Packaging Manager

Are you a “foodie” and love cookies, muffins and pancakes? Are you are looking for a company where we place high value on teamwork, collaboration, innovation? Are you looking to gain experience and grow your career with a successful international company?

If you are looking to do the best work of your career, be a part of an extraordinary company and have a passion for what we do, we want to hear from you!

Cerelia Bakery Canada (Formerly English Bay Batter) is currently looking to add some awesome new team members to our facility in Mississauga, ON.

We develop and produce exceptionally high-quality products including: Fresh & frozen cookie dough and muffin batter in pre-portion sizes and scoop and bake pails for the foodservice industry as well as in-store bakeries of North American grocery, mass and club stores.

Our baked gourmet cookies and muffins are produced for distribution through multiple channels, including quick service restaurants. Refrigerated products including cookie, pastry and biscuit dough sold to North American Grocery Stores in a variety of formats including canister, chub, break-and-bake and place-and-bake.

Our Research and Development is on-going, aimed at introducing new and exciting products to complement our delectable bakery lines. We are an aggressive, flexible company dedicated to providing quality products that satisfy customer needs and marketplace demands.

Most importantly, we are GROWING. As we grow, our team members grow with us!

THE ROLE:

The Packaging Manager leads all packaging strategy, development, optimization, and lifecycle management for Cérélia Toronto. This role is responsible for ensuring that all packaging components—from primary retail packaging to secondary and tertiary cases—are designed, sourced, cost-optimized, compliant, and work well in our manufacturing environment.
The Packaging Manager acts as the organization’s subject-matter expert for structural packaging development, sustainability, EPR compliance, Packaging specifications and sourcing with various suppliers, BOM governance for pack components and intelligence. The role directly influences customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance, and corporate sustainability goals through rigorous packaging development and continuous improvement.

Essential Job Duties:

• Lead end-to-end development, testing, and launch of primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, including engineering reviews, trials, ship tests, shelf-life validation, and first production runs.
• Drive cost, performance, and sustainability optimization through value engineering, material changes, alternate suppliers, and sustainable packaging solutions aligned with CSR and EPR requirements.
• Own packaging BOMs, specifications, labels, and master data across ERP, TraceGains, customer portals, and supplier systems, ensuring accurate costing, version control, traceability, and audit readiness.
• Establish and maintain case, pallet, and label standards (including Domino/master case labels), providing cross-functional guidance and training.
• Source, qualify, and manage packaging suppliers and printers, supporting negotiations on pricing, MOQs, lead times, and tooling.
• Ensure supplier execution and availability by managing print quality, production runs, ETAs, risk escalation, and plant supply continuity.
• Lead artwork development and print approval from concept to release, coordinating agencies, printers, customers, and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with CFIA, FDA, bilingual labeling, nutrition, allergen, UPC, and GTIN requirements.
• Act as the primary packaging subject-matter expert, supporting operations with runability issues, print defects, structural failures, launches, transitions, samples, and specification changes.
• Manage packaging inventory transitions and lifecycles to minimize obsolescence, mitigate shortages, and support accurate forecasting and continuity of supply.
• Lead packaging sustainability and EPR reporting, providing data and documentation to support corporate CSR KPIs and regulatory obligations in Canada and the U.S.
• Bachelor’s degree in technical field, preferably in packaging engineering, graphic design or related field
• Minimum 5-7 years of progressive experience required in a similar packaging role within food manufacturing or CPG
• Strong knowledge of packaging elements from substrates to design combined with Strong technical knowledge of the print process
• Experience building and managing packaging BOMs, specifications and ERP
• Hands-on experience from packaging development and prototyping to commercialization
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage multi-SKU packaging projects
• Proficient with word, excel and GANTT charts
• Interaction with internal and external stakeholders (packaging suppliers, OEMs, customers)
• Strong expertise in packaging specification creation and management
• Annual base pay of between CAD$97K-$102K
• Fully Employer Paid Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life.
• 3 Weeks Paid Vacation
• 4 Paid Floater Days per year
• RRSP match
• Clean and safe production facility.
• Friendly working environment.
• Career advancement opportunities.

If you are eager and excited to work with a company driven by quality, commitment to excellence, and an awesome product, we want to hear from you!

Job Type: Full-time