Sr. Manager, Global Packaging at NextPower

This Full time on site position offers great opportunities for career growth. At NextPower, we lead the energy transition, providing intelligent solar trackers, power conversion, and control software solutions, together with strategic services that help our customers capture the full value of their solar power plants.

As a company driving the clean energy transition, sustainability is central to our business and operations. Our worldwide teams are creative, collaborative and passionate problem‐solvers, driven by our mission to provide smarter energy solutions and support the transition to a more sustainable future. We are looking for a Sr. Manager, Global Packaging Engineering, based in Madrid, Spain, reporting to the Sr. Director, Logistics Operations & Packaging.

This role will lead our Global Packaging Engineering function, defining and implementing packaging strategy, standards and technical solutions across our global product portfolio.

We are looking for someone who combines strong technical packaging expertise with proven people leadership and who is comfortable working both strategically and hands‐on. The position will work globally across Engineering, Product Management, Quality, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics, and our supplier network, with a particular focus on NPI, returnable packaging, standardization, sustainability, cost optimization, and product protection. What you will do

• Develop and own the Global Packaging Engineering strategy, aligned with business priorities and focused on standardization, quality, sustainability, safety and cost optimization.
• Lead, develop and grow the global Packaging Engineering team, including capability development, resource allocation, performance management and common ways of working across regions.
• Represent Packaging Engineering in NPI and new product development, ensuring packaging requirements are considered from the early design stages through industrialization and launch.
• Lead the development and implementation of returnable packaging programs, including technical solutions, business cases, supplier implementation and operational deployment.
• Establish and maintain global packaging standards, specifications, guidelines and validation requirements across products, suppliers and regions.
• Drive packaging solutions for the full NextPower portfolio, including existing products, new technologies and business verticals, ensuring scalability as the company continues to grow.
• Work closely with suppliers and internal stakeholders to develop and validate packaging solutions, challenging existing designs and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Drive value engineering and cost‐reduction initiatives, considering not only packaging cost but also container utilization, transportation, handling, warehousing, product damage and total landed cost.
• Partner closely with Engineering, Product Management, Quality, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics and Operations to ensure packaging solutions meet technical, operational and customer requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement in packaging processes and technologies, identifying opportunities for automation, standardization and sustainability.
• Establish appropriate KPIs and governance to measure packaging performance, compliance, cost improvements, quality and returnable packaging effectiveness.
• Support packaging integration for new products, technologies and acquired businesses, establishing common standards and ways of working across the organization.
• Maintain a hands‐on approach, including regular engagement with suppliers, manufacturing locations and project/customer sites globally.

What you'll need

• 15+ years of experience in industrial Packaging Engineering, either within a manufacturing organization or packaging solutions provider.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Packaging Engineering, Mechanical/Industrial Engineering with significant packaging specialization, or equivalent relevant technical background.
• Strong technical knowledge of industrial packaging materials, design, specifications and validation, including returnable and expendable/one‐way packaging solutions.
• Proven experience developing and implementing returnable packaging programs.
• Demonstrated people‐management experience, including leading and developing technical teams across different locations and time zones.
• Experience working in a global manufacturing, automotive, energy or similar industrial environment.
• Strong experience working cross‐functionally with Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement, Quality, Logistics and suppliers.
• Ability to combine strategic thinking with hands‐on execution — we are looking for someone who can define the strategy but is also comfortable getting into the technic