R&D Packaging Engineer — Injection Molding

Smurfit Westrock; Anderson (SC); On-site; USD 44,250 - 73,750; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical w/ HSA

Dental Vision

401(k) with 5% company match

Paid vacation & holidays

Tuition Reimbursement

Comprehensive training

Job summary

Smurfit Westrock is seeking an R&D Specialist to develop, optimize, and industrialize injection-molded plastic components for food packaging. You will work at the interface of R&D, Industrialization, Manufacturing, Quality, and suppliers to take concepts to production.

The role involves hands-on product development across the lifecycle, including design, validation, and scale-up, with an international onboarding program in Europe and some travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Materials Engineering, Food Science & Technology, Product Design (Packaging), or related.
• Exposure to innovative materials, sustainable packaging, or polymer processing; MOCA knowledge a plus.
• Fluent in English; Spanish or Italian a plus.
• Experience in multidisciplinary teams and problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and industrialize injection-molded plastic components for food packaging.
• Collaborate across R&D, Industrialization, Manufacturing, Quality, and suppliers to move concepts to production.
• Support end-to-end product development from design through validation and scale-up.
• Participate in an onboarding program at Europe facilities and travel for collaboration.

Skills

Materials science

Polymer processing

3D CAD software

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Materials Engineering / related

Tools

CREO or SOLIDWORKS

Job description

Smurfit Westrock is seeking an R&D Specialist to develop, optimize, and industrialize injection-molded plastic components for food packaging. You will work at the interface of R&D, Industrialization, Manufacturing, Quality, and suppliers to take concepts to production.

The role involves hands-on product development across the lifecycle, including design, validation, and scale-up, with an international onboarding program in Europe and some travel.