Junior Packaging Manager

Ready to bring brilliant packaging ideas to life at one of the UK’s most iconic retailers? Join our Fashion, Home & Beauty Packaging team as a Junior Packaging Manager on a 13-month fixed-term contract and play a key role in taking projects from initial brief through to production. Working with suppliers and talented teams across the UK and globally, you’ll help create commercially optimised, compliant packaging that meets M&S standards and makes an impact for our customers. It’s a fast-paced opportunity to use your technical packaging knowledge, organisation and eye for detail to keep projects moving and deliver outstanding results to cost, timeline and critical path.

Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

What you’ll do 

Your key accountabilities will include

• Coordinate the delivery of packaging projects against agreed briefs and critical paths, managing stakeholders to deliver agreed costs and timelines.

• Review and approve routine artwork and development samples within delegated authority, escalating exceptions, risks and unusual issues where required.

• Coordinate proofing and pre-production activity using established routes, standards and processes.

• Maintain strong supplier, UK and global team relationships, while keeping pricing and packaging specifications accurate and up to date.

• Apply sustainability, compliance, legal, brand and international labelling requirements, while supporting innovation and the wider Packaging Global Strategy.

Who you are 

Your skills and experience will include

• Knowledge of artwork, repro, print and offline processes across packaging substrates, including the benefits and limitations of each process.

• Knowledge and understanding of packaging construction and production.

• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build effective relationships and work collaboratively.

• Strong proofreading skills and attention to detail, with confidence using PowerPoint and Excel.

• Ability to work under pressure, manage changing priorities and use clear, logical judgement when making decisions.

What’s in it for you? 

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation

• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more

• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours 

• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future

• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one

• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal

• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave

• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services

• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

Everyone’s welcome 

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We are disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We are transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

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