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Sr Sustainability Engineer - Electrical

Ball Corporation • Belgium • Added on Oct 10, 2026
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This role leads technical sustainability engineering across regional manufacturing plants by standardizing electrical and automated control systems. You will optimize industrial utilities, commissioning equipment improvements and line control programming that directly curb electricity, gas, water, and material waste across EMEA packaging facilities.

Industrial decarbonization hinges on operational shop-floor efficiency. By driving energy and resource conservation projects inside high-speed aluminum manufacturing lines, you help translate broad corporate climate targets into tangible reductions in factory emissions, kilowatt-hours, and resource consumption across international sites.

This suits someone who possesses deep manufacturing engineering expertise, automated controls know-how, and a hands-on drive to travel across production facilities transforming legacy industrial operations.

Job FAQs

What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role?

The main mission of this role is to act as a Senior Subject Matter Expert in electrical and automation systems across Ball Packaging plants in EMEA. You will identify, develop, and execute engineering and capital projects focused on reducing electricity, natural gas, water consumption, and industrial waste generation. Day-to-day responsibilities include reviewing automated control systems, auditing plant facilities, and implementing global engineering standards. You will utilize Lean Six Sigma methodologies to diagnose inefficiencies in high-speed can-making equipment and deploy line control programming updates to ensure optimal energy management. Strategically, the role serves as a bridge between corporate sustainability engineering and shop-floor reality. This means designing region-wide action plans, managing technology rollouts, collaborating with equipment vendors, and training plant-level maintenance and engineering staff to adopt lasting best practices.

Key learning opportunities for this job

You will develop deep technical expertise in large-scale industrial decarbonization, specifically understanding how high-speed manufacturing facilities track, control, and drastically lower energy and utility consumption. The position provides extensive exposure to advanced PLC programming, electrical control devices, and equipment automation configured explicitly for environmental metrics. Working across multiple sites throughout EMEA will also broaden your multinational project delivery and cross-cultural change management capabilities. Additionally, you can hone your skills in Lean Six Sigma implementation applied directly to corporate sustainability, gaining practical experience in developing business cases and managing multi-million-euro CapEx sustainability investments.

How does the ideal candidate look like (experience, skills)?

The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in electrical engineering or automation engineering, supported by at least 5 years of experience in high-speed manufacturing environments like packaging or FMCG. Proven proficiency in industrial control systems, facility utilities (HVAC, compressed air, thermal systems), and PLC programming languages is essential. Familiarity with Lean Six Sigma frameworks and demonstrated business acumen to build sound capital expenditure proposals are highly regarded. Because this position requires significant travel (60% to 80%) across regional plants, candidates need exceptional interpersonal skills, adaptability, and the confidence to influence local plant managers and technical crews in fluent English.

Advice to stand out and make a successful application

Highlight practical, quantified engineering achievements on your CV. Rather than listing general responsibilities, emphasize concrete examples where you optimized electrical systems, drives, or thermal equipment to save energy, reduce emissions, or curb costs. Demonstrate your grasp of both technical controls and project governance. Detail your experience with automation logic, utility monitoring systems, and capital expenditure project execution from feasibility through to post-commissioning. Address the high-travel requirement directly in your cover letter. Illustrate past experience successfully managing cross-border plant audits, training shop-floor technicians, and navigating diverse factory cultures across EMEA.

What aspects of the company's sustainability is this role likely to focus on?

This role targets operational Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission reductions across Ball Corporation's regional manufacturing operations. The direct objective is increasing the energy efficiency of production assets. Key areas of impact include rationalizing natural gas usage in curing ovens, minimizing electrical consumption from motors and compressed air systems, and upgrading controls on water treatment installations. Furthermore, by standardizing utility-monitoring metrics and automated line control protocols, the engineer ensures that factories minimize raw material scrap, supporting Ball's overarching commitment to circular aluminum manufacturing.

What are the main challenges someone in this role might face?

The most prominent challenge is balancing rigorous regional sustainability standards with individual plant operational realities. Overcoming local skepticism and prioritizing energy efficiency during intense production runs requires strong persuasion. The position also demands extensive travel (60% to 80%), requiring exceptional stamina, time management, and self-direction when coordinating multiple remote site visits. Additionally, troubleshooting legacy control devices across older manufacturing assets and retrofitting them to communicate seamlessly with modern monitoring infrastructure can present complex technical roadblocks.

How could a typical day look like for someone in this position?

A typical day on-site might begin with walking the production line alongside the local plant engineering manager, conducting an energy audit of high-speed can-making machinery. Midday could involve analyzing real-time electrical load data, tweaking automated control sequences with technicians, or conducting a workshop on natural gas leak prevention and waste reduction procedures. When working remotely or from the home office, days focus on modeling utility performance across EMEA sites, reviewing vendor proposals for new energy-efficient equipment, and preparing CapEx business cases for global engineering leadership.

What are the opportunities for professional growth and development in this role?

Within a manufacturing powerhouse like Ball Corporation, success in this role can lead to senior regional leadership roles, such as Director of Global Sustainability Engineering or Regional Plant Operations Director. You could also expand laterally into global packaging design, procurement of renewable utilities, or operational excellence and Lean management leadership. The breadth of cross-plant exposure across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia offers high visibility among divisional executive teams, making you a recognized expert in industrial clean technology.

The main stakeholders you might be interacting with

You will collaborate closely with Plant Managers, Maintenance Leads, and Controls Engineers at each local manufacturing facility, acting as a technical guide and mentor. At the corporate level, you will liaise with the Global Sustainability Engineering team, Corporate ESG executives, and Regional Engineering Directors to align plant initiatives with divisional climate milestones. External stakeholders include automated equipment manufacturers, industrial energy auditors, utility contractors, and technology vendors proposing innovative industrial decarbonization systems.

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