At a Glance
- Tasks: Create innovative packaging solutions that protect food and reduce environmental impact.
- Company: Join Bradburys, a leading UK food business with over 140 years of experience.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, 33 days leave, pension, gym discounts, and more.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with opportunities for growth and development.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in food safety and sustainability while working with cutting-edge materials.
- Qualifications: 2+ years experience in packaging and a relevant qualification preferred.
The predicted salary is between 31050 - 37950 £ per year.
Full time | 40 hrs p.w. | Mon-Fri | Based in Buxton, Derbyshire (SK17 9RZ)
Bradburys is a leading UK food business that provides quality cheese to consumers, sourced from regions of the United Kingdom and around the globe, and is highly regarded amongst the retail and foodservice customer base. The key to our success can be attributed to the winning combination of industry knowledge and experience over our 140-year history coupled with continuous innovation to meet future customer trends and demands.
Our Food Packaging Technologist bridges the gap between science, design, and manufacturing. The primary objective is to deliver packaging that protects food quality, ensures safety, meets regulatory standards, optimizes shelf-life, and minimizes cost and environmental impact.
The successful Food Packaging Technologist will be responsible for:
- Building relationships with internal teams and packaging suppliers.
- Working with NPD to develop and trial new packaging formats.
- Supporting production and engineering to ensure smooth manufacture and resolve issues.
- Supporting internal teams to optimise process flow.
- Improving packaging performance, commercial value and waste reduction with suppliers.
- Driving sustainability by improving recyclability and reducing packaging waste.
- Owning packaging data to ensure material compliance.
- Maintaining packaging specifications, certificates and supplier approvals.
- Trialing new materials from concept to launch.
- Owning cutter guide maintenance and sign-off.
Core Technical Responsibilities:
- Selecting materials with the right barriers to protect shelf life.
- Designing MAP structures to maintain gas blends for fresh foods.
- Ensuring food-contact compliance and managing migration testing.
- Testing packaging robustness through drop, vibration and compression trials.
- Setting sealing parameters for high-speed automated lines.
Operational & Cross-Functional Impact:
- Improving line efficiency by ensuring packaging runs smoothly.
- Writing specifications to support alternative sourcing.
- Working with NPD and marketing to industrialise new pack concepts.
- Reducing packaging impact through lighter, recyclable and recycled materials.
Core Technical Levers:
- Material Down-Gauging: Reduce film or tray weight to cut cost and tax.
- Mono-Material Shifts: Move to recyclable mono-PE or mono-PP materials.
- Pack Rightsizing: Reduce excess pack space to improve pallet density and freight cost.
- PCR Integration: Use recycled content in suitable non-food-contact layers.
- Component Removal: Remove unnecessary components through smarter pack design.
Factory & Logistics Efficiency:
- Pallet Optimization: Maximise pallet patterns to reduce freight and carbon impact.
- Format Standardization: Standardise pack sizes to reduce SKUs and improve buying power.
- Line Yield Improvement: Optimise sealing to reduce waste and improve material yield.
Benefits:
- Competitive salary
- 33 days of annual leave (including bank holidays)
- Company pension
- Full EAP system
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted Gym membership
- Store discounts
- Company staff shop
- Free on-site parking
The successful Food Packaging Technologist will have:
- Work authorisation: Existing UK work authorisation is required. Please note there is no visa sponsorship available for this role.
- A minimum of +2 years relevant experience.
- Education: a minimum of GCSE. Preferably a relevant tertiary qualification e.g. Packaging Technology Diploma.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present confidently and persuasively.
- Organised with great time management skills and a common sense approach.
- Self-motivation, Team working and Flexible and adaptable working practices.
- Problem solving ability & Proactive can do attitude.
- IT Skills: Excel, PowerPoint, Word.
Packaging Technologist employer: All The Top Bananas
My Four Wheels is an exceptional employer, offering a rewarding career as a Trainee Driving Instructor with flexible working hours and the potential to earn up to £50,000+ annually. With comprehensive training provided through our new Training Academy, employees benefit from ongoing support and resources, ensuring a fulfilling journey towards becoming a qualified instructor while enjoying the satisfaction of teaching locally in Westfield, Surrey.
