Packaging Engineer

The Packaging Engineer II/III will be an essential team member in orchestrating consumables materials, equipment and instrumentation packaging initiatives for new product introductions, scale-up activities, supplier transitions, cost improvement programs and supply resilience projects across multiple businesses and product lines of our Medical Devices customer. This highly visible position in the Corporate Operations Department will lead and support impactful business initiatives involving custom packaging solutions such as crating, temperature controlled cold chain shippers, thermoform trays, Tyvek lids, pouches, and primary, secondary and tertiary packaging systems.

The role requires strong organizational leadership, clear communication, analytical rigor and the ability to influence internal and external partners to deliver strategic business objectives across the global network, including San Diego, Boston, NJ, Costa Rica and EMEA.

The six guiding principles that guide Packaging Engineers are:

• Deliver Extraordinary Quality
• Cultivate Healthy Working Relationships
• Be Influential
• Communicate with Clarity
• Embrace Challenges with a Growth Mindset
• Increase Organizational Value through Specialized Knowledge

The incumbent may be asked to perform other function-related activities in addition to the below mentioned responsibilities, as reasonably required by business needs:

• Lead defined packaging VA/VE and supplier optimization work streams for consumables and related components.
• Analyze packaging cost drivers, freight efficiency, damage performance and material utilization to identify improvement opportunities.
• Develop and maintain packaging roadmaps for assigned product families, including cost, quality, sustainability and supply resilience considerations.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, R&D, Quality, Regulatory and Finance functions to align packaging priorities with product roadmaps and operational constraints.

• Support supplier selection by comparing packaging proposals, cost breakdowns, technical capability and validation readiness.
• Conduct packaging-focused due diligence for moderate- to high-risk suppliers, including review of quality systems, testing capability and capacity constraints.
• Develop, maintain and standardize packaging specifications, test requirements, and documentation used across approved suppliers.
• Provide costed packaging alternatives, risk assessments and technical recommendations to support sourcing and negotiation decisions.

• Own small-to-medium packaging projects such as new pack designs, alternate packaging supplier introductions, material changes and line transfer support.
• Perform packaging design, modeling, documentation and change control activities to meet performance, regulatory and manufacturability requirements.
• Plan and execute packaging validation activities, including line trials, distribution testing and analysis of test results and failure modes.
• Coordinate implementation of new or revised packaging into production with Manufacturing, Logistics, Quality and supplier teams.
• Manage the execution of large Consumables Engineering programs, often at supplier sites, from onset through completion including requirements, estimation, planning, design, fabrication, testing and validation.
• Expertise in scheduling with MS Project including Gantt chart development, resource estimation and critical chain scenario planning.

• Monitor packaging quality metrics, including damage rates, rework, complaints and supplier performance, and drive corrective actions where needed.
• Create internal and supplier dashboards, charts and reaction plans based on analyzed data to monitor trends and program status.
• Maintain packaging libraries, specifications, digital records and SharePoint repositories to ensure traceability and compliance.
• Implement continuous improvement ideas to reduce cost, improve time to market, enhance product quality and strengthen supply chain resilience.
• Follow established qualification, risk assessment, change control…