Sustaining Engineering Manager

Job Description

The Sustaining Engineering Manager is responsible for leading the multidisciplinary team that provides lifecycle support, equipment issue resolution, reliability improvement, and technical enablement for CRYOVAC commercial food packaging equipment across the Americas.

The Solutions Center is the first point of contact for customers and field service teams that need equipment diagnostics, technical information, troubleshooting, training, and sustaining engineering support. The Sustaining Engineering Manager owns the operating model and prioritization process that move issues from identification through root cause analysis, corrective action, engineering change, validation, and closure.

This role is accountable for improving equipment reliability and serviceability, managing lifecycle and obsolescence risk, supporting spare parts and service kit development, maintaining equipment configuration control, and improving the accuracy and availability of training and technical documentation.

The manager connects customers and field teams with Field Service, Technical Service, Customer Service, Sales, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Product Management, and Research and Development Engineering. The role establishes clear ownership, escalation paths, handoffs, and accountability for sustaining and operational responsibilities within the Solutions Center while enabling R&D Engineering to focus on differentiated technical solutions, new technologies, and future equipment capabilities.

Location:Duncan Automation Center, Duncan, South Carolina

Work arrangement:On site

Organization:Solutions Center

Reports to:Senior Solutions Center and Sustaining Engineering Manager

Team Leadership

Lead a multidisciplinary team that includes:

* Industrial Mechanical Engineer

* Industrial Electrical Engineer

* Vertical Pouch Packaging Mechanical Engineer

* Vertical Pouch Packaging Electrical Engineer

* Two Technical Service Field Experts

* Senior Engineering Technician

Set priorities, clarify ownership, develop technical capability, and establish operating rhythms that connect field insight to engineering action.

Key Responsibilities:

Sustaining Engineering and Lifecycle Management

* Lead sustaining engineering for the CRYOVAC commercial equipment portfolio across the full product lifecycle, from commercialization through end of service life.

* Establish clear ownership across mechanical, electrical, controls, and equipment engineering disciplines within the Solutions Center.

* Prioritize sustaining engineering work using customer impact, field performance, reliability, safety, lifecycle risk, issue frequency, issue severity, cost, and business value.

* Standardize root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, engineering change, validation, and issue closure processes.

* Maintain clear escalation paths and handoffs between the Solutions Center, R&D Engineering, Field Service, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales, and other stakeholders.

* Monitor open issues, closure performance, and recurring failure patterns to ensure problems move to resolution.

Reliability and Continuous Improvement

* Lead root cause analysis and corrective action efforts for significant equipment issues.

* Drive improvements in equipment reliability, serviceability, standardization, value engineering, and cost reduction.

* Partner with cross functional teams to identify failure modes, confirm root causes, implement corrective actions, and verify effectiveness.

* Establish performance measures that show whether corrective actions reduce recurrence and improve customer and field service outcomes.

* Use field performance, customer impact, safety, frequency, severity, cost, and strategic value to prioritize reliability initiatives.

Equipment Lifecycle, Parts, and Obsolescence

* Lead engineering ownership of equipment obsolescence and lifecycle risk management.

* Develop proactive strategies for obsolete, discontinued, constrained, and at risk components.

* Partner with Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, Manufacturing, and suppliers to evaluate technical options and protect continuity of equipment support.

* Support Advanced Maintenance Plan spare parts and service kit development.

* Maintain accurate equipment identification, configuration management, product history, and technical information.

* Identify lifecycle risks early and coordinate mitigation plans with the functions responsible for execution.

Training, Demonstrations, and Commercial Support

* Lead the Solutions Center as a center of technical expertise for CRYOVAC equipment.

* Oversee customer and Technical Service Representative training, technical demonstrations, trade shows, and customer events.

* Partner with Sales, Marketing, Applications, Product Management, and Engineering to support commercial initiatives.

* Capture customer feedback, field observations, and emerging technical requirements.

* Translate customer and field insights into actionable opportunities for Engineering and Product Management.

* Ensure technical training and documentation accurately reflect equipment configurations, operating requirements, service practices, and approved changes.

Cross Functional Leadership

* Serve as the primary sustaining engineering leader across R&D, Quality, Field Service, Technical Service, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and Product Management.

* Establish clear decision rights, escalation paths, handoffs, and accountability for sustaining and operational responsibilities.

* Lead cross functional execution to improve the speed, quality, consistency, and scalability of technical support and equipment improvement initiatives.

* Ensure R&D support and service level expectations are clear, prioritized, and tracked.

* Represent Solutions Center priorities in engineering, operational, and commercial discussions.

* Create repeatable processes that reduce recurring fire drills and improve execution discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

* Experience with food packaging equipment or industrial packaging machinery.

* Experience with CRYOVAC equipment or comparable automated packaging systems.

* Experience managing both mechanical and electrical or controls engineering resources.

* Experience in a centralized technical support, Solutions Center, field engineering, or sustaining engineering organization.

* Experience with spare parts programs, service kits, or aftermarket engineering.

* Experience with SAP, ServiceMax, PLM, ERP, CRM, incident management, or field service management systems.

* Lean Six Sigma experience. Black Belt certification is preferred.

* Master's degree in Engineering, Business, or a related discipline.

* Spanish language proficiency.

Leadership Expectations

You will set a clear sustaining engineering direction, make evidence based tradeoffs, and maintain accountability for execution. You will build technical capability within the team, communicate directly with senior stakeholders, and operate with enough autonomy to convert customer and field problems into durable engineering improvements.

Strong performance in this role requires the ability to:

* Focus on measurable outcomes rather than activity alone.

* Take ownership of problems that cross organizational boundaries.

* Use field data, technical evidence, and customer impact to set priorities.

* Communicate decisions, risks, and tradeoffs clearly.

* Establish structure without creating unnecessary process.

* Maintain customer focus while protecting long term equipment reliability and lifecycle support.

Success Measures

Success will be measured by measurable improvement in:

* Customer response and equipment issue resolution.

* Equipment reliability and serviceability.

* Corrective action effectiveness and reduction of recurring field issues.

* Lifecycle risk and obsolescence management.

* Engineering change execution and validation.

* Training effectiveness and technical capability.

* Accuracy, availability, and ongoing improvement of technical information.

* Sustaining engineering project delivery.

* Escalation performance and issue closure.

* Transition of appropriate sustaining engineering responsibilities from R&D Engineering to the Solutions Center.

Travel and Work Environment

Travel is expected at approximately 10 percent, including domestic and occasional international travel to support:

* Customers

* Field Service and Technical Service teams

* Manufacturing facilities

* Suppliers

* Equipment demonstrations

* Trade shows

* Engineering activities

The position is based on site and works across office, engineering laboratory, manufacturing, and customer production environments. Travel to the Charlotte facility is required as needed using a personal vehicle.

Why Join the CRYOVAC Solutions Center?

This role will help build the operating model for technical support and sustaining engineering within the CRYOVAC business.

You will shape how customers and field teams access technical expertise, how equipment issues move from escalation to closure, and how recurring problems become lasting engineering improvements.

The role combines technical leadership, people leadership, customer support, product lifecycle ownership, reliability engineering, and business transformation. Your work will directly influence customer satisfaction, equipment reliability, commercial effectiveness, and the long term value of the CRYOVAC equipment portfolio.

The goal is clear: make the Solutions Center the first call for equipment support while building a sustaining engineering organization that is focused, measurable, scalable, and accountable for lasting value.

Pay Transparency:

Base Compensation Range: $86,500 - $149,270

The range disclosed complies with applicable state and local pay transparency laws. Offers within this range will be determined by considering relevant factors including education, experience, and internal alignment. This position may also be eligible for annual performance bonuses and other incentive programs. Sealed Air offers a competitive benefits package that includes health, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off, and other benefits designed to promote well-being.