Senior Innovations Manager - Flexible Packaging

NEW VACANCY! (PK9266)

SENIOR INNOVATION MANAGER - FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

HYBRID WORKING - GREATER MANCHESTER / DERBYSHIRE BORDER

£50K - £60K DOE + 10% Bonus + Company Car + Healthcare + Hybrid Working

My client is a leading packaging manufacturer producing high-quality flexible packaging products to the food, beverage and household sectors.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Innovation Manager to join a leading European-headquartered packaging group. This is a strategic, customer-facing role focused on driving technical excellence, innovation, and value-led solutions across key European accounts.

Reporting into a central European leadership team, the successful candidate will predominantly support a major UK-based customer, spending time on-site alongside regular travel to customer locations and remote working.

The Role: You will act as the technical and innovation lead for key accounts, working cross-functionally with sales, R&D and operational teams to deliver innovative, sustainable and commercially effective packaging solutions.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Leading technical innovation and value engineering projects for key customers
• Understanding and translating customer needs into commercially viable solutions
• Driving sustainability initiatives, including recyclability and cost optimisation
• Managing project pipelines and ensuring delivery against agreed targets
• Coordinating trials, new product introductions and technical developments
• Acting as a key technical contact for customers, supporting relationships and growth
• Collaborating with internal European teams across R&D, production and sales
• Supporting responses to innovation briefs and continuous improvement initiatives
• Providing technical support during issue resolution to protect brand reputation

Working Pattern & Travel

• Hybrid role: typically, 1-2 days per week on-site
• Remaining time split between home working and customer visits
• Regular UK travel (weekly) to customer sites
• Occasional European travel (typically up to once per month)

Candidate Profile

• Proven experience within flexible packaging (essential)
• Strong technical background, ideally within food packaging
• Experience in product development, innovation, or technical project management
• Knowledge of materials such as films, adhesives, inks and coatings
• Understanding of form-fill-seal and packaging manufacturing processes
• Ability to manage multiple projects and stakeholders across regions
• Strong communication and customer-facing skills
• Degree in a technical discipline (e.g. Engineering, Chemistry) preferred but not essential

Key Skills

• Innovation and continuous improvement mindset
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
• Commercial awareness, customer focus with the ability to influence & build relationships
• Project and stakeholder management

This is a high-impact role offering real visibility within a European structure, ideal for someone looking to combine technical expertise with strategic customer engagement in a dynamic and growing sector.