Packaging Technologist - McCain Foods

At McCain Foods we know the importance that food plays in people's lives, the power it has to bring people, families and communities together. At McCain Foods our purpose is to celebrate real connections through delicious planet-friendly food, and we believe this is possible when we work together with our teams, business and communities in a way that reflects our values.

With this purpose in mind McCain Foods SA is for a Packaging Technologist who will provide technical packaging leadership by taking responsibility for the identification, assessment and execution of regional packaging projects that involve new product development, cost optimization, quality, supply continuity and sustainability activities. The remit includes our frozen portfolio (Potato, Meals, Vegetables and Appetizers) across retail, QSR and Food Service channels.

Key Accountabilities

• Develop a strong foundational knowledge of the McCain frozen foods pack portfolio that includes packaging materials and converting processes.
• Apply packaging development principles to unlock innovative pack design and execute packaging projects from concept-to-launch.
• Apply understanding of legal guidelines to all initiatives and develop and implement packaging specifications that meet food contact and recycling certification. Ensure packaging sustainability impact is included in business decisions.
• Collaborate cross-functionally internally to identify new packaging value engineering ideas, prepare business cases for new projects, and enable execution of value engineering opportunities for packaging and process that bring sustainable cost advantage to McCain.
• Engage with packaging suppliers to drive performance and evaluate new technologies or cost savings opportunities. Work closely with procurement to realise savings across packaging spend that contribute to value engineering targets.
• Build relationships across the organization to ensure packaging expertise is called upon to solve to solve critical technical challenges simply and efficiently.
• Influence project stakeholders in all functions and leadership to clear obstacles and deliver results for the organization.
• Maintain relevant packaging suppliers and expert networks to keep abreast of developments in the industry and the marketplace and bring new insight to McCain.

Qualifications and Experienced Required:

• Ideally 7+ years of professional experience in consumer goods, preferably in food.
• National Dip., Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Material Science, Packaging Engineering, or related technical field.
• Solid knowledge of packaging development, manufacturing processes and procedures with demonstrated experience of product commercialization.
• Innovative and creative problem solver and out-of-the-box thinker.
• Strong influencing skills and ability to gain buy-in for projects.
• Ability to anticipate issues and manage project risks while focussing on execution.
• Technical depth complemented with effective communication skills.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively to drive packaging initiatives with cross-functional partners.

Technical expertise:

• Technical expertise in food packaging.
• Sound understanding of Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.
• Strong analytical capability, disciplined in approach and data oriented.
• Good computer literacy skills, with SAP experience strongly valued.
• Experienced in project management processes and continuous improvement principles.
• Experienced with food safety and HACCP processes. Understanding of the critical importance of functional compliance with relevant Acts/ Legal Requirements, Business Ethics and Food Manufacturing Standards.