Chemicals' Performance Manager (H/F)

DANONE is a global food company holding top positions in healthy food through its four businesses: Essential
Plant base and dairy products, Specialised Nutrition and Waters. Its mission, bringing health through food to as
many people as possible, embodies commitment to human progress and business success. It gives meaning to
the work of our 100,000 Danoners worldwide on an everyday basis.

Danone Nutricia Research is committed to Danone’s mission, with more than 1 500 people in over 60 countries.

The Advanced Packaging Materials (APM) R&I team is fully committed to ensuring full valorisation of the packaging materials for
all businesses units, raw materials for packaging representing 1 700 KT.
The APM team is committed to delivering innovative and sustainable “building blocks” and “ready to plug” solutions in
the field of packaging through polymers, flexible, paper-based, colorants, additives and inks with 3 objectives: 0
drop of oil, second life and best value for packaging materials.

Job mission:

This is a full-time position aiming at leveraging the power of additives, colour masterbatch, inks and coatings for our packaging to deliver our ambition of innovations for consumers and circularity. This must be performed without compromising the reputation of the Danone company, its products and brands by ensuring all new suppliers and raw materials are legal and safe and that the quality standards are held in the highest regard through ownership and development of Global policies, standards, systems, processes and practices associated with suppliers and packaging within facilities that manufacture Danone products.

As a Performance Chemicals Manager, your mission will be to :

• Participate as expert on chemistry to projects linked to the development of packaging or material for packaging (polymers, inks, masterbatches, coatings…)
• Contribute to the packaging challenges through innovation on inks, additives and coatings as regards to packaging’s differentiation, cost, food safety and recyclability.
• Map the upstream business (pigments, solvents, carriers, additives…), Equipment and Technology suppliers and Converters to understand their possibilities (requirements) and transform them into raw materials specifications.
• Identify the opportunities of partnerships in R&I programs, at either supplier start-ups or universities – institutes, which deliver added-value to Danone’s packaging through new technologies / chemistries.
• From identified internal needs, translate those needs into feasible and attractive solutions for any type of packaging and build a relevant road-map in that field.
• Formalise a scientific know-how in the field of inks, coatings, additives and surface treatment and deliver training and support to R&I pack community.
• Be the technical key contact of procurement teams of all inks, coatings and additives suppliers.
• Support new business model linked to reusable applications where additives and coatings could be the enabler

Your profile :

• Advanced degree in Chemical Engineering and good expertise in at least two of the following topics:
  organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, plastic additives formulation and polymer chemistry.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in creating and leading R&D projects linked to chemistry of additives for
  plastic (synthesis, formulation) or polymer(s) formulation or printing inks, coatings or masterbatch
  formulation, preferably in the domain of food contact materials.
• English fluent mandatory (French’s basics are recommended for daily life), Spanish is a nice to have.
• Agility and curiosity with strong drive for innovation & for support to business in solving day to day issues.
  Ability to quickly understand Danone’s business needs and project them in terms of chemical functional
  brief. Conversely, when confronted to chemical/material innovation, ability to understand the opportunity
  it represents for packaging.
• Strong drive for sustainability and ability to project chemical knowledge in this direction to participate to
  the creation of sustainable, recyclable packaging of tomorrow.
• Good pedagogic skills to explain in simple words complex subjects, conjugated with ability to adapt
  specifically to non-chemically skilled audience to show in simple words the interest for Danone’s business.
• Ability to connect to experts (academics, suppliers, start-ups) and adapt to highly specialized
  professional(s) to gain credibility, and make Danone appear the partner of choice for innovation.
• Strong adaptation, good listening, communication skills and relationship capabilities to create an efficient
  network internally and externally.

We offer :

• A role at the heart of Danone strategy on both environmental and growth sides
• High internal and external exposure at international level
• A transversal role and a global vision on all our businesses
• Diversified career opportunities within an international company