Packaging Engineer II

Team & Position Description:

We are Learning Resources® , and learning is where we play. Voted one of the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces, we're a growing, family-owned company known for our award-winning educational toys, including top sellers Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register, Farmer's Market Color Sorting Set and multiple Toy of the Year winners! We even help pets learn and grow through our pet brand Brightkins®. If you're curious, collaborative, and a kid at heart, you'll feel right at home here. Join us in shaping the future of learning with our award-winning team!

What you'll do day to day:

• Create open packaging structures required by major brick-and-mortar retailers
• Design and develop POP and on-shelf solutions including PDQs, sidekicks, side caps, FDSUs, and clip strips
• Revamp existing product packaging to improve margin, execution, speed to market, or retail performance
• Create structural mockups and samples for retailer sell-ins, line reviews, and customer presentations
• Identify opportunities to reduce packaging material usage through efficient structural design
• Optimize unit cartons and master cartons for freight, container utilization, and warehouse efficiency
• Partner with Sourcing and Supply Chain during resourcing to adjust packaging dimensions and specifications
• Create structural dielines for retail and e-commerce packaging, including dual-route solutions
• Produce vendor-ready spec packets and manufacturable files
• Maintain expertise in retailer packaging requirements, constraints, and best practices
• Support tradeshow layouts and provide early packaging feasibility input during product concept development

What we're looking for (Key Performance Objectives):

• Create open and retail packaging structures that meet major retailer requirements and in-store constraints (100% of assigned SKUs approved as retail-ready; minimal rework during line reviews)
  for every assigned new and revised SKU, based on project mix
• Design POP and on-shelf display solutions, including PDQs, sidekicks, side caps, and FDSUs
  (sell-in-ready mockups and manufacturable structures supporting priority retail programs) for key line reviews and seasonal sales moments each year, where applicable
• Optimize packaging materials, unit cartons, and master cartons to improve cost, freight, and warehouse efficiency
  (targeting ~3-8% material or cube reduction opportunities where feasible) on an annual basis, dependent on SKU mix and retailer constraints
• Develop manufacturable dielines, specifications, and vendor-ready packaging packets
  (on-time delivery for ~95% of launches; files meeting cost, compliance, and durability standards) for every new product launch, excluding retailer-mandated or legacy-locked structures

Requirements/Ideal Attributes:

• Bachelor's degree in Packaging Engineering, Packaging Design, Industrial Design (with packaging focus), or a related field
• Demonstrated experience designing open toy or game packaging that meets retailer requirements, safety standards, and in-store execution constraints
• 3-5 years of experience in packaging engineering or structural packaging design
• Experience with open packaging, retail POP, and dual-route (retail + e-commerce) solutions
• Demonstrated experience designing with cost, manufacturability, and logistics in mind
• Experience collaborating directly with overseas manufacturing vendors
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects in parallel

We are a drug-free workplace and an EEO employer.

Please note : This role will be filled by our internal recruitment team, so no assistance is needed from any outside staffing agency at this time.

Compensation Range: $80,000 - $90,000 annual salary - Actual compensation may vary due to other factors such as: years of experience, skill set and location. Total compensation includes profit sharing bonus potential, 401k matching, and a variety of other benefits (details can be found here).

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