Please Note: The deadline for applying is 23.59 the day before the job posting end date.

Job Title: Senior Project Technologist

Location: Colworth Science Park

Work-Level: 1D

BUSINESS CONTEXT

Unilever’s Ice cream business in Europe is large and highly successful but has seen its growth and margin eroding over the last few years. The business has created a transformation programme which will help to bring back value. This transformation programme is focussed on 2 areas:

The In Home (IH) Desserts platform. This part of the portfolio generates €350M turnover through brands such as Carte d’Or, Cremissimo, Hertog and Viennetta. For Unilever’s ice cream business to continue wining in Europe, it must win in IH desserts. To achieve this aim, this platform must be transformed to deliver consistent, competitive and profitable growth. The transformation programme aims to simplify this portfolio to generate value and bring back investment on the brands to support a growth agenda.

End to end supply chain transformation. This will include the optimisation of ice cream product manufacturing in Europe and will require products and production lines to be moved between factories to achieve efficiencies. Additionally, this aims to reduce the number of ingredients and recipes that are managed, to produce ice cream products, across the whole portfolio.

In this context, we are looking for project technologists with expertise in product / formulation development and factory implementation, who can support this transformation programme for the next 2 years.

JOB PURPOSE

The project technologist will use their expertise of product, formulation, and process to identify opportunities for simplification and cost-optimisation within our portfolio of products, formulations and raw materials. By analysing technical, financial and supply chain data, the risks and rewards associated with each opportunity will be defined and prioritised accordingly. The project technologist will deliver priorities by leading projects. Key to this is building relationships and working in close partnership with functional team members from Marketing; Supply Chain Planning Innovation; Procurement and technical implementation teams within factories.

This role will be made as a permanent appointment with the expectation that the incumbent is releasable for other opportunities between 18-30 months, depending on how priorities evolve.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Creating and maintaining a detailed schedule for key transformation initiatives, subprojects, and activities.

Planning, organising and executing projects, working in close partnership with cross-functional teams and with RD experts from a variety of fields. Projects may include production of samples in the laboratory and pilot plant; physical testing of materials and products; cost calculations; quality assessments; regulatory compliance checks and claims assessments.

Ensuring project networks and risk assessments are regularly reviewed.

Providing regular updates to stakeholders, communicating bottlenecks, and proposing solutions to keep projects on track.

Managing supplier relationships in partnership with other functions such as Procurement.

Writing and managing specifications.

Providing regular updates to track and report progress toward global targets.

Providing support and training for new / junior members of the team.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

EU local country Marketing Team

European Supply Chain (factories, planning, quality, etc.) and Procurement Teams.

Supplier/partner organisations.

Technical RD specialists (Processing, Packaging, Formulation, Digital Data, Materials Experts).

Specialists in Unilever (Finance, Quality, SEAC, Patents and Regulatory).

ALL ABOUT YOU

This high-paced role will ideally suit a high energy individual with bias for action and a “can do” attitude.

Degree level qualification (or equivalent).

Relevant experience in food technology. Ideally, previous experience in formulation and/or processing.

Experience of working cross-functionally and with third parties.

Strong project management skills and experience.

Analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Time management priority setting.

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS

Personal Mastery

Agility

Passion for performance

Talent catalyst

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Short business-trips within Europe will be required. NOTES

Please apply via this portal as e-mail applications may not be processed and include your Future Fit Plan if possible.

By applying for this vacancy, you are confirming that you have made your Line Manager aware of your application and that you are at a point in your career with Unilever where it is appropriate for you to be applying for other positions.  

Should you require additional information or reasonable adjustments to allow you to present your best self during this process, please contact your Talent Partner Juli Molina on [email protected]

What we offer

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. We want to push boundaries, and have the flexibility needed to keep adapting in an ever-changing, more dynamic world. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

As part of your hiring journey, we are happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments, to improve your recruitment experience.

To find out more, including more information about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here .

Relocation to the UK

Please be aware if you are applying for this role from outside the UK, if successful, your application will be treated as a self-initiated Change Location Outside of Country (CLOC) transfer. This means any relocation costs must be self-funded with the potential to reclaim some specific pre-approved expenses up to £5,000. Please speak to your Talent Partner if you have any questions.

Job Category: Research/Development

Job Category: Recherche Développement

Job Category: Investigación y desarrollo - RD

Job Type: Product Dev Technician

Industry: UnileverExperiencedProfessionals