M

Mars

Global confectionery, food, and petcare company

Global Packaging Technology Specialist

Full-Time
No salary listed
Senior
Bachelor's, Master's
Nîmes, France+2 moreMore locations: Montpellier, France | Aimargues, France
In Person
Manufacturing & Process EngineeringProcess Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • A Bachelor's or Master's degree in science or Engineering, preferably Packaging, with Mechanical, Chemical, or Food Engineering named as examples.
  • A minimum of 5 years of experience in the packaging industry as an R&D Engineer or in Quality and Food Safety within a factory environment.
  • Proven experience working in multicultural and international companies.
  • Fluent English with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Responsibilities
  • Lead the implementation of new packaging materials, packaging processes, and products across the global factory network for dry and wet processes.
  • Cover primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging and manage different types of packaging materials.
  • Develop and define R&D specifications for packaging processes used to manufacture dry and wet products on existing manufacturing standards and new technology.
  • Lead the packaging industrialization pillar for dry and wet products globally.
  • Lead and own the industrialization stream within the QUEST stage-gate innovation process across Royal Canin and Pet Nutrition manufacturing sites.
  • Partner with cross-functional project teams from kick-off to launch, evaluate project complexity, initiate draft Industrial Risk Assessments, consolidate factory feedback, and design industrial test plans.
  • Update Industrial Risk Assessments based on pilot-line outputs and participate in Go/No-Go decision gates.
  • Define and coordinate factory test-run validation plans, sampling protocols, and recommended process settings with regional DEPLOY teams.
  • Establish and release final packaging material and format R&D specifications and validate final Industrial Risk Assessments for deployment.
  • Act as the escalation point for regional teams by providing advanced troubleshooting, root-cause problem-solving, intra-regional product transfers, and pipeline workload visibility.
  • Lead the packaging governance pillar for dry and wet products globally.
  • Define, publish, and govern global R&D process and product packaging specifications, including statistical process control targets and capability measurement methods.
  • Lead the validation and rollout of new packaging materials, line upgrades, and packaging technologies using TRL and QES frameworks, design of experiments, risk assessments, and DVFS handovers.
  • Define and publish process and product validation protocols across lines, systems, and standard equipment.
  • Partner with Global Engineering on layout reviews, MPAR resource estimations, and Corporate Project handovers with HO0 and HO1 sign-offs.
  • Build and maintain a technical knowledge repository across Petcare communities of practice.
  • Train global and regional R&D DEPLOY teams on packaging technologies, standard operating procedures, statistical process control methodologies, and structured problem-solving.
Desired Qualifications
  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.

About the company

M

Mars

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Mars, Incorporated makes and sells a wide range of food, confectionery, and petcare products worldwide, with brands like M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Dove, Orbit, Skittles, Pedigree, and Royal Canin, and it also operates pet health services through networks such as AniCura, Banfield, BluePearl, and VCA. Its products come from integrated manufacturing and distribution systems, delivering everyday treats and meals as well as veterinary care through a global network of partners. Mars differentiates itself through its diversified portfolio, long family ownership, and the Mars Five Principles—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom—that guide decisions and actions. The company aims to help communities prosper and improve social and environmental outcomes while growing its business and scale.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

Debt Financing

Total Funding

$27B

Headquarters

McLean, Virginia

Founded

1911

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Mars Impact Fund granted over $13 million in 2026 to resilience and animal wellbeing.
  • Mars Snacking added 600 Chicago jobs and committed $100 million to headquarters expansion.
  • Mars completed CA$180 million Ontario upgrades in 2026, lifting pet nutrition and snack capacity.

What critics are saying

  • Nature's Bakery closes Hazelwood by September 2027, signaling integration waste and demand misreads.
  • Mars Wrigley cut 307 Newark jobs and relocated headquarters, exposing ongoing restructuring pressure.
  • A failed Kellanova integration would erase expected scale benefits and hand rivals PepsiCo share.

What makes Mars unique

  • Mars runs pet care, snacking, and food with 2026 Google Cloud Gemini Enterprise rollout.
  • Mars controls nine billion-dollar snacking brands after Kellanova approval on 2026-09-09.
  • Mars owns VCA, Banfield, Royal Canin, and global pet distribution across 145 markets.

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Benefits

  • Professional Development Budget
  • Conference Attendance Budget
  • Performance Bonus

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

3%

1 year growth

10%

2 year growth

10%
PR Newswire
Oct 15th, 2026
Mars Impact Fund awards $2.07M to Elucid for cocoa farmers' healthcare in Côte d'Ivoire

Mars, Incorporated has awarded a $2.07 million grant to Elucid, a social enterprise that runs health programmes in agricultural supply chains. The money comes through the Mars Impact Fund and will support Elucid Santé Côte d'Ivoire, the group's local arm. The three-year programme, called BLOOM, runs from 2026 to 2029. It aims to help up to 12,750 cocoa-farming households access national health insurance by removing upfront costs and administrative barriers. The grant also unlocks about $2 million in matching funds from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. That money will upgrade rural health facilities and extend vaccination campaigns, mobile clinics and preventive care to more than 200,000 people, including 150,000 children. Mars says the health of farming communities underpins the resilience of its cocoa supply chain.

PR Newswire
Sep 1st, 2026
Mars Impact Fund awards over $13M in grants for community resilience, science pipelines and animal wellbeing

Mars Incorporated has awarded more than $13 million in grants through its Mars Impact Fund to six organisations across Côte d'Ivoire, India, the United States and Thailand. The multi-year partnerships with Elucid, Tanager, Pratham Education Foundation, People's Action for National Integration, National 4-H Council and Worldwide Veterinary Service focus on three priorities: strengthening resilience in Mars sourcing communities, developing future scientists and improving companion animal wellbeing. Key investments include $2.07 million to Elucid for healthcare access for cocoa-farming households in Côte d'Ivoire, $5.6 million for mint-farming communities in India and $3 million to National 4-H Council to engage 200,000 young people in food and agriculture careers. The fund also committed $3 million to Worldwide Veterinary Service for rabies elimination efforts in Thailand.

PR Newswire
Jul 21st, 2026
Mars appoints Christina Ruggiero as North America president for pet nutrition division

Mars has appointed Christina Ruggiero as Regional President of its Pet Nutrition Division for North America, effective 1 July. She will oversee brands including Pedigree, Iams, Sheba, Cesar, Greenies, Temptations and Nutro across the United States and Canada. Ruggiero joins from Coca-Cola, where she served as President of the Global Nutrition Category, leading a $9 billion portfolio that included Minute Maid, Simply and Fairlife. She previously spent nearly four years in India as CEO of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, where she doubled the company's net worth. In her new role, Ruggiero will focus on science-backed innovation, omnichannel growth and digital acceleration. Mars operates a $65 billion business with approximately 170,000 associates worldwide.

Fox Business
Jul 20th, 2026
Mars Wrigley to lay off 307 workers, relocate US headquarters from New Jersey to Chicago

Mars Wrigley will lay off 307 workers and relocate its US headquarters from Newark, New Jersey, to Chicago by mid-October. The candymaker, which produces M&M's, Snickers, Twix and Skittles, filed a WARN notice with New Jersey signalling the job cuts will end the company's presence in Newark. The move follows a $100 million investment to expand Mars Wrigley's Chicago facilities, where its global headquarters is now based. The company will continue operating its manufacturing facility in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The New Jersey Business & Industry Association warned the departure signals the state needs to improve its business climate. New Jersey has lost over 9,700 jobs through WARN notices this year, with Samsung and ExxonMobil also announcing recent departures.

Yahoo Finance
Jul 8th, 2026
Mars to close Nature's Bakery plant in Missouri, 345 jobs at risk

Mars-owned snacks brand Nature's Bakery is permanently closing its manufacturing plant in Hazelwood, Missouri. Production will shift to other facilities, with the site expected to remain operational until a full shutdown in September 2027. According to a local government filing, 130 employees will leave on 11 September, followed by 215 more in February 2027. All affected staff have been notified and can seek alternative positions within Nature's Bakery or Mars. In January 2024, Mars announced a $237m investment in a new Nature's Bakery factory in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mars acquired Nature's Bakery in 2020 through its Kind snacking business and recently completed a $35.9bn acquisition of Kellanova in December.