Associate Director

HelloFresh is a food company focused on delivering fresh food to consumers.

• Own the technical framework and specifications for packaging systems used to ship perishable food from fulfillment through the customer's doorstep
• Establish and maintain packaging standards, technical specifications, drawings, performance requirements, qualification protocols, and acceptance criteria
• Define and validate thermal requirements for insulated shippers, liners, refrigerants, and packaging configurations across seasonal, geographic, and worst-case conditions
• Lead packaging qualification and validation programs spanning laboratory testing, pilot shipments, real-world distribution trials, commercialization, and post-launch validation
• Partner with Food Safety and Quality to prevent contamination, leakage, temperature excursions, product damage, tampering, and loss of product integrity
• Lead 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
• Establish supplier technical requirements, qualification processes, performance expectations, scorecards, and change-control procedures
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Logistics, Procurement, Sustainability, R&D, and Customer Experience to translate technical requirements into scalable and practical solutions
• Develop technical governance systems, including packaging risk assessments, distribution test standards, failure/RCA procedures, seasonal validation programs, and packaging performance dashboards
• Drive continuous improvement by using performance, temperature, quality, operational, financial, and sustainability data to improve packaging reliability, cost, efficiency, and customer experience

• 8–12+ years of relevant experience in packaging, packaging science/engineering, food manufacturing, cold chain, CPG, or a related technical environment
• A bachelor's degree in Packaging Science, Packaging Engineering, Food Science, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline; an advanced degree is preferred
• Deep expertise in packaging materials and structures, including corrugated, paperboard, flexible packaging, films, laminates, insulation, seals, and primary/secondary packaging
• Strong knowledge of temperature-controlled distribution, heat transfer, thermal testing, refrigerants/phase-change materials, insulated shipping systems, and time-temperature profiles
• Demonstrated experience developing packaging specifications, technical standards, qualification protocols, test methods, and acceptance criteria
• Experience with packaging qualification and distribution testing, including thermal, compression, vibration, drop, puncture, leak, seal, moisture, and environmental testing
• Experience partnering with packaging suppliers and contract manufacturers on specifications, technical assessments, material changes, performance issues, and quality expectations
• Experience working cross-functionally with Food Safety, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Procurement, Engineering, Sustainability, and other technical teams
• Strong analytical, experimental design, risk assessment, data analysis, and root-cause problem-solving capabilities
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical requirements into scalable, practical solutions for high-volume food fulfillment and distribution environments

• Reports to VP of Engineering and Automation, Hellofresh
• Location: Multiple