capability, measurement-system analysis, or root-cause tools to packaging and line performance.


• Experience in sustainability, productivity, business continuity, supplier qualification, equipment/tooling development, or co-manufacturing.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong knowledge of packaging materials, specifications, tests, manufacturing processes, line interfaces, distribution, and industrial validation.


• Strong project leadership, prioritization, technical writing, communication, and influencing skills.


• Hands-on, curious, and proactive problem solver comfortable in manufacturing environments and able to challenge assumptions constructively.

About Us

Life at Danone

With approximately 5,000 employees and 13 production locations across the U.S., our vibrant culture and endless growth opportunities are just a couple of the reasons our employees call themselves “Proud Danoners.”

Learn more about Life at Danone

Our Brands

When you join us, you’ll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world, including Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Follow Your Heart®, Happy Family® Organics, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Nutricia ®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK® Cold Brew Coffee ®, Too Good & Co™, and YoCrunch®.

Our Purpose

We’re committed to making a positive impact on our world. Rooted in our mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, we’re proud to be the world’s largest B Corp.

Our Benefits

• Physical Wellbeing: We pay for the majority of your medical benefits – which include medical, dental and vision – with our competitive 80%/20% cost-sharing model.


• Mental Wellbeing: Danoners receive fitness discounts, unlimited flexible time off and hybrid work schedules. We also have a range of programs that support mental health and substance abuse.


• Financial Support: We offer a performance-based bonus, a 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, employee discount programs and voluntary perks.


• Family Care: We offer caretaker benefits, 18 weeks of parental bonding, fertility, surrogacy, adoption benefits and pet insurance.

Learn more about our benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EEO rights under law click here.