La Prairie Director of Global Packaging Development

Role & Responsibilities

• Lead the packaging department and its specialist sub-teams, ensuring they have the capabilities and capacity to deliver.
• Steer and track the packaging budget, and support the Vice President of R&D on packaging-related topics.
• Provide technical expertise in luxury packaging materials, technologies and filling processes, working with internal and external partners to develop, optimise and fill and pack luxury finished goods in line with legal, regulatory, quality, strategic, cost and market-position requirements.
• Monitor new technologies, industrial trends and competitors’ luxury packaging, and regularly propose packaging concepts for future La Prairie products to the Vice President of R&D and Marketing.
• Ensure sub-teams deliver packaging and process development and product industrialisation on time, in full and to quality standards, with relevant data and documentation, including SAP, SOPs, tests, regulatory requirements, specifications, range boards and tools.
• Proactively assess the feasibility of packaging and production improvements, including optimisation, efficiency and new technologies.
• Ensure compliance of the packaging portfolio through data management.
• Develop long-term ideas and initiatives to support the product pipeline, proactively making proposals to Marketing.
• Select and release suppliers according to technical requirements, capabilities and procurement strategy.
• Steer packaging changes within the Supply Chain.
• Advise and support internal and external partners, including Marketing, Quality, Supply Chain and suppliers.
• Guide development, validation and approval of moulds and tools, including lifecycle management for existing packaging and tools.
• Handle quality issues and improvements, including implementation and supplier coordination.
• Support optimisation projects.
• Assess suppliers’ technical capabilities in timing, quality, development cooperation and production, and develop suppliers.
• Guide the team on development and pilot-tool contracts.
• Ensure transparent documentation using SAP, forms and SOPs, and communicate results and milestones to interfaces and stakeholders.
• Find solutions to packaging issues related to quality, production and transport.
• Manage interfaces across Supply Chain and Marketing for packaging and quality projects.
• Ensure regular reporting as agreed.
• Assess risks related to packaging and filling activities, and identify ways to reduce supply risks.
• Define the packaging strategy for updating the portfolio.

Qualifications

• Packaging engineering qualification or comparable education.
• At least 15 years of experience in luxury packaging development.
• At least 5 years of team leadership experience.
• Organisational skills.
• Fluent English; good German language knowledge is beneficial.

Skills

Experience

At least 15 years in luxury packaging development and at least 5 years leading a team.

Education

Packaging engineering or comparable education.

Benefits

Monthly contribution towards health insurance; 25 days of annual leave plus 8.5 additional days off for HQ employees; option to work from home up to two days a week; discounts on La Prairie products and access to employee-only sales at the Employee Boutique; unlimited access to the SkillCare program and LinkedIn Learning; internal and international mobility opportunities within the Beiersdorf Group; employee referral bonuses.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.