Sr Manager, R&D - Plastic Rigid Materials

Job Purpose

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 is to create material and format solutions that meet sustainability requirements, addressing innovation, compliance, and value engineering initiatives.

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. Your responsibilities include developing and leading technical strategies, delivering novel, functional, cost‑competitive solutions, and guiding proof‑of‑concept, technology scale‑up, and transition of technologies to business units.

• Lead and prioritize a portfolio of complex rigid plastic packaging technology strategies and initiatives, balancing exploration with proof‑of‑concept and managing partnerships to demonstrate value and business case.
• Build, coordinate, and manage relationships with suppliers, technology providers, and external partners such as universities, institutes, start‑ups, and 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 sustainability goals and legislative requirements.
• Deliver packaging designs to Performance-Based Specifications, ensuring functional, quality, shelf‑life, consumer experience, and manufacturing performance outcomes.
• Provide technical leadership on packaging reviews, ensuring design decisions align with enterprise standards, manufacturability, sustainability, and long‑term platform strategy.
• Own project and portfolio‑level budgets and resourcing strategies; develop and maintain project plans and schedules; monitor progress, assess risk, and proactively escalate trade‑offs.
• Serve as an accountable owner of governance, escalation, and go/no‑go decisions; represent packaging steering forums and influence stakeholders.
• Act as a technical expert for junior developers and direct the team to flex onto projects requiring problem solving.
• Partner with legal to build robust IP strategies and explore to build an IP portfolio for 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 team members.

• Team (salaried): targeting 3 direct reports.

• Deliver technology strategy and prioritize portfolio of complex rigid plastic packaging technology/format initiatives to meet sustainability, innovation, and value engineering goals.
• Lead and deploy a technical team 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, minimizing EPR fees, designing solutions that avoid material bans, advancing recyclable formats, and delivering PBS‑compliant designs.

• BS/MS/PhD degree in Engineering, Materials, Chemical or Packaging Engineering or related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of R&D technology development and commercialization experience in packaging and project leadership.
• Demonstrated experience managing end‑to‑end development projects, driving packaging technology initiatives, leading external partnerships, and coordinating cross‑functional teams.
• Experience in people management.
• Strong technical knowledge of materials (polymers, barriers, additives) and manufacturing…