{"id":1421245,"url":"https://alion.io/job/hellofresh-nordics-us-dc-associate-director-packaging","title":"[US DC] Associate Director, Packaging","company":{"id":1061,"name":"HelloFresh Nordics","domain":"hellofresh.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/hellofresh","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":86,"open_postings":48,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.542,"repost_share":0.042,"time_to_fill_p50_days":40,"computed_at":"2026-10-03T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"head","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Newark, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":169650,"max":230550,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":230550},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-28T16:54:35Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-28","last_verified_at":"2026-10-03T23:34:10Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":5},"description":"Associate Director, Packaging Science \nFunction: Packaging Science / Supply Chain / Food Safety/Engineering\nReports to: VP of Engineering and Automation, Hellofresh\nLocation: Multiple\nRole Purpose: \nThe Associate Director, Packaging Science will provide technical leadership for the development, qualification, specification, and continuous improvement of packaging systems used to safely and efficiently deliver fresh food to consumers.\nThis role sits at the intersection of packaging engineering, food safety, cold-chain management, product quality, logistics, operations, and supplier technical management. The position will establish and maintain packaging and distribution specifications that protect food quality and safety throughout the delivery network while balancing cost, sustainability, manufacturability, customer experience, and operational performance.\nThe Associate Director will serve as a technical authority for temperature-controlled food. \nYou Will...\nOwn the technical framework and specifications for packaging systems used to ship perishable food from fulfillment through the customer's doorstep.\nEstablish and maintain packaging standards, technical specifications, drawings, performance requirements, qualification protocols, and acceptance criteria.\nDefine and validate thermal requirements for insulated shippers, liners, refrigerants, and packaging configurations across seasonal, geographic, and worst-case conditions.\nLead packaging qualification and validation programs spanning laboratory testing, pilot shipments, real-world distribution trials, commercialization, and post-launch validation.\nPartner with Food Safety and Quality to prevent contamination, leakage, temperature excursions, product damage, tampering, and loss of product integrity.\nLead the development and commercialization of innovative packaging solutions, including sustainable insulation, reduced-material systems, recyclable/reusable packaging, improved moisture management, leak resistance, and enhanced dimensional efficiency.\nEstablish supplier technical requirements, qualification processes, performance expectations, scorecards, and change-control procedures.\nPartner with Operations, Engineering, Logistics, Procurement, Sustainability, R&D, and Customer Experience to translate technical requirements into scalable and practical solutions.\nDevelop technical governance systems, including packaging risk assessments, distribution test standards, failure/RCA procedures, seasonal validation programs, and packaging performance dashboards.\nDrive continuous improvement by using performance, temperature, quality, operational, financial, and sustainability data to improve packaging reliability, cost, efficiency, and customer experience.\nYou Have...\n8-12+ years of relevant experience in packaging, packaging science/engineering, food manufacturing, cold chain, CPG, or a related technical environment.\nA bachelor’s degree in Packaging Science, Packaging Engineering, Food Science, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline; an advanced degree is preferred.\nDeep expertise in packaging materials and structures, including corrugated, paperboard, flexible packaging, films, laminates, insulation, seals, and primary/secondary packaging.\nStrong knowledge of temperature-controlled distribution, heat transfer, thermal testing, refrigerants/phase-change materials, insulated shipping systems, and time-temperature profiles.\nDemonstrated experience developing packaging specifications, technical standards, qualification protocols, test methods, and acceptance criteria.\nExperience with packaging qualification and distribution testing, including thermal, compression, vibration, drop, puncture, leak, seal, moisture, and environmental testing.\nExperience partnering with packaging suppliers and contract manufacturers on specifications, technical assessments, material changes, performance issues, and quality expectations.\nExperience working cross-functionally with Food Safety, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Procurement, Engineering, Sustainability, and other technical teams.\nStrong analytical, experimental design, risk assessment, data analysis, and root-cause problem-solving capabilities.\nDemonstrated ability to translate complex technical requirements into scalable, practical solutions for high-volume food fulfillment and distribution environments.\nYou Are...\nA technical leader who can establish standards, governance, and strategy-not simply execute existing specifications.\nData-driven and comfortable making technical recommendations based on objective performance and validation data.\nA systems thinker who understands how packaging, cold chain, food safety, logistics, operations, cost, sustainability, and customer experience intersect.\nA strong communicator who can translate complex packaging and thermal concepts into clear business and operational decisions.\nCollaborative and influential, with the ability to build alignment across functions and influence senior stakeholders without relying solely on direct authority.\nCurious and innovative, with an interest in developing new packaging solutions that improve performance, sustainability, efficiency, and the customer experience.\nHighly disciplined about food safety, product integrity, risk management, qualification, and change control.\nComfortable operating in complex, variable environments where shipping duration, weather, geography, carriers, product characteristics, and operational conditions can change.\nA relationship builder who can establish trusted technical partnerships with suppliers, testing laboratories, industry organizations, and subject-matter experts.\nA people leader who can develop and mentor packaging scientists and engineers while building scalable technical capabilities for the organization.\nYou’ll get…\nCompetitive hourly rate, 401K company match that vests immediately upon participation, & team bonus opportunities\nGenerous PTO and flexible attendance policy \nComprehensive health and wellness benefits with options at $0 monthly, effective first day of employment\nUp to 85% discount on subscriptions to HelloFresh meal plans (HelloFresh, Green Chef, Everyplate, and Factor_) \nAccess to Employee Resource Groups that are open to all employees, including those pertaining to BIPOC, women, veterans, parents, and LGBTQ+\nInclusive, collaborative, and dynamic work environment within a fast-paced, mission-driven company that is disrupting the traditional food supply chain\nThis job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities. However, the Company reserves the right to adjust, modify, or reassign work tasks and responsibilities as needed to meet changing business needs, operational requirements, or other factors.\nNewark, NJ Pay Range\n$169,650—$230,550 USD\nIllinois Pay Range\n$158,600—$215,533 USD","description_format":"text","description_chars":6875,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Commerce","Transportation & Logistics","Online Groceries","Prepared Foods"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-28T22:28:02Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Filed H-1B visas in the last two years","filings_12m":0,"filings_prev_12m":2,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-03T21:08:04+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":4,"expected_fill_days":40,"reasons":["conf:11","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-03T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":230550,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/hellofresh-nordics-us-dc-associate-director-packaging","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/hellofresh-nordics-us-dc-associate-director-packaging.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-04T00:10:24Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":108,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":4892,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-05T00:00:00Z"}}}