Design & Innovation Manager

About the Role

Are you a driven leader passionate about packaging innovation and design excellence? DS Smith is looking for a high-performing individual to head up our Design & Innovation function across the cluster, managing a creative team and playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of our packaging solutions.

As our Cluster Design & Innovation Manager, you will:

• Lead the design and innovation strategy within the cluster, ensuring alignment with our wider Division and Country objectives.

• Manage the PackRight Centre and a talented team of packaging designers, fostering innovation and ensuring high-quality, efficient solutions.

• Drive consistency in design tools, services, KPIs, and reporting, and promote a unified approach to innovation delivery.

• Champion technical innovation and creative design that delivers real value to customers and supports business growth.

• Collaborate closely with sales, manufacturing, and customer teams to ensure we’re always innovating to meet market needs.

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Deliver on agreed KPIs and lead innovation development projects that create value and enhance retailer engagement.

• Understand and anticipate customer needs and market trends across the cluster, translating these insights into practical design solutions.

• Develop and maintain deep knowledge of the cluster’s manufacturing capabilities, using this to influence packaging design and strategy.

• Ensure all packaging designs meet regulatory standards, developing a local centre of excellence for testing and specification.

• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing D&I team, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to influence major projects, collaborate with forward-thinking colleagues, and make a real impact across the business.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong people leadership and coaching abilities

• Experience managing innovation/design teams in a manufacturing or packaging environment

• Change management skills – able to challenge, improve, and drive transformation

• Commercial acumen with a creative edge – understands how design impacts value

• Excellent communication and presentation skills

• Highly organised, strategic thinker with a hands-on approach

• A curious mindset – someone who asks “why” and digs deep for the best solutions

• Willingness to travel up to 50% of working hours across sites

• Fluent English required (additional European language desirable

What we offer

• Competitive salary + discretionary bonus

• 25 days holiday + bank holidays

• Pension scheme, life assurance & income protection

• Electric car salary sacrifice scheme

• Cycle to work & employee discount programmes

• Employee Assistance Programme for wellbeing support

Turn your passion into a career and help shape the future of sustainable packaging with DS Smith. Ready to Lead the Future of Packaging Innovation?

Location:  On Site - Hinckley plus regular travel to sites and customers

About us

We’re DS Smith, the company who are redefining packaging for a changing world.  We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. Today, we operate in more than 30 different countries, supporting customers across sectors like FMCG, industrial, and e-commerce. We deliver on quality, service, innovation, and added value to deliver market-leading sustainable packaging solutions our customers need. Our industry needs to transform, and we’re building the team to drive change across Europe and North America

To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. 

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.

As a Safety‑first employer, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards across our operations. Our approach to safety means going beyond minimum legal requirements and focuses on continuously elevating how we work safely—every day, at every level. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a brief safety questionnaire as part of the selection process. This helps us ensure that everyone who joins our team shares our focus and commitment to design, operate and maintain injury-free workplaces for our employees and everyone who enters our facilities.

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