Industrial Packaging Strategic Lead

Join us and celebrate the beauty of human experience. Create for happier, healthier lives, with love for nature. Together, with kindness and humility, we deliver food innovations, craft inspired fragrances and develop beauty and wellbeing solutions that make people look and feel good. There’s much to learn and many to learn from, with more than 16,000 employees around the world to explore ideas and ambitions with. Dive into varied, flexible, and stimulating environments. Meet empowered professionals to partner with, befriend, and stretch your skills alongside. Every day, your energy, your creativity, and your determination will shape our future, making a positive difference on billions of people. Every essence of you enriches our world. We are Givaudan. Human by nature.  

Industrial Packaging Strategic Lead - Your next role?

As an Industrial Packaging Strategic Lead, you will manage the 2 main divisions of Givaudan -  to develop and implement a comprehensive packaging strategy that aligns with our goals for cost efficiency, sustainability, and regulatory compliance. Your role will involve collaboration across multiple departments to share a vision and create a packaging roadmap that enhances operational effectiveness while minimizing environmental impact.

You will directly report to the Head of COE.

Multiple location: Vernier (Switzerland), Budapest (Hungary), Ashford (UK), Naarden (Netherlands)

Your main responsibilities will include:

Packaging Strategy Development:

• Design and implement a strategic roadmap for industrial packaging that focuses on cost management, sustainability, and compliance with industry regulations

• Governance: Lead the global packaging committee and represents Givaudan packaging function in global internal and external instances

• Conduct market research and benchmarking to identify trends and best practices in packaging solutions

Cost Management:

• Analyze current packaging costs and identify opportunities for cost reduction together with IM&S through innovative packaging designs and materials

• Collaborate with procurement and suppliers to negotiate favorable terms and explore alternative materials that meet budgetary constraints

Sustainability Initiatives:

• Lead initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental impact of packaging, including reusability and the potential use of recyclable and biodegradable materials

• Develop metrics to measure the sustainability of packaging solutions and report on progress to stakeholders

Compliance with Product, Safety and Quality Regulations:

• Ensure all packaging solutions comply with local and international regulations, including safety and environmental standards.

• Stay updated on regulatory changes and industry standards to ensure ongoing compliance - with Regulatory, EHS, Sustainability, and Quality departments

• Manage the Global Quality & Regulatory compliance documents for Packaging

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Work with Operations, Quality, Safety, Regulatory, Commercial and Master Data teams (and customers) to ensure packaging solutions meet product requirements and consolidate Givaudan reputation and image

• Facilitate workshops and training sessions to educate internal teams on packaging best practices and sustainability goals

Continuous Improvement and innovation:

• Monitor and evaluate the performance of packaging solutions, processes and tools, making recommendations for improvements based on data analysis and feedback

• Foster a culture of innovation by encouraging team members to propose new ideas and solutions in packaging

• Partner with the Procurement team to leverage external knowledge from vendors. Help identify cutting-edge materials, technologies, and best practices in packaging to drive more sustainable and effective solutions

• Collaborate with industry peers, think tanks, and forums to leverage external knowledge and drive innovation in packaging solutions

People Functional management:

• Dotted reporting line with the regional and divisional Packaging Engineer to share the Packaging roadmap and follow on the progress of execution. Provide training and mentorship.

Your successful profile includes:

• Bachelor’s degree in (Packaging) Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Environmental Science, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in packaging development, supply chain management, or a related field, with a focus on industrial packaging

• Experience with packaging materials, design, and sustainability practices

• Experience in working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment, influencing stakeholders and sharing a vision and purpose

• Experience project management and strategic planning

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving skills, CI certification (Green or Black Belt preferred)

• Lead without formal authority

• Willingness to travel up to 10% a year

Our benefits

• Attractive package with benefits

• Excellent opportunities for progressive learning and development

• A creative team environment that will inspire you

• Other local benefits based on where you are based

At Givaudan, you contribute to delightful taste and scent experiences that touch people’s lives.
You work within an inspiring teamwork culture – where you can thrive, collaborate and learn from other talented and passionate people across disciplines, regions and divisions.
Every essence of you enriches our world.
Givaudan is committed to equal opportunities. Therefore, we welcome applications regardless of cultural and social background, gender, age, religion or sexual identity. 
We also have a safe working environment, progressive working conditions and are certified as an equal pay employer.