Primary Responsibilities

Work with the Food Protection and Innovative Packaging team to plan and conduct non­conventional and advanced studies requiring extensive innovation in the design, development and production of packaging and packing materials, methods and total packaging systems. Application of professional knowledge and experience in the field of packaging and allied scientific and engineering disciplines to explore new concepts and systems/methods of packaging as solutions for non-recurring problems occurring during initial large-scale production of new food and food service equipment packaging systems

Contribute to and/or develop experimental models/prototypes, design criteria, performance requirements, etc., for production engineering studies and R&D studies in operational ration packaging platforms. Knowledge of and ability to guide/perform scale-up activities from laboratory based, novel solutions to full scale industrial production. Writes packaging related technical documents based on research and development investigations and provides technical comments during coordination. Reviews and assesses all governmental and non-governmental packaging and container standards Supports government and industry packaging related inquiries and engineering support cases.

Experience and/or knowledge of characterization methods for packaging materials and/or polymeric based packaging, such as barrier, mechanical, and packaging integrity test methods. Contribute to and conduct packaging and film-based testing and analysis to include barrier testing experiments using MOCON Oxtran/Permatran, microscopy to include SEM image generation/analysis of packaging materials, seal strength/burst testing, mechanical testing (i.e. tensile, puncture) for polymeric pouch materials, and drop/vibration testing of case level packaging. Contribute and conduct laboratory-scale extrusion trials for novel polymeric materials, to include compounding, cast film, and blown film processing. Work includes study design, data collection/analysis and determination of follow-on steps based on results.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Packaging Science or an equivalent degree that is a BS or higher, with 2 or more years of experience.
• Experience in packaging/polymeric materials for foods, including primary/ secondary/tertiary materials.
• Experience with end item packaging.
• Proficient in data analysis software such as GraphPad, SAS or equivalent.
• Experience in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of packaging materials, analysis and interpretation of data.
• Experience with biodegradable/compostable materials and applications for primary/secondary/tertiary packaging.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to prioritize tasks and work on multiple actions at any given time
• Excellent analytical and technical skills
• Ability to work independently as well as with others in a team

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience working on military food products

EIO 2024

Original Posting Date:

2024-08-01
While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $65,000.00 - $117,500.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.