Senior Packaging Engineer

Senior Packaging Engineer – Packaging Technology Center – EU
Location: Amsterdam (Capriweg), NL or any ADM EU location with Packaging, including Europoort, NL and Oss, NLThis position is part of the Packaging Technology Center and reports to the Director of Global Packaging.

• Hybrid

Job Description

The Senior Packaging Engineer is primarily a technical support role within the Packaging Technology Center, part of the Operational Transformation Team.

The role will support all ADM business units as needed, primarily within their region, and collaborate with Operations, Technology teams, Procurement, Strategic Sourcing and Commercial to capture value, ensure best practices and standards are deployed, and align with business priorities.

The Packaging Engineer uses their expertise in packaging systems to provide technical and operational performance leadership. The role is responsible for key performance indicators and measures of success, applying safety and food safety/quality standards and best practices across all packaging technologies. It is also a key link between the Packaging Technology Center and the deployment of standards, best practices and continuous improvement opportunities to create value within the region and globally, as applicable, interlinked with Performance Excellence principles and tools.

Packaging Engineers apply their expertise to monitor production processes, select packaging equipment, optimize packaging systems based on packaging material cost and quality, solve production and packaging problems, support capital projects and contribute to process and packaging continuous improvement projects. This may include equipment sizing, identifying capacity requirements, developing process control systems, increasing packaging line efficiency and working with packaging material suppliers.

The role also involves supporting the installation of new equipment and modification of existing equipment, including related training and start-up activities, in line with best practices and standards. The Packaging Engineer will write technical reports following plant visits and support follow-up actions, monitor and, in some cases, guide cost-saving projects, and initiate and manage supplier relationships in conjunction with Strategic Sourcing efforts.

ADM’s dry packaging operations involve multiwall bags, drums, totes, pouches and boxes. Liquid packaging operations involve PET, glass, jerry cans, aseptic and UHT, bag-in-box and HDPE containers.

The candidate must be able to troubleshoot packaging equipment and implement sustainable corrective actions, optimize and operate packaging equipment. A hands-on mentality and experience, as well as strong interpersonal skills, are essential.

Key Accountabilities and Ownership

• Packaging strategies
• Packaging equipment efficiency improvements
• Knowledge management
• Innovation leadership
• Value creation and sustain the base
• Develop, coach and lead others
• Support capital and NDE projects
• Support continuous improvement through Performance Excellence methodologies
• Technical support for quality complaints
• Safety and food safety standards improvements
• Utilize KPIs and metrics to identify improvement areas and sustain value through continuous improvements
• Develop and deploy best practices and packaging standards, including performance guarantees
• Collaborate with Operations to capture value, ensure best practices and standards are deployed, and align with business priorities
• Capture areas to digitalize metrics
• Drive value by overseeing packaging and warehousing systems and cost-saving initiatives
• Develop and optimize packaging processes
• Function and collaborate as a team; provide or receive coaching and develop other team members
• Define and build a prioritized global pipeline of packaging savings and improvement projects that drive costs out of packaging materials and operations, aligned with agreed packaging strategies with Strategic Sourcing
• Support plant teams with packaging-related troubleshooting to help identify causes and solutions
• Packaging materials specification support, testing and analysis
• Any other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• B.S. in Engineering or Packaging Technology
• 8+ years of operations experience
• 4+ years of direct packaging experience
• Hands-on troubleshooting experience with mechanical and/or electrical systems
• Organized, detail-focused and methodical
• Project management skills
• Preferred experience with Performance Excellence
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
• Basic knowledge of Process Safety and its applications for the design of packaging equipment
• Knowledge of Food Safety best practices as they apply to packaging food products
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Travel: 25–50%