Senior Associate Packaging Innovation, Essential Home

Essential Home

With a trusted portfolio of world-class Air Care, Surface, Laundry and Pest Control products, the Essential Home team’s purpose is to Make a House Your Home. Fuelling this newly formed business and leadership team is a diverse and inclusive culture for all. Together, we’re shaping a team with a founder mentality: that listens and learns, and that is entrepreneurial, agile, and action oriented. 
 

With high-quality brands such as Air Wick, Cillit Bang, Calgon and Mortein, now is an exciting time to join a dynamic company full of purpose, pace and energy, that will create a truly unique learning and career opportunity for all.
 

​Research & Development​

In Research and Development, we're full of highly skilled talents that include Scientists, Engineers, Medical, Clinical and Regulatory professionals - all working to create a cleaner, healthier world. With nine Centres of Excellence, we continually seek out new opportunities by using science, our entrepreneurial flare and our fearless innovation to develop and enhance our existing portfolio, never compromising on quality or performance.

We do the right thing, always, by ensuring we act with responsibility and integrity, by complying with regulatory legislation across the globe, whilst ensuring our products are safe for our consumers and are to the highest quality.

The size of our organisation means you'll have the opportunity to learn and work in different functions within R&D, giving you exposure to different disciplines, teams and environments. You will also have access to our Research and Development Academy, designed to develop our team and allow you to grow in our great organisation.

About the role

The Senior Associate Packaging Innovation, Essential Home is within the Global R&D Packaging team, supporting Airwick and Pest categories. Main responsibility is supporting structural packaging development, from concept to launch and on market for category NPDs and EPDs. Works closely with the R&D Project teams in Essential Home.  

Your responsibilities

• Responsible for the development of new packaging solutions for future product launches: 
• Lead NPD Packaging parts of projects involving new and novel packaging components or technologies. Ensure all packaging elements are delivered within budget and to agreed set timescales and quality requirements 
• Contribute to project success criteria. Own the success criteria for Packaging elements of each project. Provide technical inputs into design briefs 
• Collaborate closely with internal partners and external partners: marketing, trade, legal, regulatory, R&D, regional packaging teams, engineering and procurement, etc.  external: suppliers, tool makers, design agencies, test houses, universities, creative agencies, etc. Build effective working relationships with key partners. 
• Manage pilot tool qualification ensuring all packaging is fit for purpose and meets set KPIs. Support Production Tool qual. & Line validation 
• Ensure all new product developments are compliant and adhere to the requirements from other work streams, including Formulation, Regulatory, Quality etc. 
• Identify and evaluate new packaging solutions and trends. These could include technologies, materials and processes 
• Knowledge of 3D CAD system is an advantage (Solid Works), and ability to run 3D printers, although training on these will be provided. 
• Support R&D sustainability objectives, including plastics reduction, inclusion of PCR and plastic free solutions 
• Support Productivity work streams including simplification, workstream efficiency and reduction in manufacturing waste. Contribute to Gross margin improvement sessions. Propose Packaging ideas which can lead to packaging material cost reduction or product manufacturing complexity reduction or automation. 

The experience we're looking for

• BS/BA degree in Packaging Design / Development, Engineering or Product Design or similar. Design mindset and ability to think in 3D. CAD / 3D Printing knowledge is an advantage 
• Some experience of working in a Project led team developing products from concept to manufacture, ideally in FMCG. Two years + would be advantageous  
• Project Management skills including timeline management
• Some knowledge of injection and blow moulding beneficial
• Experience with rapid prototyping and handmade fabrication methods for concept refinement
• Computer literate; familiarity with statistics and project management principles. Proficient with common software, including MS Office 
• Good communication skills   
• Basic knowledge of technical and commercial awareness 
• Ability to work closely with external research and Design agencies  
• Understand a broad range of packaging materials and factory environments as the role is not just office based
• Excellent organisational and problem-solving skills
• Results-oriented and self-motivating
   

The skills for success

Task Execution Under Pressure, Makes strategic Business Decisions, Business accumen, Commercial Awareness, Objective Setting, Accountability, Consumer Insight, Creative Direction, R&D, Change Leadership, Product Lifecycle Management, Business Partnership, Collaboration and partnership building, Relationship Management, Adapt to changes in technological development plans, Ability to challenge the status quo and propose improvement, Innovation Processes, Digital transformation for R&D, Quality and Manufacturing.

What we offer

With inclusion at the heart of everything we do, working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we support our people at every step of their career journey, helping them to succeed in their own individual way. We invest in the wellbeing of our people through parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program to promote mental health, and life insurance for all employees globally. We have a range of other benefits in line with the local market. Through our global share plans we offer the opportunity to save and share in Reckitt's potential future successes. For eligible roles, we also offer short-term incentives to recognise, appreciate and reward your work for delivering outstanding results. You will be rewarded in line with Reckitt's pay for performance philosophy.

Equality

We recognise that in real life, great people don't always 'tick all the boxes'. That's why we hire for potential as well as experience. Even if you don't meet every point on the job description, if this role and our company feels like a good fit for you, we still want to hear from you. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, disability or medical condition; colour, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and national origin; religion, faith; pregnancy, family status and caring responsibilities; sexual orientation; sex, gender identity, gender expression, and transgender identity; protected veteran status; size or any other basis protected by appropriate law.