Principal Engineer, Thermoform Plastic Packaging

Job Purpose  

​​As the Rigid Thermoform Packaging Engineer, you will contribute technical expertise to help develop and advance rigid packaging material and format solutions for the North American portfolio. The objective of the role is to support development and validation of functional, cost-competitive rigid packaging solutions that meet sustainability requirements, while enabling innovation, compliance, and value engineering initiatives. You will collaborate with Innovation, Process, and Platform packaging teams and cross-functional stakeholders to translate technical and sustainability requirements into commercially manufacturable solutions under the guidance of technical leadership.​  

Essential Functions & Responsibilities  

• ​​Support execution of rigid packaging technical initiatives by completing assigned research, development, and validation workstreams that balance technology exploration with proof of concept needs. 

• ​Contribute to technical assessments and business case inputs for packaging technologies/applications by gathering data, summarizing learnings, and documenting technical risks and opportunities. 

• ​Support external collaboration activities across the value chain (e.g., resin, coating, material suppliers; universities; institutes; start-ups; open innovation networks; scouting partners, industry partnerships) by coordinating samples/trials, tracking actions, and documenting outcomes. 

• ​Apply enterprise standards and manufacturability considerations by following established guidance to ensure design decisions align with enterprise standards, manufacturability needs, sustainability needs, and platform direction. 

• ​Provide technical problem solving on rigid packaging projects by using structured troubleshooting, data analysis, and experimentation to resolve technical hurdles. 

• ​Apply Design of Experiments (DoE), statistics, and technical problem-solving practices to research, development, and validation work. 

• ​Support prototyping development for consumer testing and assist with pilot line setup and scale-up to industrial production as required to enable commercialization. 

• ​Contribute to knowledge sharing and capability building by documenting learnings, creating technical summaries, and supporting training content or informal coaching as needed.​ 

Key Outputs & Deliverables  

• Contribute to execution of the rigid packaging technology strategy through technical work products (data packages, trial results, recommendations) that support sustainability, innovation, and value engineering initiatives. 

• Deliver technical workstreams for rigid packaging projects from concept through proof of concept and handover support, meeting committed timelines and technical performance targets for assigned responsibilities. 

• Support compliance with sustainability and regulatory requirements by incorporating requirements into experimental plans and design recommendations, including: 

• Minimizing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fee impacts (as applicable to design choices) 

• Supporting designs that help avoid material bans and regulatory risks 

• Supporting recyclable, reusable, and compliant packaging formats aligned with enterprise sustainability goals and legislative requirements 

• Support delivery of packaging designs to Performance-Based Specifications (PBS) to 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. 

• ​6+ years of R&D packaging technology development, commercialization experience, with exposure to rigid plastic thermoform packaging and project leadership experience (consumer goods, food & beverage, pharma or similar preferred). Experience working at converter or upstream resin or technology provider ideal. 

• ​Working technical knowledge of materials (polymers, barriers and additives, etc.) and thermoforming plastics, understanding manufacturing constraints, including converting processes (e.g., lidding, molding, extrusion, form-fill-seal). 

• ​Demonstrated ability to support end-to-end development activities, including planning/performing experiments, documenting results, and coordinating with cross-functional partners. 

• ​Demonstrated capability of design of experiments and statistics and technical problem solving. 

• ​Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to influence across functions and levels. 

• ​Working knowledge of project execution disciplines (e.g., task planning, risk identification, stakeholder updates) and comfort operating within PMO expectations/templates. 

• ​Exposure to sustainable packaging solutions, material/package industry standards and regulations. 

• ​Ability to support pilot line activities and scale-up to industrial production as required. 

• ​Willingness and ability to travel up to 25% of the time.​ 

Work Environment & Schedule is position operates primarily in a hybrid work environment and is based at the Kraft Heinz R&D Innovation Center in Glenview, IL. Our hybrid model provides flexibility based on business needs, allowing employees to work virtually up to two days per week, with an expectation to work on-site at least three days per week at the Glenview Innovation Center (Chicago, IL).  

Physical Requirements  

Physical demands include but not limited to 

• ​​Regular office work 

• ​Physical presence at labs and manufacturing sites (internal and external) to perform experimental and validation testing​ 

This job description is not designed to cover or contain all duties or responsibilities that are required of the role. Duties or responsibilities may change or be added with or without notice.