R&D Lab Technician - Packaging Prototyping

Company Description

Sealed Air designs and delivers packaging solutions that protect essential goods transported worldwide, preserve food, enable e-commerce and digital connectivity, and help create a global supply chain that is touchless, safer, less wasteful, and more resilient. We strive to foster a caring, high-performance growth culture that will deliver consistent, sustainable profitable growth and accelerate our performance – a culture where accountability is clear and aligned, and where we reward business outcomes and impact.

That culture guides everything we do, including how we partner with our customers and suppliers, how we attract and retain top talent, and how we create and deliver value to our stakeholders. In 2025, Sealed Air generated $5.4 billion in sales and has approximately 16,100 employees who serve customers in 119 countries/territories. To learn more,

The Lab Technician supports product development activities at the Liquibox R&D Technology Center in Ashland, Ohio, helping deliver reliable packaging solutions that meet customer needs. This role sets up and conducts application and performance tests, operates and maintains packaging and laboratory equipment, collects and documents test data, and prepares samples and prototypes.

The role collaborates with Technology, Sales, Marketing, Operations, customers, and suppliers to support material evaluations, competitive analysis, product and packaging trials, scale-up activities, and solution rollouts. The successful candidate will be hands-on, safety-minded, detail-oriented, and comfortable working with both laboratory and production equipment.

Working knowledge of packaging materials and a desire to build expertise in flexible packaging are important for success. Experience with fitmented packaging products is preferred.

Key Responsibilities
Testing & Laboratory Operations

• Set up and conduct application and performance testing to evaluate new and existing materials under representative, real-world conditions.

• Operate laboratory and packaging equipment to evaluate materials, products, and processes in accordance with established methods.

• Collect, organize, and accurately document test conditions, observations, and results.

• Support competitive product analysis and maintain test samples and records.

Equipment, Samples & Technical Support

• Perform routine maintenance, calibration checks, cleaning, and upkeep of testing instruments and laboratory equipment.

• Create samples and prototypes to support product development, Sales, Marketing, and customer evaluations.

• Support the preparation of technical reports, presentations, and summaries of test results.

• Troubleshoot equipment and process issues and support basic root-cause analysis under appropriate guidance.

Product Development, Safety & Collaboration

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support product development, trials, scale-up, implementation, and continuous improvement.

• Support customer trials, in-plant activities, customer training, field evaluations, and solution rollouts.

• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe work environment and promptly report safety, quality, equipment, or process concerns to supervision.

• Travel up to 20% for field trials, customer and supplier visits, meetings, training, and conferences.

• Associate degree or technical certification, or equivalent relevant hands-on experience in a packaging laboratory, manufacturing, or technical environment.

• Experience operating laboratory and/or production equipment and following defined test methods or work instructions.

• Strong mechanical aptitude, attention to detail, and willingness to learn new equipment, materials, and processes.

• Proficiency in Microsoft…