Sr Manager, R&D - Plastic Rigid Materials

heinz; Glenview (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Heinz in North America seeks a Senior Manager to lead a team of packaging experts within the Sustainability & Materials Center of Excellence. You will drive strategy, develop recyclable and compliant rigid packaging formats, and ensure manufacturability and cost competitiveness.

You will partner with Innovation, Process and Platform teams to translate sustainability requirements into viable solutions, while mentoring staff and guiding governance across projects.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD degree in Engineering, Materials, Chemical or Packaging Engineering.
• Minimum 8 years of R&D technology development and packaging leadership experience.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects and managing budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead and prioritize a portfolio of complex rigid plastic packaging technology strategies and initiatives, balancing exploration with proof of concept.
• Build, coordinate and manage relationships with suppliers and external partners.
• Identify material/polymer/packaging technology solutions that avoid regulatory risks and bans.
• Deliver packaging designs to PBS, ensuring functional, quality, shelf-life and manufacturability outcomes.
• Mentor, coach and train junior project team members and contribute to PMO best practices.

Skills

Packaging engineering

R&D leadership

Materials science

Regulatory compliance

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Engineering/Packaging

Job description

Job Description

As the Rigid Plastic Packaging Senior Manager within the Sustainability & Materials Center of Excellence, you will lead a team of technical experts charged with developing rigid plastic packaging solutions to serve the North American portfolio. The objective of the team is to develop material and format solutions that meet sustainability requirements, addressing innovation, compliance, and value engineering initiatives. The team will develop and lead technical strategies and deliver novel, functional, cost-competitive solutions. In this role you will partner with Innovation, Process, and Platform packaging teams as well as cross-functional stakeholders to translate technical and sustainability requirements into viable, commercial, manufacturable solutions. The role includes leading the team to identify material/polymer/packaging technology solutions and research pathways, and leading proof of concept, technology scale-up, and seamless transition of technologies to the business units. The ideal candidate combines deep technical packaging expertise with strong sustainability knowledge and proven experience managing complex projects and technical teams.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Lead and prioritize a portfolio of complex rigid plastic packaging technology strategies and initiatives, including balancing technology exploration with proof of concept of novel technologies and managing complex partnerships across the value chain, demonstrating value and business case for technology applications.
• Build, coordinate and manage relationships and partnerships with suppliers and technology providers (e.g., resin, coating, material suppliers; packaging manufacturers), and external partners (e.g., universities, institutes, start-ups, open innovation networks).
• Identify material/polymer/packaging technology solutions that avoid material bans and regulatory risks.
• Advance recyclable, reusable, and compliant rigid packaging formats aligned with enterprise sustainability goals and legislative requirements.
• Deliver packaging designs to Performance-Based Specifications (PBS), ensuring solutions meet defined functional, quality, shelf-life, consumer experience, and manufacturing performance outcomes (rather than prescriptive designs).
• Provide technical leadership and oversight on packaging reviews, ensuring design decisions align with enterprise standards, manufacturability, sustainability, and long-term platform strategy.
• Own project and portfolio-level budgets, resourcing strategies and capacity planning, ensuring delivery within approved financial guardrails; develop and maintain project plans, schedules, budgets, and resource allocations; monitor progress, assess risk, and proactively escalate tradeoffs.
• Serve as an accountable owner for governance, escalation and go/no-go decisions; represent packaging steering forums and influence stakeholders.
• Act as technical expert for junior developers and direct team to flex onto projects requiring problem solving.
• Partner with legal to build robust IP strategies; conduct exploration to build an IP portfolio to drive competitive advantage.
• Mentor, coach and train junior project team members and contribute to PMO best practices and templates.
• Build and sustain a high-performing technical team; manage, coach, mentor and retain employees, including goal-setting, performance management, salary planning and hiring.
• Build strong succession and upskilling plans for junior talent, maximizing apprenticeship with more senior/experienced team members.

People Management Responsibilities

Team (salaried): targeting 3 direct reports

Key Outputs & Deliverables

• Deliver technology strategy and prioritize a portfolio of complex rigid plastic packaging technology/format initiatives to deliver against sustainability, innovation and value engineering initiatives.
• Lead and deploy a team of packaging technical experts to deliver 7 to 10 concurrent complex packaging technology projects annually, meeting committed timelines, budgets, and technical performance targets from concept through proof of concept and handover.
• Ensure full compliance with evolving sustainability and regulatory requirements for portfolio projects, including:
  • Minimizing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees
  • Designing packaging solutions that avoid material bans and regulatory risks
  • Advancing recyclable, reusable, and compliant packaging formats aligned with enterprise sustainability goals and legislative requirements
  • Deliver packaging designs to PBS, ensuring solutions meet defined functional, quality, shelf-life, consumer experience, and manufacturing performance outcomes.

Expected Experience & Required Skills

• BS/MS/PhD degree in Engineering, Materials, Chemical or Packaging Engineering preferred or related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of R&D technology development and commercialization experience in packaging and project leadership experience (consumer goods, food