Description

Job Title: Packaging Sustainability Manager

Reporting To: Senior Director of Packaging, North America 

Location: Chicago, IL

Lactalis Heritage Dairy is currently seeking candidates to join our team in Chicago. 

Lactalis Group, the world leader in dairy, is a family-owned business with more than 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals worldwide, committed to providing healthy and delicious dairy products that bring people together every day. At Lactalis, our core values of AMBITION, ENGAGEMENT, and SIMPLICITY are at the heart of everything we do.

If you’re looking for a unique experience with a company that offers strong brands, professional expertise, and a dynamic work environment that champions entrepreneurial spirit, hands-on responsibility, and real opportunity for career development, we want to hear from you!

Lactalis Heritage Dairy: inviting you to share with us your STORY, your PASSION, and your EXPERTISE.

From your PASSION to ours

This position is to acquire and maintain expertise in packaging Eco-design in a highly evolving context. To have a knowledge base in terms of materials in contact with food (regulatory changes, formalization and training, monitoring of risk substances, etc.). Act as an expert in the interfaces with the internal functions involved (CSR, Quality, Regulatory, Marketing, Purchasing, & Industrial). Act as an expert, supporting the hierarchy in interfaces with external partners (Suppliers, professional organizations and eco systems). Provide transversal support to the Zone packaging experts on Eco-design and food contact materials. 

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

1 : Eco-design 

· Lead and define the eco-design roadmap for packaging throughout Zone.

· Train the Packaging R&D teams (experts) in the eco-design approach

· Explain the eco-design approach to packaging among non-experts (Marketing, Purchasing, QA, Industrial, internal training)

· To become the Zone expert on the PEP eQopack tool. To train the Zone Packaging R&D team on eQopack tool. Make proposals to optimize the performance of our packaging in terms of eco-design.

· Consolidate and synthesize all eQopack data from the network for distribution to central teams (CSR).

· Lead the measurement of source reduction and eco-design actions, estimate their environmental impact (benefit), ensure data collection (Excel database). To present data to Zone and Global CSR teams. 

2 : Regulatory changes

· Monitor, in tandem with the Regulatory Affairs teams, changes in packaging and environmental regulations. Present information and provide recommendations to the other functions concerned (Marketing, CSR, Private Label Sales, Quality, Purchasing, Industrial).

3: Food contact packaging and food safety expertise by : 

· Following the evolution of packaging regulations concerning food safety, and disseminating information to the North American packaging teams.

· Participating in commissions/seminars on materials in contact, producing summaries and sharing information with the network of packaging experts.

· Support packaging development engineers in validating the conformity of new packaging to food contact.

· Interact with the Quality teams in charge of food safety to follow news and highlight all media alerts (BPA, PVC, PFAS, TiO2, Phthalates, mineral oils, etc.) 

· Share CSR expertise with experts (Packaging Network) and non-experts (Quality, plants, divisions, ...)

4: Packaging Engineering Expertise & Management;

· Be a part of cross-functional teams throughout the Zone (CSR, Marketing, R&D, Quality and Purchasing) to develop, design, test and make packaging recommendations for new and existing (line extensions) products.

· General knowledge of packaging machinery, material handling, and automation that relates to Packaging.

· Source and investigate new innovative ideas throughout the industry to inform Marketing and plants of the newest innovations that may benefit our product lines. This process can be done through publications, shows, networking with Suppliers, product displays in the marketplace. Will continually assess Suppliers to ensure that our company receives updated innovations and new packaging ideas.

· Exchange information with Corporate Headquarters in France to benefit in package designs, specifications and machineries.

· Technically assist in sourcing and qualifying Suppliers. This will include site visits. Assist in Setting up procedures for evaluating potential suppliers packaging products. This evaluation should involve the Plants, Marketing, R&D and CSR team.

· Assist in research to prepare bid proposals, analysis and summarizing technical responses.

· Could be assigned to special projects outside of Sustainability role to support additional R&D initiatives.

· Travel to various head offices in Canada & US, plants, trade shows, and vendors approx. 30% of the time. 

Requirements

From your STORY to ours

Qualified Candidates will bring the following:

Education

• Ideally incumbent will possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Packaging Design or Engineering with a concentration in Packaging materials, machinery, and sustainability.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of experience is required.

Skills/Abilities

• To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet software and Microsoft Word software and Power Point software, Palletization software (TOPS or CAPE), AutoCAD. 

Lactalis Heritage Dairy is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities.