Packaging Engineer

Kinder's•Walnut Creek, CA

3d•$105,000 - $115,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Packaging Engineer provides technical and engineering support for packaging development activities for sauces, seasonings and rubs, innovation projects, and pallet displays, from exploratory concept design through commercialization. The role leads packaging design, development, qualification, testing, documentation, and continuous improvement for primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging. It collaborates with internal teams, suppliers, copackers, and contract manufacturing partners to meet product, manufacturing, customer, and consumer requirements while improving package integrity, machinability, cost, labor, and throughput. The position is based in the Walnut Creek, California office, with remote work considered based on the candidate’s value add and location. The company follows a hybrid structure: four days in the office each week, with Fridays flexible for working in the office or from home. Travel of up to 30% is required, including visits to industry conferences, trade shows, and supplier operations.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Packaging Engineering or a related field.
3–5 years of experience in food packaging or a related field.
Strong problem-solving skills related to packaging structural design and machinability.
Demonstrated attention to detail.
Strong knowledge of food packaging design and machinability fundamentals.
Excellent time-management skills, a sense of urgency, and a desire to complete assignments on time.
Ability to travel up to 30% of the time.

Nice To Haves

Structural package testing experience.
Knowledge of packaging dynamics, barrier properties, and manufacturing.
Understanding of key food packaging quality attributes and inspection methodologies.
Experience creating effective packaging design solutions.
Strong understanding of packaging substrates, including flexible packaging, corrugate, paperboard, bottles, and labels.
Ability to thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment.
Comfort working in both food plant and headquarters environments.
Self-starter who takes initiative and speaks their mind.
Ability to act as a collaborative technical packaging resource.
Enthusiasm for a fast-moving team and ability to be both a leader and a follower.

Responsibilities

Lead design, development, and qualification of primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging for new and existing products.
Gather secondary and display design parameters from internal teams and customer specifications, and communicate them to third-party corrugate suppliers for design work.
Develop, present, and optimize structural primary, secondary, and merchandising packaging designs with the Brand team.
Work with packaging suppliers to meet Kinder’s and manufacturing partners’ success criteria.
Conduct structural-integrity packaging studies to ensure package and pallet integrity while optimizing economics.
Communicate case-coding requirements to copackers based on customer specifications, and review and approve copacker case-coding first articles and samples.
Evaluate and approve alternate packaging suppliers for cost savings, supply-chain redundancy, and improved consumer experience.
Develop specifications and associated documentation for internal and external partners.
Develop and maintain master data for primary and secondary packaging.
Provide packaging data for finished-goods specifications and EPR reporting.
Review and approve finished-goods specifications.
Review artwork proofs for die-line accuracy.
Collaborate with Product Development to evaluate new primary packaging, product-package interaction, and associated shelf life.
Execute continuous packaging improvement projects.
Work with packaging suppliers and contract manufacturing partners to improve package machinability, decrease labor, reduce cost, and maximize throughput.
Independently lead packaging trials and qualifications at manufacturing facilities.