S

Sonoco

Manufactures consumer, industrial, healthcare packaging

Production & Process Manager

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
No salary listed
Expert
Bachelor's
Tavernerio, Province of Como, Italy
HybridHybrid work in Tavernerio; travel may be required.
Manufacturing & Production Operations

About the job

Requirements
  • A degree in Engineering (Industrial, Mechanical, Materials, Chemical Engineering, or equivalent).
  • Proven experience in process engineering, quality management, or continuous improvement roles within manufacturing environments.
  • Preferably experience in paper, paper converting, or other continuous-process industries with high technical variability.
  • Hands-on experience managing non-conformities, customer complaints, and supplier quality issues.
  • Ability to analyze production and quality data and translate findings into corrective and preventive actions.
  • Practical experience working closely with production teams in a multi-shift manufacturing environment.
  • A structured, pragmatic, and data-driven problem-solving approach.
  • Clear communication with technical and operational teams.
  • A strong sense of ownership, reliability, and attention to detail.
Responsibilities
  • Promote a strong safety culture across all involved operational areas.
  • Ensure compliance with applicable legal regulations and company policies regarding occupational health and safety.
  • Integrate safety principles into process changes and technical improvements.
  • Optimize converting processes to improve productivity, yield, machine reliability, and scrap reduction through data-driven analysis and continuous monitoring.
  • Define, standardize, and continuously improve critical process parameters to ensure process stability, repeatability, and operational capability.
  • Analyze cycle times, setups, and production losses, implementing SMED and engineering solutions to maximize line utilization and operational efficiency.
  • Drive structured root cause analysis on recurring process and equipment issues in collaboration with Maintenance, ensuring sustainable corrective actions.
  • Support Quality and Production in the industrialization and stabilization of new products, customer requirements, and process changes.
  • Lead continuous improvement initiatives using Lean Manufacturing, problem-solving methodologies, and performance analysis.
  • Strengthen technical competencies across the organization through coaching, process standardization, knowledge sharing, and structured development plans.
  • Ensure accurate and updated technical documentation, including operating standards, process flows, machine parameters, and control plans.
  • Contribute to the relevant Sonoco Performance System pillars, promoting operational excellence and performance culture.
  • Ensure safe, stable, and efficient production execution across shifts, guaranteeing continuity, quality compliance, and achievement of operational targets.
  • Coordinate Production Supervisors and shopfloor teams, optimizing manpower allocation, workflow organization, and operational discipline.
  • Monitor and analyze production key performance indicators, including output, efficiency, downtime, scrap, and labor utilization, driving timely corrective and preventive actions.
  • Identify operational deviations and performance trends through production and quality data analysis, ensuring rapid issue resolution and continuous improvement.
  • Ensure compliance with safety standards, operating procedures, quality requirements, and company policies across production activities.
  • Support escalation management and troubleshooting in coordination with Maintenance, Quality, and support functions to minimize operational impact.
  • Promote a proactive safety culture, ensuring safe execution of production, setup, and maintenance activities.
  • Ensure effective communication, reporting, and structured shift handovers to guarantee operational alignment and business continuity.
  • Support people development through coaching, training coordination, and competency growth for supervisors and operators.
  • Contribute to relevant Sonoco Performance System pillars and operational excellence initiatives.
  • Collaborate daily with Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Supply Chain teams to monitor plant performance, address operational constraints, and improve process reliability.
  • Provide direct technical support on the shopfloor to rapidly manage process deviations, quality issues, and operational inefficiencies.
  • Partner with Commercial, Quality, and Supply Chain functions to evaluate technical feasibility, process capability, and customer-specific requirements.
  • Support standardization and capability development of operators and supervisors through technical guidance, training, and best-practice sharing.
  • Foster a collaborative, data-driven, and solution-oriented approach across functions to support operational performance and continuous improvement.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience in paper, paper converting, or other continuous-process industries with high technical variability is preferred.

About the company

S

Sonoco

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Website

Sonoco is a global packaging company that manufactures consumer, industrial, healthcare and protective packaging. It produces a range of packaging products and integrated solutions used to protect, present and brand products across many industries, drawing on materials like paper, plastic and metal. Its offerings cover design, conversion and production of packaging that helps brands create unique experiences and maintain product quality from manufacture to shelf. Compared with peers, Sonoco emphasizes scale, geographic reach (34 countries) and end-to-end packaging solutions, plus a track record of recognizing sustainability and social responsibility, including listings in Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies and Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies. The company’s stated goal is Better Packaging. Better Life., focusing on sustainable products, services, and programs for customers, employees and communities.

Company Size

5,001-10,000

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Hartsville, South Carolina

Founded

1899

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Q2 2026 operating profit rose 9.8%, helped by productivity and procurement savings.
  • North America URB volume grew 6% in Q2 2026, supporting industrial paper.
  • Sonoco raised EMEA paperboard prices on August 25, 2026, protecting margins.

What critics are saying

  • ThermoSafe and TFP divestitures cut 2026 sales; Q2 revenue fell 1.3%.
  • A South Carolina recycling-facility fire and French metal-plant closures exposed operational fragility.
  • September 2026 debt maturities and ongoing restructuring costs pressure cash; refinancing failure becomes existential.

What makes Sonoco unique

  • Sonoco’s August 2026 global Consumer Packaging reorganization unifies metal and paper go-to-market.
  • The July 2026 Thailand paper-can plant expands Asia capacity for stacked chips.
  • Its aluminum, steel, and paper portfolio lets Sonoco sell fit-for-purpose formats across categories.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Mental Health Support
  • Paid Vacation
  • Paid Holidays
  • Tuition Reimbursement

Company News

Yahoo Finance
Oct 23rd, 2026
Sonoco cuts 2026 outlook after $829M goodwill charge as input costs bite

Sonoco Products reported third-quarter net sales of $2 billion, down 4% year-over-year but essentially flat excluding the Thermosafe divestiture. Adjusted EBITDA fell 9% to $352 million, and adjusted EPS dropped 13% to $1.67. Higher freight, diesel, and old corrugated container costs weighed on results. Consumer sales fell 3%, while industrial sales rose 5% to $646 million. The company also booked an $829 million non-cash goodwill charge, mainly tied to its consumer EMEA business. Operating cash flow reached $285 million. Sonoco cut total debt by $162 million and refinanced an $800 million term loan. It expects full-year 2026 net sales of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion, adjusted EPS of $5.30 to $5.50, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion. Closing two European sites should save $15 million to $20 million in 2027.

Sustainable Packaging News
Oct 12th, 2026
Metal packaging excellence honoured at UK Packaging Awards 2026.

Metal packaging excellence honoured at UK Packaging Awards 2026. 12 October 2026 14:35 Sonoco Consumer Packaging, Kusmi Tea Extraordinary Voyages tin. L-R: Jason Galley (MPMA); Aurélie Carré and Chris Law (Sonoco Consumer Packaging); Aurie Styla (Awards Host). Crown Packaging and Sonoco Consumer Packaging took the top awards in the 'Metal Pack of the Year' categories, sponsored by the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA), at the UK Packaging Awards 2026. Crown's Estrella Damm 150th Anniversary can was announced as the winner of 'Metal Pack of the Year - High Volume Food and Beverage' with Ardagh Metal Packaging awarded Highly Commended for the Guinness Limited Edition Winter Holiday can. Sonoco's Kusmi Tea Extraordinary Voyages tin took the top spot for 'Metal Pack of the Year - Promotional, Decorative & General Line' with P Wilkinson Containers & William Say receiving Highly Commended for the 100 Years of the Queen, Royal Tea tin. Held at the Hilton Park Lane, the awards ceremony brought together packaging professionals to celebrate 21 years of the UK Packaging Awards and its role in recognising innovation and creativity across the sector. The 'Metal Pack of the Year' awards were presented by Jason Galley, Director and Chief Executive of MPMA, alongside this year's ceremony host, award-winning comedian Aurie Styla. MPMA's Jason Galley explains: "The MPMA-sponsored awards celebrate the very best of metal packaging innovation, recognising product design and brand partnerships that are redefining what packaging can achieve with the unique circularity properties of steel and aluminium. With steel packaging achieving the highest recycling rate of any packaging material in the UK and aluminium, including the iconic beverage can, delivering consistently strong recycling performance, metal packaging is helping to build a true circular economy." Galley continues: "All of the finalists in the MPMA categories demonstrate how resource efficiency, brand creativity and commercial success can go hand in hand while pushing metal packaging beyond its traditional role. This year's winners impressed us with powerful, imaginative storytelling showing how metal packaging is an incredible tool for consumer connection and brand differentiation." Metal Pack of the Year - High Volume Food and Beverage To celebrate 150 years of Estrella Damm, the Barcelona-born brewery partnered with Crown Packaging to create a premium, limited-edition range exclusive to the UK market. The range featured seven distinctive designs which together formed a collectible series. Bold, colourful and highly detailed mixing opaque and transparent inks, each can had individual status while creating a striking billboard effect when displayed together. Produced at Crown's Cambridgeshire facility, using Crown's Accents(TM) Color technology, multiple designs within the same production were run by alternating visuals seamlessly during high-speed printing. Delivering this level of visual richness at scale demonstrates advanced decoration expertise. Véronique Curulla, Marketing and Business Development Director at CROWN Bevcan EMEA, says: "We are delighted to receive this recognition. Packaging plays a powerful role in storytelling, and this project demonstrates how design and manufacturing innovation can connect consumers with a brand's heritage. This innovative can range showcases how variable printing can deliver both creative impact and production efficiency at scale in a highly recyclable packaging format." Highly Commended was awarded to Ardagh Metal Packaging for the 'Guinness Limited Edition Winter Holiday' richly-illustrated, keepsake can. The distinctive execution, including a glossy finish, combined technical print excellence with cultural storytelling and consumer appeal which elevated shelf presence within the festive gifting season. Metal Pack of the Year - Promotional, Decorative and General Line For its 2025 festive collection, Kusmi Tea partnered with Sonoco to create a series of refillable, stackable, keepsake tins inspired by Jules Verne's legendary The Extraordinary Voyages. This refillable approach strongly aligns with Kusmi Tea's commitment to responsible consumption while the use of metal packaging was chosen to protect the tea from light, moisture and oxygen exposure - critical factors for preserving tea's aroma and freshness. The collection consists of three organic tea blends, each imagined as a different 'extraordinary' journey. Through the use of vibrant colours, intricate graphics and precise print execution, the storytelling collection delivered exceptional shelf stand-out while reinforcing premium brand identity. Chris Law, Key Account Manager at Sonoco Consumer Packaging, says: "Sustainable Packaging News is delighted to see its collaboration with Kusmi Tea recognised by the industry. It is a great example of how metal packaging can elevate the consumer experience, combining outstanding decoration with lasting value through reuse. "Alongside this recognition, Sonoco's CapOnCan reseal can, awarded Best New Concept, demonstrates the exciting potential of metal packaging beyond traditional formats. By bringing resealability to metal cans, we are opening new opportunities for fillers to differentiate and deliver greater convenience to consumers for many different markets. Together, these innovations show that metal packaging is not just about protecting what is inside, but creating new possibilities for brands, fillers and consumers." P Wilkinson Containers & William Say received Highly Commended for the 100 Years of the Queen, Royal Tea tin. The keepsake collection, made by the London-based manufacturer, comprised a tea tin and matching shortbread tin, featuring intricate pink and gold artwork, fine line work and subtle tonal variations developed specifically for the centenary celebrations.

CMN Publishing Ltd
Oct 9th, 2026
Sonoco takes two awards at UK Packaging Awards 2026.

Sonoco takes two awards at UK Packaging Awards 2026. Sonoco secured two wins at the UK Packaging Awards 2026, including Metal Pack of the Year for its Extraordinary Voyages packaging developed with Kusmi Tea. The awards, held at the Hilton Park Lane in London on 7 October, recognised achievements across 31 categories covering packaging design, manufacturing, materials and technology. Sonoco and Kusmi Tea won...

Food and Beverage Business
Oct 8th, 2026
Sonoco's easy-open Orbit lid wins inaugural User-Friendly Packaging award.

Sonoco's easy-open Orbit lid wins inaugural User-Friendly Packaging award. Sonoco's Orbit(TM) lid has received the inaugural User-Friendly Packaging award at the PackNorth Award, following nominations from members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association. The new category recognises packaging solutions that are intuitive, accessible and straightforward for people of all abilities. Members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association proposed Sonoco's innovative metal lid for glass jars as a contender in the new User-Friendly Packaging category. The Association also encouraged the Nordic packaging competition to establish an award focused on inclusive design. Its purpose is to recognise and advance packaging that delivers a practical experience for every user. Following submissions from the Association and its members, the judging panel selected Sonoco's Orbit(TM) metal lid as the category winner. The jury's citation read: "The Orbit lid stands out for its user-centred and thoughtfully engineered design, addressing a well-known challenge associated with opening glass jars. Its intelligent construction reduces the need for strength and fine motor skills, making both opening and reclosing easier, more intuitive and accessible to a wider range of users. A strong example of how functional design can make everyday life easier." Stina Nordström, Secretary General of the Swedish Rheumatism Association, presented the award to Sonoco at the Empack packaging exhibition in Stockholm. At the ceremony, she outlined the reasons why the Association and its Easy to use initiative support the new recognition: "If we cannot open a package, it does not matter how attractive, sustainable or innovative it may be. None of these qualities matter if the packaging is difficult to open, impossible to reseal and cumbersome to recycle." Nordström urged packaging manufacturers to treat ease of use as a strategic investment rather than an added expense. She also called on brand owners to ensure that consumers value the product instead of becoming frustrated by its packaging. The award recognises Orbit's intelligent two-piece construction. By updating a familiar packaging format, Sonoco has created a closure that improves functionality and offers a more accessible user experience. The achievement reflects wider food and beverage industry trends, including food manufacturing trends and food processing technology that prioritise usability alongside performance. Packaging innovation is also increasingly connected to food distribution trends, food and drink industry innovation, and food and drink sustainability. As food and drink regulations evolve and food and drink packaging becomes more sophisticated, brands must also consider food and drink consumer trends and the role of food and drink marketing in communicating practical value. "Better Packaging, Better Life is the promise behind everything we do at Sonoco. Packaging should make daily life simpler, not harder, and ease of use is an essential part of that. We are proud that the Swedish Rheumatism Association has recognised Orbit as easy to use, as this independent validation shows that our work makes a real difference for consumers. We sincerely thank the Association for its important work in championing accessibility, and we will continue to put the consumers at the heart of our innovation", said Ghulam MOEEN UD DIN, Digital Project Leader at Sonoco. "I hope this new award category will not only highlight good examples but also inspire the entire industry to develop packaging that works for all consumers," said Stina Nordström.

Sustainable Packaging News
Oct 1st, 2026
Easy-Open lid from Sonoco receives award.

Easy-Open lid from Sonoco receives award. By Kristina Heilborn 1 October 2026 15:35 After nominations from members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association, Sonoco's Orbit(TM) lid has been named winner of the inaugural User-Friendly Packaging award at the PackNorth Award. The new category celebrates packaging innovations that are accessible, intuitive and easy to use for everyone. Several members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association suggested that the innovative metal lid for glass jars should be nominated in the User-Friendly Packaging category. The Association encouraged the Nordic packaging competition, the PackNorth Award, to introduce this new category. The aim is to recognise, reward and promote the development of packaging that works for everyone. The nominations for this new award category were submitted by the Association and its members. The competition jury has now reached its decision, and the winner is the Orbit(TM) metal lid from Sonoco. The jury's citation read: "The Orbit lid stands out for its user-centred and thoughtfully engineered design, addressing a well-known challenge associated with opening glass jars. Its intelligent construction reduces the need for strength and fine motor skills, making both opening and reclosing easier, more intuitive and accessible to a wider range of users. A strong example of how functional design can make everyday life easier." Stina Nordström, Secretary General of the Swedish Rheumatism Association, presented the award to Sonoco at the Empack packaging exhibition in Stockholm. During the award ceremony, she explained why the Association, together with its Easy to use initiative, is behind the award: "If we cannot open a package, it does not matter how attractive, sustainable or innovative it may be. None of these qualities matter if the packaging is difficult to open, impossible to reseal and cumbersome to recycle." Stina Nordström also delivered a clear message to the packaging industry: do not view user-friendliness as a cost, but as an investment. She also addressed product owners directly: let consumers love your product, not hate your packaging. Sonoco was named the winner of this new award category for its smart, two-part Orbit lid. The lid is an excellent example of how a traditional type of packaging can be modernised and made more functional and user-friendly. "Better Packaging, Better Life is the promise behind everything we do at Sonoco. Packaging should make daily life simpler, not harder, and ease of use is an essential part of that. We are proud that the Swedish Rheumatism Association has recognised Orbit as easy to use, as this independent validation shows that our work makes a real difference for consumers. We sincerely thank the Association for its important work in championing accessibility, and we will continue to put the consumers at the heart of our innovation", said Ghulam MOEEN UD DIN, Digital Project Leader at Sonoco. "I hope this new award category will not only highlight good examples but also inspire the entire industry to develop packaging that works for all consumers," said Stina Nordström.